The Most Random, Pointless Post

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

In 2003, J Bo and her friend Sara took me on a drive to see "a castle." During the 20 minute car ride, they couldn't stop raving about this house. It was still under construction and not in a gated community like some other houses in the area.

We approached Beech Ridge Drive and there were some huge house...in the $1.6M range - which is insane in Pittsburgh. And then we saw it...I mean you can't miss it. It really is a castle.

My mind works like the new Bing ads, so when I saw pics of Mario Lemieux's house, it made me wonder what happened to the castle. So Bing, I did some research.
The house is owned by a real estate developer. After some digging, I found out the following:

* The house is an estimated $20M, so as you can imagine, it puts the $1M neighbors house to shame. Maybe that is why one is for sale.

* It has and is 32,400 square feet, 34 rooms, 18 bedrooms, 21 bathrooms and has 13 fireplaces. I'm not sure I know 21 people that I could invite over that would all need to pee at the same time. Oh and the garage can hold 15 cars (and I don't think they are talking Matchbox cars)
* The owner, Joe Nocito, is an entrepreneur and real estate developer. One of his companies makes reinforced tape. TAPE? REALLY?
My hacking skills found this pic from an online forum. Please look at this modern-day castle compared to the house next door...


Regardless to the amount of digging I do, the owner, the contractor, the builder, the designer...all refuse to comment on the house. Leaving the inside dwellings a mystery.
While I live in my two-room apartment in Chicago, I am surrounded by million dollar homes, but none compare to this castle. I've just never seen a "home" this big. Maybe when I finally make it to Europe, I'll have something to compare it too.
For my out of town readers, next time you are in the 'Burgh, I'm happy to take you on an adventure to see the castle.

And to all - I apologize for the randomness of this post. But you should know by now, I'm the most random person you'll meet.

(Sources: wtae.com, hubpages.com, Post-Gazette.com, )