For several years, I have been writing a year-end recap of new houses in the city. Covid made that recap impossible to do last year.
I thought I would start with an observation that Buffalo’s West Side is the neighborhood where a number of houses have been built or are under construction with creative and unusual design. Three of those appeared in 2021. Two were finished in 2020, and one was finished in 2019.
All except for one on Chenango Street, which was a redesign and rehab, were infill projects.
A house built 839 Prospect Avenue (lead image), designed by architect Kathleen Kinan, is the most interesting house of 2021 in my opinion.
Another unconventional house is nearly finished on Ketchum Place.
The third house of 2021, designed by architect Michael Anderson, is a house made with shipping containers as part of its structure on Hoyt Street (learn more).
In 2020, artist Ben Perrone’s house and workplace on School Street was finished (learn more), and a new house designed by architect J-M Read on Vermont Street was also finished. Reed redesigned and rehabbed the Chenango Street house mentioned earlier.
The Severyn Brothers continued to build new houses in the Oxford Triangle this year. One was built on Lafayette Avenue (1016) and the other was built on Oxford Avenue (219).
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Habitat For Humanity also continued to build houses in the city. The most interesting H4H house is on Brunswick Boulevard in Hamlin Park.
Preservationists negotiated with the organization to design a house that fit in with the surrounding housing stock. Habitat for Humanity also built or is in the process of building houses on Rose Street in the Fruit Belt, Verplanck Street in the Cold Springs neighborhood, and West Ferry on the West Side.
The Buffalo Erie Niagara Land Improvement Corporation or BENLIC built two infill houses on Crowley Avenue in Riverside.
Another Cold Springs infill project took place on Southampton Street. And of course, Colvin Estates continued to build out. This year the starting point was the corner of Starin Avenue and Rachel Vincent Way.
The project continues to build to the point where the two built areas will meet, with a cross street added in from St. Lawrence Avenue.
For the coming year, I know that the Severyn Brothers will build a house on North Park Avenue with a carriage house similar to the one they built at 1016 Lafayette Avenue that also finished in 2020.
In the Linwood-Oxford neighborhood (Lafayette and Harvard) is another house built by the Severyn Brothers.
Buffalo Bungalow has plans for a house on Winston Road in North Buffalo, and perhaps a subdivision at the east end of Seneca Street (learn more). There are other plans for infill on Prospect Avenue and at the corner of York Street and Plymouth Avenue.
Stay tuned to Buffalo Rising for more revelations this year.