Wedding venue will place bridal path adjacent to bridle path
A year ago, Leah and Tyler Frey bought a house with a remarkable history – and a remarkable amount of renovation ahead.
Their stately home was built in 1826, during the John Quincy Adams administration. The previous owners were members of two iconic Washington County families and a well-known funeral director.
“A lot of parties have taken place there,” Joe Salandra said, chuckling. Many of the soirees have featured elite guests, including at least one Pennsylvania governor, other public officials, Miss America, and various celebrities and sports legends.
Salandra is well-versed on the property, which he owned for 22 years before selling to the Freys in December 2023. He succeeded Rod Piatt as property owner, who followed harness racing legend Delvin Miller, a resident for nearly a half-century.
The Freys will be adding to the interesting legacy of this 40-acre tract off West Pike Street in Chartiers Township. They are working diligently to transform what had been a crumbling barn into a wedding venue called Chariot Events at the Meadowlands. The couple plan to open in May and have already scheduled four events and two tours.
Their location essentially sits in the midst of a horse farm, where the fabled Adios is buried in a 600-pound steel coffin made at Washington Steel. The Beinhauer harness racing family has a track behind the Freys’ barn.
Horses or not, this is not the couple’s first rodeo as venue owners. The Freys also own Lingrow Farm, a wedding venue they have operated for three years in Leechburg in the Allegheny Valley, a scenic site where they host barn and farm weddings.
“We can handle about 200 people there,” Leah said. “It will be more like 250 to 300 here.”
Their purchase also was not their first try at buying the property. The Freys, who have a year-old daughter, Wylie, made a bid two years earlier. But Salandra, owner of Salandra Funeral and Cremation Services Inc. in Chartiers, decided not to sell.
“I was concerned about the right people having it,” he said. “I was concerned because some people wanted to tear down the house and maybe the barn. This house has a lot of history.”
Salandra, who was raised in nearby Muse, was a proud owner. “I wanted that place since I was a little kid. I love that place.”
The second time around, though, he agreed to sell to the Freys. “We kept looking and finally got a chance to buy,” said Tyler, who grew up in Watsontown, in central Pennsylvania. “I went to Cal U. and never left (the area),” he said.
The couple are doing a lot of the work, along with “an Amish crew that helps us out tremendously,” Leah said. She said they have 12,000 square feet of space for the barn’s two floors.
Leah devotes as many hours as she can at Chariot Events, as does Tyler. He also has a full-time job in the oil and gas industry.
Because of leakage in the barn ceiling, some of the couple’s earliest projects have entailed putting in new flooring upstairs, including a dance floor and reception space. They also had a copper-colored roof installed.
The owners also had to remove 32 horse stalls, which were no longer serviceable – outside of providing the Freys with wood for other endeavors. Two stalls remain.
“This barn was falling apart,” said Leah, who grew up in Monongahela.
Other projects have included dismantling two silos, installing windows – the barn previously had all vents, no windows – and covering a dirt floor with concrete. Two sets of restrooms and a prep kitchen have to be built as well.
Once finished, the wedding site will become a party destination in its own way – and perhaps rival the great times that reigned in the house where the Millers, Piatts and Salandras resided for a collective three quarters of a century.
It’s hard to top this anecdote, though – courtesy of Joe Salandra:
“Delvin had finished a round of golf and called Mary Lib (Miller’s wife) to say he was bringing three friends home. He asked her “to fix something to eat, so she did.”
The three friends were Mickey Mantle, Whitey Ford and Joe DiMaggio, hall of fame baseball players with the New York Yankees.
That tops even guest lists featuring Pennsylvania Governor David Lawrence, a former Pittsburgh mayor; Miss America Jackie Townsend; and other luminaries.
Weddings will ensure that good times will continue.