In 1888, Pittsburgh businessman Russell H. Boggs commissioned a new home facing Pittsburgh's West Park, designed in a style known as Richardsonian Romanesque. Now, it is known as "Boggs Mansion" and serves as a small hotel.
One hundred and ten years later, Karl Kargle and Jeffrey Stasko purchased the property, now divided into six units, with a plan to rehabilitate the house as a small hotel and restaurant. Located in Pittsburgh's Mexican War Streets historic district and renamed the Inn on the Mexican War Streets and Acanthus Restaurant, the mansion has undergone a complete rehabilitation in conformance with the Secretary of the Interior's Standards for Rehabilitation and with the assistance of federal rehabilitation investment tax credits.
Termed a "labor of love" by neighbors and the media, the project has benefited from community support and encouragement. The exterior Pennsylvania sandstone was carefully cleaned and repointed, the slate roof was repaired, and copper downspouts were unblocked, cleaned, and repaired.
Inside, rotted floors were replaced, an efficient HVAC system was sensitively installed, and chestnut beams and beadboard were uncovered and cleaned. In the backyard, the original carriage house was also rehabilitated for use as part of the Inn. This significant home is now an essential to revitalizing one of Pittsburgh's oldest neighborhoods.
