At the time
of purchase,
Kelleher says, he
was completely
unaware of the
rich history the
home possessed. “I
didn’t know that it
was famous when
I was buying it,”
he explains. “I just
bought it because I
liked it.”
Prior to ownership, Kelleher’s only
experience with the home had been during
his teenage years. At the time, the owner of
La Tourelle lived in the home only during
the summer months. While the home was
left unoccupied, Kelleher, who lived in
Highland Park and had friends from Fox
Chapel, would picnic with his friends in the
backyard of the home.
After he purchased the home, however, his
phone started ringing – and it hasn’t stopped
since.
“When people first started calling me, I
wasn’t quite sure why they were calling,” says
Kelleher. “I quickly learned that it was the
house that it is.”
These days, “the home has become
a mecca for the Frank Lloyd Wright
Foundation,” notes Kelleher, pointing to
the fact that Wright spent time living at the
home while he designed Fallingwater. In
fact, the original sketches for Fallingwater
were drafted in La Tourelle’s living room.
Wright would draw the sketches, and show
them to Kaufmann, tossing the ones that
64 724.942.0940 TO ADVERTISE | Fox Chapel Area
were rejected on
the floor. Edgar
Jr., an artist in
his own right,
collected the
papers – 68 of
them in all – and
later donated
them to the
foundation.
Shortly after
Kelleher bought
the house, Edgar
Jr. visited the home, showing him secret
doorways that the new homeowner didn’t
know existed, and sharing stories of extended
visits from Wright and even Albert Einstein,
who became a guest of the Kaufmann family
at Fallingwater in 1934.
“Edgar Jr. told me that when Einstein or
Frank Lloyd Wright visited, that he would
have to give up his bedroom to them. He
thought it was a real pain when he was a kid,”
laughs Kelleher. Edgar Jr. died of leukemia in
July of 1989.
When Kelleher purchased
the home, it was in bad shape.
Since the former owner
spent winters in a warmer
climate, she never worried
about the cost of heating. “I
purchased the home in May
of 1989, and when I got my
first heating bill that winter,
it was $5,000. In January, it
was $6,000, and in February,
it was $7,000.” It was so cold
and drafty that at one point,
he lit a cigar and the breeze from a draft
literally blew it out.
He took it upon himself to replace all 72
windows and 21 French doors in the home –
an improvement that he’s undertaken twice
since purchasing the home.
He replaced the heating system to make
it more efficient. He stripped the floors,
installed a brand-new kitchen and replaced
three of the home’s four chimney caps made
of sandstone, which failed to do the job.
“We had to tear each of the chimneys
down to the roof and rebuild them,” he says.
“We had masons working on our roof for
nearly a full year.” The new chimneys are
reinforced with lead-coated stainless steel.
All of the improvements have been done
with the utmost care to preserve and protect
the home’s authenticity and charm, including
the massive amount of original ironwork
created by master blacksmith Samuel Yellin.
Outside, Kelleher has restored a fountain and
all of the gardens and grounds surrounding
the home and added parking spaces.
“At 8,500 square feet, taking care of it is
a never-ending challenge. There’s always
something to do,” Kelleher says, adding that
his experience in the building products field
has certainly helped with his restoration
efforts.
All of Kelleher’s work has certainly paid
off. In 2003, the Pittsburgh History and
Landmarks Foundation designated the
home as an historical landmark. Moreover,
Kelleher and his wife Amy have hosted
100-guest gatherings for local
organizations in his home
and they periodically open La
Tourelle to local charitable
foundations and tourists from
all over the world.
“Although the home is
ours, we’re sort of just its
caretakers,” says Kelleher.
“Architecturally, the home
is absolutely beautiful. It’s
spectacular here. Seeing it
takes your breath away.” ■