Dan Trobee is blending the new and the old in a house that is part of Westmoreland County's history.
The house in Unity, built by Kennametal founder Philip McKenna, has bits of craftsman design that are currently popular.
But it also is filled with elements that simply wouldn't work today, calling for upgrades to the estate he hopes formally to get on the market this week.
When the renovations are finished, the property will be offered at a price between $600,000 and $850,000, he says. The range is because of its possibilities, says Trobee, president of Sewickley's LaJolla Studios renovation firm.
The 6,000-square-foot home sits on a four-acre site. The renovator says a buyer could take the whole package, or lop off a little more than two acres in the back and buy it for the lower price.
Trobee says the acreage in the back could hold four homes, a development possible for him or another builder.
Some of current work on the house is obvious. The kitchen, for instance, was so small it has been more than doubled in size to appeal to the current clientele.
But others issues are less obvious.
Trobee stands in the foyer and points to the back wall. “I had to move this door into the kitchen to the other side,” he says. “Otherwise, you come into the house and look right through it. “
“Can't do it,” he says, shaking his head. “Violates all feng shui.”
The Chinese philosophy that focuses on harmony of surroundings wasn't so important in 1929 when McKenna (1897-1969) built the house, but now it can be an affront to some would-be buyers.
The rest of the house, though, has features that are striking for a pre-Depression home. Every bedroom has at least one big closet. Some of those clothing areas even have built-ins for shirts, sweaters and accessories — and windows.
There are four full baths and two half-baths. Master bathrooms in the main house and an addition from 1940 both are large, closer to contemporary design than that of the early- to mid-20th century.
The 1940 addition has a 12-foot-long walk-in closet and dressing area that could be the envy of a current property.
While the house is not contemporary in design, Trobee is not worried about the lack of open design. “When I walk through it,” he says, “I am always amazed at how well it flows. It doesn't seem like 6,000 square feet.”
McKenna, in 1938, founded Kennametal, the Latrobe firm that is one of the largest manufacturers of metal-cutting tools and those for the mining and highway construction industries.
After building the house and adding the addition, McKenna lived in it until 1953, and it has had four other owners since, Westmoreland County records show.
Trobee and business partner Peter “Mike” Kemp acquired the property in 2014, and Kemp's firm, Edward L. Kemp Co. of McKeesport, did slate roof and HVAC renovations.
The design of the house and the addition were done by the same architect, so there is a striking similarity. Trobee has redone the exterior with fiber-cement siding to create a contemporary look.
The addition is its own master unit, with a large suite and the closet area on the second floor. Below it is a gigantic great room with a fireplace, bar and dining area.
But while that space could be a retreat for an owner wishing to get away from household action, it is only steps across a breezeway from the family room in the main house.
The family room is opposite the dining room and both now connect to the enlarged kitchen.
In the original design, Trobee says, half of the kitchen space was its own room, which the blueprints called a nursery. There is a more child-oriented nursery off one of the bedrooms on the second floor, so he suspects this one might have been for plants.
Now, with the kitchen spanning the back of the main building, moving from one part of the home to another seems easy, the renovator says.
The flow of the design inside goes outside, too, with eight exterior doors in the two halves of the home.
“How many do we usually have?” Trobee asks. “Two?”
Bob Karlovits is a Tribune-Review contributing writer.
