Churchill Midcentury Modern Home Tour 2025
Planning Committee
Michael O’Brien, Churchill Recreation Board - Michael has a strong passion for midcentury modern design and discovered Churchill's MCM homes in 1994, becoming a resident and falling in love with his neighborhood. With long-standing interest in architectural design, his own renovation of a Tasso Katselas home in 2018 earned him and his husband Joe recognition in a Pittsburgh Post-Gazette feature. Michael proposed and is now co-chairing the Churchill MCM Home Tour initiative. He enjoys working with the other dedicated Planning Committee members who share his passion and support raising the awareness of the MCM movement in Churchill. As a Senior Client Relationship Director at Management Science Associates, Inc., his work focuses on project and data management.
Joe Kotelnicki, Churchill Recreation Board - Joe is a recently retired educator with a lifelong passion for the midcentury modern aesthetic. He has a deep appreciation for the architecture, furniture design, fashion, cuisine, and automobiles of the era. Joe is, along with husband Michael O’Brien, currently restoring a midcentury modern home designed by renowned architect Tasso Katselas, a project that allows him to blend preservation with contemporary functionality. In addition to his dedication to design and restoration, he is actively engaged in community and neighborhood initiatives. He currently serves as the Chairperson of the Churchill Borough Recreation Board, where he works to enhance local recreational opportunities and foster community engagement.
Janet Paull, Churchill Recreation Board - Janet has been a member of the Churchill Recreation Board for ten years. She is heavily involved in the planning of Churchill Community Day as well as other community events. She is also a member of the Churchill Garden Club. Janet has resided in the Churchill/Forest hills communities for forty-seven years and is retired from the Woodland Hills School District.
Greg Prodonovich, Churchill Borough Council - Greg has been a Churchill resident for five years after he and his husband and were drawn to the area due to its abundance of midcentury homes. Greg serves as the President of the Ridgewood Manor Association and aims to foster growth and encourage positive change in his community.
Planning Committee & Home Selection Committee
Lisa Edwards, Churchill Resident, Research Lead - Lisa has an architectural degree from City University of New York - City College and worked for decades in the design/construction/management field in New York City. Retiring to Pittsburgh before the pandemic, she has been restoring her Churchill midcentury modern home ever since and is currently researching all of Churchill's midcentury modern homes, particularly the Marbury/Elmhill/Brushcliff cluster with Eric Lidji, Director of Rauh Jewish History Program & Archives, Heinz History Center.
Brittany Reilly, Preservation Pittsburgh - Brittany founded the Pittsburgh Modern Committee to focus on celebrating modern architecture & design and is on the Board of Directors of Preservation Pittsburgh, fighting to keep Pittsburgh's historic architecture intact. She is the Executive Director and curator of the Aaronel deRoy Gruber Foundation - Aaronel was a modernist artist who previously lived on Marbury Road, Churchill and had a studio nearby.
David Lagnese David serves on the Board of Pittsburgh Center for Arts & Media and as an Advisor to the Board of the Nakashima Foundation for Peace. He is a former board member of Construction Junction and lives in Highland Park. An avid collector of Japanese woodblock prints, his home and collections have been prominently featured.