Families who travel thousands of miles for life-altering medical treatment at Pittsburgh’s many hospitals have received a new place to rest.
Family House in Shadyside recently unveiled a newly completed feature courtesy of a pair of philanthropists who have been spreading tens of millions across the city’s institutions for years.
Work on the Kamin Conservatory — a 530-square-foot enclosed “front porch” gathering space funded by an undisclosed donation from the Daniel G. and Carole L. Kamin Family Foundation — crossed the finish line with a Friday celebration that marked the December 2024 gift.
For more than 40 years, nonprofit Family House’s mission has been to offer safe, convenient, affordable housing as well as a network of support, comfort and compassion to out-of-town families dealing with medical crises, medical professionals and medical students alike.
“Everything we do at Family House comes back to one core belief, that people facing serious medical journeys should not have to face them alone,” said CEO John Plante.
On Friday afternoon, the conservatory welcomed throngs of guests into the porch space jutting out from a six-story building that served as the Shadyside Courtyard by Marriott hotel just a little over four years ago.
The building is along Liberty Avenue across the street from UPMC Shadyside hospital. It’s also near both AHN West Penn Hospital and the Pittsburgh VA hospital.
”People don’t come here for vacation, they come here during a tough time in their lives.”Plante said. “What we know is that spaces like this where they can gather with each other, where they can just rest and relax and have quiet time and they’re not off at appointments or the hospital or visiting a loved one who is in the hospital, it gives them a moment to recharge.”
The conservatory — the work of Pittsburgh-based Kolano Design — is an open, airy space brightly lit by large black-trimmed windows and stuffed to the brim with verdant, green plants growing out of colorfully tiled pots.
It’s furnished with similarly tiled tables reminiscent of the Mediterranean style and white rocking chairs resting on sweeping beige pattern tiles. A large multi-colored butterfly painting serves as a statement piece for an area that will eventually host a fairy garden and musical guests.
“We know that interactions with each other, with other guests, with other staff, they impact a person’s recovery and their ability to recover,” Plante said. “There are a lot of mental and emotional things that go into recovery.”
Construction on the project began in May 2025 and finished up this spring.
It adds to a facility portfolio featuring 121 rooms that offer numerous amenities and living essentials at prices ranging from $75 (1 twin bed) to $148 a night (apartment). Recently, a self-funded “total” renovation project began on those rooms to make them feel “less like a hotel and more like a home,” Plante said.
Amenities available to the home away from home’s 18,000 guests who booked 35,700 room nights last year include: a communal food pantry and kitchen; free transportation; laundry and dining facilities; a library; a music room; commons spaces and meditation areas.
There is specialized programming that includes yoga, support groups, therapy dogs, volunteer-prepared meals and occasional tickets to area culture and entertainment events.
Through donation-based subsidies, its Family Assistance program also aims to ease the financial burden on low-income and long-term guests.
Helping families
The timing couldn’t have been better for Carey Rutigliano and his husband of 31 years, Scott Nance, who together traveled more than 2,000 miles from Tuscon, Ariz. while fighting a terminal pulmonary fibrosis diagnosis Nance received in March 2023.
“There’s a lot of uncertainty around that. Not everybody is eligible for lung transplant,” said Nance, recalling being turned down for a transplant multiple times. “The trauma of, ‘This is getting worse. Am I just going to die, or am I going to have a chance to reset the clock?’ — I think that was probably the hardest part.”
During intermittent stays, the couple awaited a double-lung transplant at UPMC. They started a long-term stay in January with the surgery taking place February. Since then, they’ve been in a recovery mode Nance termed “a double marathon” with its many challenges and appointments.
“It’s family here,” said Rutigliano of the staff who never failed to ask how Scott was doing. “Scott was struggling with obviously being in the hospital and appointments. I was there all day long. And when you come back at night, you just want to talk to somebody. You get to know everyone here because you take the time to talk to people. The staff engages with you. You’re not just another guest.”
“Every little victory everyone was cheering you on,” added Nance. “It makes you feel good.”
That extends to the guests.
“We met a lot of other lung transplant patients and caregivers that are in various stages, and we’re all kind of in a family that just shares our experiences,” added Nance of making “friends for life.”
As the couple talked over traversing Europe over many more years together, they offered their thoughts on the new addition.
“This is another place for people to gather, to sit down, look outside, enjoy it and talk,” Rutigliano said. “It’s just more engagement. That’s what this is all about. People love to engage. People love to get together, hear about each other’s days, each other’s stories. You really feel close to people. This is another way for them to connect.”
Kamin donations
The conservatory donation is just the latest in a long line made by Pittsburgh philanthropists Daniel and Carole Kamin.
• Following a $65 million gift in January 2024, the Carnegie Science Center on the North Shore was renamed the Kamin Science Center in the couple’s honor.
• In February 2025, they donated $25 million for renovations, modernization of exhibits and an endowment at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Oakland.
• That June, they donated $11.5 for a major addition to the the Strip District’s John Heinz History Center, funds it also utilized to provide free admission for youth and school groups in perpetuity.
• That same month, they donated another $65 million to the UPMC Presbyterian tower project and medical research.
But the Family House gift is very personal for Carole Kamin, whose late brother, Stanley Long of Michigan, stayed there for a total of 10 days at age 50 during two stays when battling a malignant spot on his neck that metastasized to his lungs.
”My house in Pittsburgh has a lot steps, so there was no way he and my sister, who came with him, could stay at my place,” Carole Kamin said. “So it was Family House where they stayed.”
She was happy to help make it possible and contribute to the decor at what she termed an “essential” facility.
“I really thought they did a fabulous job,” she said. “Buying this building was a good thing to do — what they’ve done with the inside. The thing that was missing was the rocking chairs. That’s where we came in.”