CARNEGIE, Pa. -- An entrepreneur wants to turn the former
home of baseball great Honus Wagner into a bed-and-breakfast and
museum.
Stanley Klos plans to restore the home several miles outside Pittsburgh in time for the Major League Baseball All-Star Game, which will be played July 11 at PNC Park.
"It's not often you get an opportunity to stay in the home of a baseball great like Honus Wagner," the 52-year-old Klos told the Tribune-Review. "One of the biggest attractions in Baltimore is
Babe Ruth's home. Experts in the field believe [Wagner] was a much
better player than Babe Ruth."
The shortstop was one of the five original inductees into the
Baseball Hall of Fame, along with Ruth.
Wagner moved into the three-story, yellow brick home in 1918, a
year after playing his last game for the Pirates. Klos and his two
partners in Wagner Carnegie Inc. paid $130,000 for it. Though it
has been split into two apartments, many original features remain,
including stained-glass windows, chandeliers and hardwood floors.
The restoration will be guided by more than 50 builders'
records, which Klos bought at a New York City auction for $15,000.
"We know what's original and what isn't. We have the
documentation for everything. It's very rare to have the actual
documents pertaining to a house that early," he said.