Cruising the Midway
By Barry Muskat
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This elegant Delaware Avenue townhouse is part of the Midway. Designed by George Cary, the neo-classical façade is made of golden Roman brick, terra cotta, and Medina stone.
Photo by Jim Bush. |
Theirs is one of the stately row houses on Delaware Avenue, a handsome complex known as the Midway. The Midway project was conceived by Buffalo architect E. B. Green, who acquired the parcel of land from Cornell Lead Works, which originally stood on the site. Green arranged for various prominent architects to design fourteen elegant townhouses to span a good portion of the east side of Delaware between Virginia and Allen. (All buildings stand today except for the unit at the south end, which burned and is now a parking lot.) Constructed from 1889-1895, each building in the row of stately townhomes is a different, distinctive design—forming an eclectic whole.
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The central stairwell has been stripped tp its golden Georgian pine and natural maple. The spacious center hall accommodates a baby grand piano.
Photo by Jim Bush. |
In Buffalo, Cary would become best known for designing the New York Pavilion for the Pan American Exposition in 1901—the only building at the Expo that was intended to be a permanent structure. (It is still in use today as the home of the Buffalo & Erie County Historical Society. Its white marble and simple Doric columns stood in simple and elegant opposition to the Baroque buildings of the Exposition.) For Forest Lawn, he designed the Administration Building, Main Gate, and the Birge Memorial. He also designed the Pierce-Arrow Motor Car Headquarters on Elmwood, as well as a number of city residences. (His marriage to Allithea Birge connected the two prominent Buffalo families.)
Although the Midway rowhouses were planned and built as grand family dwellings (called the Midway because of their location halfway between Niagara Square and Forest Lawn), the Schroder/Galda is the last to remain as single-family residential. Most of the others have been divided into apartments or converted for commercial use.
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The dining room features a heavy timbered ceiling beams and graceful fireplace surrounds.
Photo by Jim Bush. |
The home is beautifully warmed by four working fireplaces, each trimmed with neo-classical fireplace surrounds. Ionic columns support a simple entablature and mantle. In stylistic terms, the house could probably best be described as Edwardian. The owners describe it as “simple and elegant, not opulent Victorian, but more stately.” Indeed, none of its elements could be classified as fussy. Cary’s original plans show page after page of designs for the component parts: wood trim, straight lines, plain panels, and simple elegance. In execution, they come across as handsome and tasteful.
The house is now bathed in warm wooden surfaces, although at the time it was purchased by the present owners, much of the woodwork had been painted. They describe thirty-year-old white shag carpeting and lots of brown paint. The handrail, treads, and railings of the circulation stairwell were stripped. The paint contractor inadvertently left paint remover on the stair treads overnight; it leached up the balusters. The fortuitous accident influenced the happy decision to take it all the way and strip all parts down to their original wooden finishes.
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A Victorian reception room is the first room from the entry and was used to welcome guests. Today's owners use it as a sitting room where the fireplace is often lit.
Photo by Jim Bush. |
After the owners saw their house described on Chuck La Chiusa’s website Buffalo as an Architectural Museum (ah.bfn.org), as a “beautiful example of its type” though “sadly in need of repair,” they again delayed their kitchen project and focused on repair of the decaying verandah and balustrade, the most prominent feature of an otherwise pristine Neo-Classical facade.
The porch had settled, the terra cotta balustrades had buckled, and black tar employed in a hasty repair by a previous owner accelerated further destruction. The restoration tore the porch down to grade level, reused and saved the Roman brick, added steel and new joists, and recast the broken terra cotta balusters. This work restored the porch to its original elegance. The façade of Medina stone, terra cotta, and golden Roman brick is now impeccable by any standards.
The first floor is gracious and spacious, moving from an elegant reception room to a large central hallway—roomy enough to comfortably accommodate a baby grand piano as well as an oversized credenza. Over ten feet long, the unique buffet dates from the late nineteenth century and features a literal cornucopia of beautiful carvings. The dining room is equally handsome, its original woods and fireplace accented by walls painted a winelover’s shade of luscious claret. Its deeply timbered beam ceiling is original. (Apparently, the former owners removed a dropped ceiling to reveal the original beams.) The room is entered through an archway that may be closed by an unusual sliding pocket door—a one-piece unit crafted to the width of three individual doors—original to Cary’s plan.
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Outdoor spaces can be enjoyed in the beautiful city garden–brick and flagstone frame terraces of greenery.
Photo by Jim Bush. |
As was common with most middle-class family homes of the time, servants’ rooms are clearly indicated in the original floorplans. A former butler’s pantry has been converted to a gracious stairway to the lower level, and, above it, the dumb waiter and servant stairs have been converted into the master bathroom.
The kitchen is in the basement level (as was the practice in many turn-of-the-century residences). It was remodeled in the 1960s, and the owners are still planning their own renovation. The original bay window and brick walls offer great bones for any work that will be done. A former pantry is now “the glass room.” The lower level also houses a room with a unique free-form hot tub installed in the 1970s.
The second floor library, whose windows overlook Delaware Avenue, is used as a working office. It features a reproduction partner’s desk and comfortable leather couches, across from another beautiful working fireplace. In contrast to the knotty pine flooring, the room’s walls are now being finished in crown molding, raised panels, and bookcases of African mahogany. It’s a project that is being done in stages as budget allows—eventually, the entire room will be wall-to-wall books and built-in cabinetry, more beautiful than the original design, but executed within the spirit of fine materials and craftsmanship, as Cary intended.
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Wall-to-wall bookshelves are being fitted in stages
with African mahogany crown molding. Photo by Jim Bush. |
The owners treasure their house, recognizing its importance, and frankly state that “[we] more than likely won’t ever get out what we put in.” They intend to be there long-term, saying they’re “constantly discovering” things about the house, and “simply love being surrounded by history.” Humphrey, the immediately likable resident Chesapeake Bay retriever, appears to be extremely content as well.
Barry Muskat is an Architectural Historian and is Spree’s Architecture critic. He sits on the Preservation Board and is active in many community projects.
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