1220 West North Avenue is a two and a half story red brick house that was built in 1892 for Isaac Wertheimer, a partner in the Asher Guckenheimer & Brothers distillery. Wertheimer demolished an earlier house to build 1220 West North Avenue. The Wertheimer family lived in the house until 1905 when they moved to Squirrel Hill.
James Sipe, the owner of a North Side paint oil firm, bought the house in 1905 for $16,000. Sipe lived at 1220 West North Avenue until his death in the late 1920s and his wife Ida occupied the house until she sold it in 1944.
James and Mary McNulty began living at 1220 West North Avenue after purchasing the house in 1944. The McNultys maintained it as a one- or two-family dwelling during the 1940s and early 1950s but divided the house into eight apartments by 1960. The house deteriorated during its use as a boarding house but was restored by its most recent owners.