What’s come to be called the Tito House based on the property’s historic designation due to its colorful past as the home of Joe Tito, the patriarch of a bootlegging family who helped to launch Rolling Rock beer, caught on fire late last week. — Daylight and blue sky can be seen through the roof and the broken windows on the second floor of an Uptown house for which the porch columns are now tied up and cordoned off with yellow tape emblazoned with the message, “Do Not Enter.”
That is the current state of the late 19th century house at 1817 Fifth Ave., considered to be the last remaining single-family home in Uptown and a property that’s served as both a legal lightning rod for its ongoing neglect and a negotiation lynchpin for a $65 million-plus redevelopment deal involving 22 other neighboring properties.
What’s come to be called the Tito House based on the property’s historic designation due to its colorful past as the home of Joe Tito, the patriarch of a bootlegging family who helped to launch Rolling Rock beer, caught on fire late last week, with reports on the blaze only detailing the vicinity of the fire itself without noting the key role the house plays in enabling a major redevelopment project to go forward.
Click here to read more from our partners at the Pittsburgh Business Times.
Download the FREE WPXI News app for breaking news alerts.
Follow Channel 11 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch WPXI NOW
©2025 Cox Media Group
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/XCUXZC2XYZHCRGNNGKFEX6U3LQ.png)
