A Gift With A View
Journal of Gift Planning –
3rd Quarter 2002
The cover image depicts Heathside Cottage, listed on the National Register of Historic Places and constructed circa 1855 in what is now Pittsburgh, PA.
The building’s Greek revival style is rare to find with its vergeboard and other sawn-out wooden trim still present and diamond-paned sash still in the windows. The word “heath”- meaning an open area with wild shubbery – is English. It suggests the romantic seclusion this house originally had, looking southward over the then growing City of Allegheny from a vantage point of 400 feet up.
Instead of giving her home via bequest, owner Judith K Harvey granted a facade easemnt to the Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation (Landmarks), then made a retained life estate gift. Her resulting charitable deduction permitted her to offset the income tax owed on assets rolled over from a traditonal IRA to a Roth IRA. Her planning preserved a landmark and enabled her to do it during her lifetime.
