House Restoration Fair

I attended this seminar last year and was extremely disappointed. It consisted of a few tables set up selling a few different products, half of which were things that had nothing to do with home improvement let alone historic home renovations. It would be nice if there was a seminar on what materials and exterior renovations are allowed in historic preservation neighborhoods such as West Village, Allentown, etc. It seemed like they just let anyone set up a table for the sake of having something there. Two that came to mind were a faux painting guy and a table selling candy, not really very helpful to me or anyone looking to restore an older home. I hope they get something better this year. Either way I won’t be attending.

That was a beautiful little house in the not too distant past. One bad owner and any building can be destroyed

The pictured house is 168 Richmond Ave, designed by Edward Kent in late 1880s for the City of Buffalo's engineer at the time. It features a 12-sided turret and resembles a steamboat pointed south on the east facade. There is hardly a square room in the house, even the master bathroom has 5 walls. Starting in 1993 this property was the subject of a hotly-contested legal battle over the title, the outcome of which is often cited in tax foreclosure litigation.

While the Richmond Avenue house has long since elapsed a reasonable time frame for its renovation, let's be careful not to paint all property owners with the broad brush of a 'slackers.' I've got some exterior work in process on my place and admittedly, it's not pretty.

Unfortunately, I joined the unemployed 6 months ago and the resulting decline in my household cash flow have caused me to put the project on hold until my finances dictate I can proceed.

I'm sure there's others in town with the same burden.

Two nights ago I walked past the house in this picture and was talking to my girlfiend about the progress it has seen most notably last summer.
I'm a little annoyed that this picture is the one used for this post. I agree that this particular house has languished for a long long time and if anyone from the neighborhood recalls it was last year that the sagging porch roof that was on the verge of collapse was repaired.
I actually helped lift some lumber up to the roof for the guy that was working on it and told him to keep up the good work!
If you go past it now you will see that the porch has been repaired and it has been done with high quality repair. Which is another point I want to make. Whoever is repairing this place has been trying to do it correctly even if that's slower or takes more resources of time and money. It beats the **** out of some of the quick and superficial fixes I've seen on other properties.

Vinyl siding and decorate metal railing salespeople will hopefully be absent.

this house is around the corner from me, and i am not aware of a single neighbor's complaint. i also have witnessed much progress of late. HOWEVER, just down the street is 120 richmond, a five unit, in disrepair, previously owned by a couple in London, England, who employed a management company in East Amherst. this company managed only ONE other city property, had a non working contact number, and non-existent office address listed with the city. when eventually contacted, they challenged neighbors complaints. through their inexperience and indifference, we suffered years of volatile and disruptive section 8 tenants: one with man slaughter conviction, and many with drug and alcohol dependence, anti-social, and various other developmental disorders.

this property created a multi-year nightmare for neighbors that generated over 40 911 calls over the course of one summer alone. the property was recently sold to an investor, and it remains to be seen if this is good or bad news for our neighborhood.

the shabby exterior gives no indication of the structural and interior neglect. this type of abuse and parasitic use of absentee owned 'rental property' is what leads to devastating property destruction over time, and eventual neighborhood instability ~ and this is all 'hiding in plain sight'.

the lesson here, is to act on WHAT YOU KNOW first hand, not what you imagine or speculate. get involved in YOUR OWN neighborhoods, where hopefully, you have a compassionate, and practical first hand knowledge of people and properties.

by all means stop this practice of 'drive by shooting' your camera, and your mouths. that may require a bit more introspection and personal integrity than your present and previous contributing editors possess, ******* (disingenuous, demolition-by-neglect- preservationist) being one example that comes immediately to mind. your relentless bloggers seem to be beyond any remedy that reason, rationality, or real life experience might provide.

the three examples you sited as helpful to home owners, just show how hopelessly out of touch BR is about inner city problems, and the REAL and PRESSING needs of individual property owners in our beleaguered, cash strapped city.

thank god this is not a "preservation district" or these poor individuals would have to jump through a phalanx of capricious flaming hoops to simply put up a fence!

our community has far more pressing issues than what you imagine by your superficial and uninformed observations of the west side. you have unfairly maligned a good and decent property owner.

How could I possibly have missed a picture of my own house. Strange I never noticed this post before now. I never knew so many people noticed the effort I have put into my home. Stop by and say hello strangers. Thanks everyone.