Typically, I have been highlighting Buffalo’s higher end real estate on Buffalo Rising. The big extravagant Victorians provide a lot of fodder for an easy story packed with great images. But, this simple house at 146 16th street caught my attention because it is pretty much the opposite of Buffalo’s elite real estate. This basic worker’s cottage at 146 16th Street, listing for a whopping $269K, is on the city’s resurgent west side in an area where houses rarely got over $20,000 and often substantially less a decade ago. That is news.
It also caught my attention because it is one of the city’s ubiquitous telescope houses. These houses are to Buffalo what shotgun houses are to New Orleans, but they have not received the love that their southern cousins have seen. These telescope houses can be found in the city’s oldest neighborhoods but are most common on the east side. They are typically 1.5 to 2 floors in the front with a series of additions to the back which gradually step down in size like the old-time folding telescope. Vast tracts of these houses have been destroyed over the last 50 years but many still remain. It is quite rare to see one renovated like this. They were built very cheaply and often don’t have basements or even full foundations. It is wonderful to see this investment in Buffalo’s work-a day architecture. This one fully reworked on the inside with a charming new porch and paint job on the outside. More of this please.
Here is the pitch:
Open House, 10/6 1:00-3;00pm and 10/7 11:00-1:00pm. Meticulously renovated inside and out, this home features a 2 family dwelling with completely separate living quarters. Located blocks to Elmwood Village and D’Youville College, and just off of Connecticut Street, offering value to an owner occupied or investment buyer. The renovations include new: HW floors, windows, interior doors, plumbing, heating/cooling (including duct work), electric, and vinyl siding. The front owners unit features a 2 story living quarter with 3 bedrooms and 2 full baths, a brand new kitchen with 42″ cabinets, granite counters, a breakfast bar/kitchen island, undermount SS sink, all new SS appliances, recessed lighting, central air, and first floor laundry. Both units feature overwhelming amount of closet space.
The house has two apartments with a total of 1,838 sf, four bedrooms, and three baths. The listing says it was built in 1898 but from the looks of it, it is basically a new house now.