Solvay house built in 1845 has 4,362 square feet

Paul Salvatore bought the 1845 Tudor Revival house at 400 Scarboro Drive in 1997. It was a fixer-upper he's been fixing ever since, he said.

"There is still a little bit of work to be done, but a lot has already been done," he said.

Salvatore and his wife, Michelle Salvatore, are temporarily merging their households in the six-bedroom, 3 1/2-bath home in the Piercefield section of Solvay. Once they sell the 4,362-square-foot home, on the market for $279,900, they plan to build on land they purchased in Pompey.

The Piercefield neighborhood is known for mansions built in the late 1800s on the former Hazard family estate. Frederick Hazard, former president of the Solvay Process Co., contributed land and resources to the village of Solvay, including the lot for the Solvay Public Library.

The home, on a corner lot, has two asphalt driveways that intersect. The lower, straight driveway ends at the attached two-car garage, and the upper, circular driveway allows passengers to be dropped off at the covered main entrance. Behind the house, with its stucco and half-timber exterior, there is an asphalt basketball court and a fenced area, ideal for a play yard or garden.

The covered double front door is a mover's dream with its level approach and combined opening -- 8 feet high and nearly 5 feet wide. The doors have leaded glass insets, as do the sidelights, and open to a spacious foyer with a triple-width coat closet.

Double French doors in the foyer open to the front-to-back living room which has a leaded glass bay window, a wood-burning fireplace, crown molding and an oak parquet floor.

On the other side of the foyer, another set of double French doors open to the formal dining room. The room has hardwood floors beneath wall-to-wall carpet, a chair rail, crown molding and a built-in Arts & Crafts-style china cabinet.

A third pair of French doors divide a small workout room from the foyer. Beyond the workout room, a glass pocket door slides open to a three-season Florida room with jalousie windows, perched above the garage.

Paul gutted and updated the eat-in kitchen with lots of raised-panel maple cabinets; solid surface, bevel-edged counter tops and new appliances, which will stay in the home. The ceramic tile floor has a rectangular border of river rock outlining the large island. There is a powder room adjacent to the kitchen and the dining room.

The first floor also has a TV room, which could be a home office, between the kitchen and the foyer. There is also a large room with a wood-burning fireplace at the back of the house that the Salvatores use as a gaming room.

The main oak staircase has an Arts & Crafts-style chandelier overhead as well as a leaded glass skylight. There is a second staircase in the back of the house.

There are two master suites in separate wings on the second floor. The suite the Salvatores use has hardwood floors, a walk-in closet and an adjoining sitting room. The sitting room has a generous walk-in cedar closet with access to the unfinished attic. The attic has a brick fireplace, exposed brick walls and a vaulted ceiling. Paul calls that part of the attic the "someday room" because he had hoped to someday remodel and annex the space and incorporate it into a stunning master suite.

The master sitting room also has access to an outdoor deck on the roof above the Florida room and to a full bath with a combination tub and shower.

There are two other full bathrooms on the second floor, one with seafoam green glass wall tiles and another with black and white glass tiles.

The second-floor bedrooms include a petite nursery, decorated and ready to accommodate a child or grandchild.

All windows have been replaced and the home has a security system. Paul replaced the steam heat boiler, powered by natural gas, a month ago. The home is on public water and sewers.