‘The House That Built Me’ in Hookstown

PHOTOS BY JORDAN GRAY, PREP SOLUTIONS

For one couple in Hookstown, their rural homestead is the first place that ever fully felt like home. 

“If you’ve ever heard the Miranda Lambert song, ‘The house that built me’… this home always reminds me of that,” says Stevie Smiell.

Adopted at age seven, Smiell says she never had a stable home when she needed it. 

“For me, creating a home that was loving, safe and always cherished was so important to me,” she says, adding she never wanted her own child to experience the lack of stability that shaped her early childhood. “This home truly built me into a wife, a mom, and a person.”

Smiell, along with her husband, Nate, purchased 764 Old Mill Creek Road in 2019 after exploring other areas of the Pittsburgh region. 

“We were first-time home buyers and two months away from getting married,” recalls Smiell. 

While viewing a home nearby, they decided to drive past just one more listing. While the home’s details on Zillow weren’t eye-catching, Smile says she felt drawn to see the property in person. 

“When we pulled in, I immediately had a flood of ideas,” Smiell says. “I instantly envisioned how I could design it. My husband was intrigued by the quality of the home.” 

A craftsman himself, Nate appreciated the wide doorways, quality hardwoods, all-brick exterior and size of the home. 

“For us, we knew the bones were beyond great,” says Smiell. “When we left the house tour, I just knew in my heart this was the house to start our family. My husband tells everyone I bought it before I consulted with him. To which I respond, ‘Happy wife, happy life, right?’” 

Measuring 4,600 square feet, the home, which is ADA compliant, features one-level living; it was built by a former Pittsburgh Steeler for his disabled child.

The common areas of the home feature warm wood tones, high-quality finishes and high ceilings lined with Andersen windows that take in the views of the property’s natural scenery. The wide doorways and walkways make the home fully accessible as well as open and functional for family life and entertaining. 

The living room and eat-in kitchen are flanked by a long bank of windows and doors that open onto a two-story deck, which is also accessible via ramp from the outside. While the hardwood floors and custom trim showcase the quality of the build, Smiell says she and her husband were inspired to continue improving their home over the years, too. 

“I am not an interior designer by any means,” she says with a laugh, sharing that she’s made her career as a nurse. 

The couple loves design, though, and saw the home as a well-made blank slate. Smiell says her husband is very good at “wood working, welding and turning my dreams into reality.” He’s also the one who built the exterior wooden fence to match her vision, hand-welding each bracket to make it unique and easy to maintain.  

“Collectively, we enjoyed taking thrifted treasures and turning them into something that worked functionally for our home,” Smiell says. “For instance, I turned old crates into shelves in the laundry room, a ladder suspended from the ceiling holds Christmas decor, and an old antique door serves as a headboard in the guest bedroom.” 

The finished walkout basement features the same high-end finish work and accessibility as the main level; an unfinished walk-up attic leaves the opportunity for even more living or storage space. The basement has space for a pool table, family room and play area, as well as a spacious bedroom and full bathroom. In addition, the basement has a rough-in for a full kitchen, should the next owner want to create a bar area or even a suite within the home. 

Outdoors, the bilevel, covered outdoor space leads to a large wooden deck surrounding an above-ground pool, giving it a grade-level entry for ease of use. The home is surrounded by flat, lush green lawn and a natural landscape that the family, formerly city-dwellers, has come to love. 

After deciding to move on to their next venture, the Smiells have listed their home for $625,000 with Kimberly Yot and Alyssa Howley of Piatt Sotheby’s International Realty.

“It’s incredibly hard to find a home that truly checks this many boxes at once,” says Yot. “You have the privacy and beauty of this table-top flat acreage, paired with a thoughtfully designed custom all-brick ranch that was clearly built with long-term comfort and quality in mind.” 

The mother-daughter real estate duo also loves how flexible this move-in ready home is. 

“Whether someone needs multi-generational living, space for guests, entertaining areas or simply room to spread out, this property delivers,” says Yot, adding the multiple gathering spaces and open layout are rife with possibilities. “The indoor-outdoor flow overlooking the pool and covered rear porch makes it feel like a retreat while still being practical for everyday living.”

As a mother herself, Yot says she understands the emotional connection the Smiells have to this home. 

“This home makes me imagine all of the best parts of life somehow existing together in one place,” she says. “Slow mornings on the porch, summer days by the pool, holiday dinners filled with people you love and quiet nights surrounded by nature. To me, it feels less like a house and more like the setting for a really good life.” 

As for why they chose to live in Hookstown, the Smiells say the location surprised them just as much as the house. The rural Beaver County community is populated by just about 200 people, but it’s an idyllic setting for family life. 

“We drove around the area and quickly came to love it,” recalls Smiell. “I grew up in the city and always knew that city life wasn’t going to be forever. I wanted a peaceful, bird-chirping, kids-running-in-a-big-yard kind of life, and that’s exactly what this house offered us.” 

The couple says their neighbors have become like family, too. 

“I joke that my little neighbor boy is going to someday marry my daughter,” says Smiell. “I guess we will wait and see.”