A $2.1M State College home? It comes with quirky wallpaper, self-cleaning toilet
It’s not every day a $2.1 million home is listed in Centre County, but for a buyer with the cash, there is one today.
“There’s almost nothing to compare it to,” listing agent Eric Hurvitz said of the five-bedroom, three-and-two-half-bathroom house, located at 619 McKee St. in State College. The price tag, he said, is reflective of “the attention to detail, the quality of what’s in here.”
Indeed, there’s attention to detail up the wazoo in the 3,367-square-foot home. The sinks are imported from England, the tiles from Italy. The fixtures are brass, the gutters copper. There is even a heated, self-cleaning Japanese-style toilet that opens and closes automatically, and coat hangers resembling dogs.
The house wasn’t always this way. It was owned for more than 50 years by Penn State English professor and chess club advisor Robert P. Fitzgerald. After Fitzgerald died in 2020, his estate sold it to a York investment property group for $367,500. It was then sold in 2023 to its current owner, Houston-based Stephanie Deverka, for $650,000.
Deverka had some fixing up to do. She petitioned the borough in November 2023 to rehabilitate the structure and siding due to termite damage, which Hurvitz stressed was no longer a problem. The previous owner had also started gutting the place with the intention of converting it to an Airbnb. This left Deverka with a blank slate to reimagine with her best friend, an interior designer and goddaughter to her children.
“We took it right down to the studs, as people in the industry say,” Deverka said.
The renovations, which took a year and a half, included a new addition on the west face of the house, replacing what was once an enclosed porch. She also added a standalone, single-car garage and ordered extensive landscaping and stonework.
Inside the house, Deverka added a workout space with a custom, almost rubber-feeling floor. In the place of an unfurnished attic is now a quirky loft wallpapered with hundreds of paintings depicting a variety of subjects, including a horse and French and Indian War veteran Richard Bayly.
The renovations were so vast the house is considered a new construction, according to Hurvitz. He said his records indicate it was originally built in 1928.
“It’s a quiet elegance,” Deverka said. “We really tried to stay true to the Dutch Colonial style and period.”
Over the past 30 years, the number of noncommercial, single-family homes sold in Centre County for more than $2 million is in the single digits, according to county property records.
“Appreciating it certainly is on the higher end for State College, I think it’s justified based on location and square footage and attention to detail and the materials used,” Hurvitz said. He suggested the ideal buyer would be a Penn State higher-up, coach or alum.
Quick facts about 619 McKee St., State College, PA 16803
Lot size: 0.29 acres
Square footage: 3,367
Bedrooms: Five
Bathrooms: Three full, two half
Built: 1928 (rebuilt in 2024)
This story was originally published September 27, 2025 at 7:00 AM.
