What is it about the Mt. Lebanon home that makes us want to live here? After all, they are older homes with lots of quirks, some of which make them beautiful but hard to live in.

Owning a Lebo home can be a constant struggle to find a certain balance: how do you maintain the integrity of the original design while making the necessary fixes and updates? After all, these stately Tudors, classic colonials and friendly Cape Cods need work to keep them going for the next hundred years. So we have to make decisions, don’t we? And that can be difficult to navigate. Sometimes it feels easier to buy a new home and pass over Mt. Lebanon altogether. But, here we all are. Why? What keeps us here?

First of all, we love the character.

I believe that all houses have personalities, and most Lebo homes have warm, friendly and interesting ones. Even my Tudor, with its grand, all-wood living room boasting a cathedral ceiling, manages to give off a humble and welcoming vibe. So, while some houses are bland or feel too showy, Lebo homes tend to hit the sweet spot of being both stately and cozy. I think that’s worth investing a little time and money into their upkeep.

Second, many of us find resale homes to be interesting because of their history. It’s amazing to think of what stories they can tell from the generations they housed before.

Buying a much-loved Lebo home from a family, rather than a builder, just makes it that much more meaningful. I love telling people that the woman who sold me my first Lebo home used to work for Mt. Lebanon Magazine, too. Our common connection is the house, without which we probably would never have actually met.

It’s also fun to find little vestiges from prior owners, like the names scratched into a storage wall in the garage. My new house has a play theater left over from a 10th birthday party held by the prior owners. When my kids play with it, I think of the previous owner and her many kindnesses to us along the road of buying the house. I’m so grateful that my two home purchases in Mt. Lebanon brought me these connections.

Third, we appreciate the location.

You’ve probably heard the old real estate adage: location, location, location! Lebo is a truly walkable community, with sidewalks to use to safely get to the schools and restaurants nearby.

Speaking of the schools, I think we all know that the school district here in Mt. Lebanon is very well ranked. That’s a huge draw for any new home buyer.

But really, I think more than anything, Mt. Lebanon is truly a special community of people. It’s the kind of place where one mom at the playground will bring a bunch of toy trucks and let the other neighborhood kids play with them. That’s what’s truly appealing about Lebo, and what makes us want to make these houses our homes.