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This home was constructed in 1936–37 by Dr. George Rigas, a Greek immigrant and local physician. While the four Tuscan pillars point to the Neoclassical Revival style of the house’s architecture, the inspiration for the house came from the pillared residences that Rigas and his wife, Pauline, saw on a trip to Charleston, South Carolina, in 1935.

In 1921, Rigas left his hometown on the Greek island of Kalymnos and came to the United States in order to pay off some of his father’s debts. He chose Weirton, of all places, because he heard the steel industry in the area was growing and thought physicians would be in demand. Although Rigas completed his medical training in Athens and Paris and had his own medical practice in Kalymnos before immigrating, he had to apply for a medical license in the United States. In 1923, he finally began his new medical practice in north Weirton, which he ran until his death in 1957. Although he usually saw patients in his office or the hospital, he was known as the kind of doctor who would see patients in his home when the need arose.

Today the grand house is the office of a local attorney, who bought it after Pauline Rigas died in 2001 and had it added to the National Register of Historic Places. A renovation in 2005 added a conference room to the structure, but preserved many of the home’s original features.

Source: National Register of Historic Places. Dr. George Rigas House, Weirton, Hancock County, WV. National Register #04000358.

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