Most young couples embarking on a life together might buy a starter home, combine the furniture that survived their single days, and dream about a dream house. But not Alison and Matthew Weiss. They became engaged, bought a plot of land in Upper St. Clair, got married, built a house, and had a baby almost immediately after they moved in.
Essential to this progression was designer Lisa Scalo McMenamin, principal of LSM Interior Design, who came on board at the beginning to orchestrate the project.
“Honestly, working with Lisa was a dream come true,” says Alison. “She was my biggest advocate. She came to every appointment, and I trust her judgment 100 percent. She’s truly become a family member.”
McMenamin worked with the couple, architect Robert Stevens and the builder to choose the roofing, the windows and doors, the copper gutters and other exterior details. And then there was the inside.
The couple was moving from a one-bedroom apartment in Shadyside into a four-bedroom home that took 18 months to complete. They recognized that they needed help and found McMenamin through Alison’s mother, who followed the designer on Instagram.
She describes her look as “traditional with a fresh twist,” and the couple offered her the opportunity to do what she loves most: oversee the construction. It’s in her blood — McMenamin’s father co-founded Burns and Scalo, and she grew up in the construction business. When it comes to the interiors, she likes to furnish a home with both old and new.
“I love modern art with traditional interiors,” says McMenamin. “I like to work with people who have heirloom pieces and then put fresh fabrics on them so it’s a good mix.”
The dining room is a case in point. The table and chairs belonged to Alison’s mother, the sideboard was her grandmother’s, and the chairs were reupholstered in new Anna French fabric. But most of the house required some serious shopping.
“It takes a lot to really fill up a house for a first-time homebuyer,” says McMenamin. “When it’s your first home and you’re building it, you really do need an experienced professional. Alison has fabulous taste and she knew what she liked. But I guided her through the whole process — it was a really nice relationship.”
McMenamin appreciated Alison’s interest in learning as they went along and her input in choosing the finishes for the new home. There were also some tweaks in the floor plan, including turning what was intended to be a master bedroom closet into a vestibule lined with built-in drawers and appropriating storage space from across the hall so there could be a generous dressing room.
“We were considering that it was a young family so it had an open floor plan. The floors are wide-plank oak, all the fabrics are vinyl coated in the kitchen and family-friendly in the great room. And the chairs swivel in the great room for socializing and watching TV.”
With new construction, McMenamin designs with the future in mind. After 40 years of working all over the country, she understands both timelines and budgets and knows it’s generally not possible to do everything at once. For the Weiss family she began with the rooms they were going to use immediately — the bedroom, master bath, kitchen, nursery and great room. And she started with the most important pieces of furniture, knowing that down the line, layers of detail would be added.
That includes art, which for now consists of framed Gracie wallpaper. But color abounds through wallcovering and painted ceilings — green in the nursery, pink in the powder room that McMenamin calls “a jewel box.”
“I love working with young people. I tell them, ‘Don’t be afraid of the process. Buy what you love. Invest in really good pieces that you will have for a lifetime.’ I am happy with the way this turned out, but it’s a work in progress. We need rugs and artwork. But everybody, when they’re building a house, comes to a stopping point.”
Alison concurs: “The house is really functional but the design is beautiful. We’re not done with the design process — it’s a slow process and we will add more as time goes on. We might even build out a little bit. Lisa really got my creative juices going and I want to keep going and do more with her.”
Marylynn Uricchio is the former film critic and SEEN/society editor for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. She now writes fiction in addition to articles about architecture and design.
