Dining in high style
By Barry A. Muskat
Photos by kc kratt
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The dining room at the Butler Mansion.
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Traditional formality
The first example is the epitome of traditional elegance, a dining room from Delaware Avenue’s Millionaire’s Row, in the home originally built for George Williams. Most Buffalonians still refer to the property as the Butler Mansion, now the Jacobs Executive Development Center. It was one of four Buffalo homes designed by Stanford White of the architectural firm of McKim, Mead, and White.
This dining room’s sumptuous woods are reflective of the gilded age of craftsmanship. As considered de rigueur in grand homes of the period, the walls are divided according to classical proportions into cornice, field, and dado. Large panels of quarter-sawn woods cover fully-paneled wainscoting from ceiling to floor. Crown moldings, chair railings, baseboards, and trims are opulent.
The ceilings are all precast plaster medallions whose ornamentation pattern continues across the entire ceiling surface. The vintage dining furniture is probably similar to what the Butler family may have used, but is not original to the house. An elaborate crystal chandelier formally lights the room. Its prisms cast reflections from an era of traditional formality, elegance, and grace.
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A town house on Buffalo’s waterfront.
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The antithesis of the Butler Mansion’s formality is shown in a townhouse on the waterfront. Here is a Minimalist dining room that contains few superfluous elements.
Its designer describes Minimalism as a look that simplifies and edits to get back to pure lines and minimal forms. “It shows off linearity and is based on the aesthetics of silence, simplicity, scale, and line.”
The homeowners are empty-nesters who moved from their large, formal home. “With less space and fewer rooms, we wanted to use our dining room and not save it for special occasions, to eat our dinners there, but still be able to comfortably entertain,” they explain.
Minimalism often is adapted to a lifestyle that is intended to be simpler. The homeowners confirm, “We loved the formality of our beautiful mahogany Duncan Phyfe table and Chippendale chairs and hated to give them up, but at the same time we wanted surfaces that were beautiful but that didn’t need to be protected, and a setting that we could enjoy whether we were casual or formal.”
The dining room table was designed to fill those needs and still be elegant. Its stainless-steel base was crafted by metal artisan Jeff Gabriel. It employs thick rectangular slabs with open elements to allow light to flow. The top is an elegant black granite (Buffalo Marble & Granite) in a size that’s not overwhelming for two, but comfortably sits eight (and squeezes twelve). The corners are mitred, the edges are polished and straight. The owners note that they like the neutral background. “In table settings, we can use an assortment of placemats, tablecloths, china, or colors. The simple backdrop gives us great flexibility for seasons or holidays; we’re using pieces that never looked right before.”
Much attention was paid to the lighting plan, which uses narrow halogen spots to dramatically light the room, spaced and switched for flexibility when additional seating is required. Separate spotlights wash the buffet wall and its artwork. Stainless-steel Italian sconces can be used in conjunction with the wall wash or independently. Their Minimalist forms inspired the simple steel pulls on the cabinetry below.
The sixteen-foot buffet is a striking element in the room. Topped in black granite to match the table, it is maintenance-free for hot or cold serving, with straight edges and no overhang. The buffet is built of quarter-sawn maple with planar surfaces and straight lines. A high-gloss lacquer gives its understated design a rich reflectivity
Mixed in this monochromatic setting are pieces from the homeowner’s collection of black-and-white prints by American Regionalists in stark steel frames.
The room’s quiet color scheme is broken only with introduction of the warm claret leather chairs. The floor is natural white oak with a glossy finish, its grains warm in the sun.
The room and its furnishings are about proportion and line. While it may not suit everyone’s fancy, Minimalism is an architecture of reflection and calm.
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A dining room on Oakland Place
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This dining room is in a wonderful home on one of Buffalo’s most beautiful streets, Oakland Place. Dated from 1896, this bricked Georgian residence has Greek Revival elements and handsome details. Originally designed by Boughton and Johnson as a single family dwelling for Robert Pomeroy (an attorney who would later move to what is now Eggertsville’s Pomeroy Park), it was renovated by Esenwein & Johnson in the 1920s, and converted into three town homes by Hugh Perry in the sixties.
It’s thought that the current dining room/kitchen in this town home is housed in the original library. This is a wonderful space, surrounded by rich, dark paneling and a beefy beamed ceiling. The floor is deep-colored quarter-sawn oak planks, which may very well be original.
A major feature of the room is its expansive bay window of diamond-shaped panes of glass with true-divided lights. Its huge size creates an ambiance and brings wonderful light into what might have been a dark space. The window seat’s upholstered cushion provides a pleasant place to sit or read, acting like a cozy inglenook.
The eclectic room features a Kittinger dining table that was passed down within the residents’ family. “It’s from the 1920s and is walnut, not mahogany… more Jacobean than Kittinger’s usual Williamsburg style,” explains the homeowner. “I believe it may have been my grandparents’ but it was definitely in my parents’ home.” The table is paired with tall narrow-backed chairs (Canadian-made from Neo) that are reminiscent of classic Charles Rennie Mackintosh designs.
An oversized wood-burning fireplace warms the room in spirit and temperature. Above hangs an appetizing acrylic on canvas by Kurt Walters.
Arts and Crafts dining
The Arts and Crafts Movement had its roots in late nineteenth century Britain where it was a moral response to industrialization and the deterioration of the quality and design of many machine-made products. It promoted traditional crafts and vernacular building practices.
In America, the Arts and Crafts valued simplicity and directness, an inspired craftsmanship, and a direct expression of moral virtues. The style became popular through all socioeconomic levels.
Buffalo has many Arts and Crafts cottages. A quintessential example is now operating as the Elbert Hubbard-Roycroft Museum in East Aurora. Elbert Hubbard had been an executive at the Larkin Soap Company, where his genius for promotion pioneered mass-marketing techniques. He formed the Roycroft community as a commercial enterprise where craftsmen could enjoy many benefits.
The home in which the Hubbard Museum is housed belonged to Gladys ScheideMantel who, at age one hundred, donated her forest green clapboard 1910 Craftsman bungalow home to the Aurora Historical Society.
Its dining room is typical of the cottages of its era. Brimming with natural oak and Mission-style furniture, the modest room has oak floors and chestnut woodwork. The ceiling is beamed. The oak table and chairs are original and were used by the ScheideMantels. The lovely lighting fixture with its Steuben glass globes is also original. Of special interest is the beautiful polished-chestnut sideboard with squared glass doors. Its hardware is hand-crafted copper.
The honest craftsmanship and natural materials of the Arts and Crafts Movement fell out of favor by about 1910, but have enjoyed a huge resurgence of popularity in recent years. Although our fourth dining room is not necessarily a “look-at-me” kind of space that will dazzle the beholder, this homeyArts and Crafts space feels warm, welcoming, and effortless.
Barry A. Muskat is Buffalo Spree’s architecture critic.
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