It is spring, which means the real estate market is awaking from its winter slumber. In Buffalo that means each day can bring spectacular new listings such as this stunner at 288 Lincoln Parkway . It can be yours for a mere $924K. You might recognize this beauty as the most recent Decorator’s Show House. It’s relatively unassuming craftsman style exterior conceals a spectacular interior that seems to go on and on and on, with a wide variety of endlessly interesting spaces and rooms. Its got everything you could want in a big old Buffalo home, tons of craftsman style woodwork,…
Author: David Steele
163 Park Street, one of Allentown’s truly stunning urban mansions, is brand new to the market and is pretty much move-in ready. I call it an urban mansion because, while it is a big house at over 3,300 sf, it sits gracefully on its narrow city lot providing a wonderful architectural asset to the streetscape. This house has always been loved by its owners. I don’t remember a time when it was not in immaculate condition. It also has had a handful of tasteful additions including a small garage and glass enclosed front and back entries. The long narrow floor…
Often, the real estate I have highlighted for Buffalo Rising has been cheekily titled to suggest the property is cheep or a super bargain. Bargain is a relative term. I choose the houses highlighted because they are of particular note or architectural interest. That means they are often some of the most expensive in the city. That said, even with an extended strong real estate market in the region, Buffalo remains among the most affordable places to buy a house in the nation. This gorgeous house at 768 Auburn Avenue in the heart of the Elmwood Neighborhood is a “bargain”…
There was a time when it seemed people could only see the ugly in Buffalo. These people still exist, but they are increasingly in a shrinking minority. Today there is a new and quickly growing population who see the extraordinary beauty in Buffalo. They see it in the obvious places, the grand landmarks, but also in the everyday places. If you are open to it, you can find beauty virtually everywhere you look in Buffalo. Cory J. Hill has been finding and posting that Buffalo beauty on a regular basis at Facebook’s Buffalo Building Porn. Here is his story: I…
I have traveled to dozens of American cities. It’s a bit of a hobby that I like to indulge when I can get away. Most cities I have visited are older historic cities of the midwest, south and east. These legacy cities, of course, all have a wonderful heritage of historical architecture and each has its fair share of extraordinary church buildings. Even small historic cities and towns are endowed with at least one substantial church building. Based on my not insignificant travel, I can confidently claim that Buffalo’s collection of churches is rarely matched by any other place in America. The…
The buildings we call home interact with our lives in a most intimate way. Home is a personal expression of self, giving 3 dimensional form to our being. Our homes make a statement of who we are to the outside world. For this reason many of Buffalo’s homes (grand and modest alike) have been lavished with extraordinary decorative detail, detail meant to impress, to tell a story, or simply entertain the passing city. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
[Story update] It turns out that this house has quite a prominent architectural pedigree. It was designed by well-known early 20th century architect George Maher. Contrary to the realtor’s information the house was built for Edward and Mary Kendrick in 1898, not 1920. Maher worked along with Frank Lloyd Wright in Joseph Silsbee’s Chicago office. Silsbee started his practice in Syracuse, later moving to Buffalo along with another prominent architect named James Marling. He then moved on to Chicago. Historians credit Silsbee with substantial influence on Wright’s career. Silsbee and Marling have several houses still standing in Buffalo and all…
This cute little house at 35 Concord Street on the East Side is vacant and has recently been marked for demolition by the city. The city has been demolishing buildings for going on 70 years now as a senseless means of promoting growth and reducing crime. After these seven decades of sending our valuable and irreplaceable historic heritage to landfills, city leaders have still not figure out that demolition, in fact, does not reduce crime or promote growth. In fact the past ten years of rebirth in Buffalo show that the exact opposite is what promotes growth and reduces crime. The…
This gorgeous mansion at 341 Linwood is a bargain at under a million, when compared some of the local McMansion properties coming in at a higher price point. The house is immaculately restored with an amazing cook’s kitchen, pantry, tons of woodwork, leaded glass, an elegant stair, fire places (including one on the rear lanai), and a pair of large porches. It also comes with a giant glass doored 4 car garage, sporting a pretty cool second floor apartment. In addition to its 11 bathrooms the house has 16 rooms of various type, including 7 bedrooms filling out its 8,885…
This unassuming house at 81 Cleveland Avenue packs a lot of punch within a charming package. Its comfortable size allows for the elegant flow of rooms you find in much bigger houses without the burden of a much bigger house. In so many ways this residence has everything you could ever want in a house. It sits (literally) within a few steps of two of Buffalo’s most prestigious schools (Canisius High School and Nardin Academy) on one of the Elmwood Village’s premier streets just a short walk to the best part of Elmwood. It has porches front and back with…