Thanks Steel--you're so right about this house; it has a very seductive personality. I believe this was the Shea house (as in Shea's Buffalo), but I may be mistaken. It does stand out on Richmond.

Although clapboard and shingle do dominate Buffalo housing, there are more than a few stone and other textures of housing. West Ferry, especially between Delaware and Elmwood, Cleveland, Oakland, Tudor, St. Catherine's Court, Bidwell, and Lincoln Parkway all have beautiful examples of non-wooden homes. But wow, this house I could fall in love with. I have heard that someone is slowly restoring it, but who knows for sure.

Talk about a very unique home. I see these places and just wonder who lives in them, and what it would have been like in the time that they were built.

The second owner of this house was a Shea, but it was a family member of the theatre owner rather than himself. I live a few houses away and I do have a picture of the building with it's front porch (if it survived the fire - I'll look today). Much of the house appears to be poured concrete rather than stone and some of the swags have already spalled off.

I'm not sure of it's the second house on the site or if the carriage house was just built at another time. Neighborhood lore has it that the carriage house was used for horse-drawn funeral hearses - I'm trying to verify that with some photos. The carriage house was used as an auto-body shop from the 30's until a few years ago, when long-time family members stripped all the paint off the brick and invested several hundred thousand dollars to turn it into an incredible loft home.

The house itself is rumored to be going up for sale soon. It is currently cut into apartments but would make an amazing single. Unfortunately the carriage house does not come with the property.

If I can find the photo with the porch I'll see if I can get George or Newell to add it to the post.

Harvey

Harvey

Thanks for adding that info and yes definitely try to get that picture posted. I am going to have to look more closely at that house I am shocked that it is concrete. I am usually much more observant than that. This house is definitely one of Buffalo's most unique treasures

i love this house, but i am always baffled by the cheap patio furniture on the porch tho... it just seams like that house should have a giant throne carved of solid marble on the porch :)

I always thought the house was made of sandstone???

The Shea family sold the home in the 1990's and it was occupied by a Buffalo resident who made some improvements on the inside. He recently ran aground financially and I believe the house was taken by the bank and sold at a foreclosure auction.

As for the inside, it still exists as a single family home on the 1st and 2nd floors. It has not been cut up into apartments. The 3rd floor is an open spaced aparptment with skylights.

I saw a picture of the porch that existed years ago. I don't know the story behind it.

This has ALWAYS been one of my favorite houses in Buffalo!

It's so beautiful!

I found the photo. It's small, dark, and a little smoky but you can see what the porch looked like. I'm not sure on the concrete materials - that's the neighborhood story. The spalling details could easily be sandstone or some other soft stone.

I'll see if I can get the photo posted tonight. I also found my photo of the horse stable on Jersey street that was discussed in an earlier post.

Harvey

tear it down - build a Richmond ave Walgreens

There is a plain stone house on Crestwood Avenue in North Buffalo, built in 1860. I was told it was originally a distribution center for the fruits and vegetables for farmlands all the way up to Sheridan Drive, but have not been able to verify. It was converted into a residence in 1904. I lived in it for several years and having had some stone repair done after the south wall had sprung, the mason found the walls were not one layer of stone, but two, giving it a depth of about twenty four inches. It's not pretty from the outside, but what a great house.

There is also much Buffalo lore about this house being haunted. I know for a fact that some very tough, macho guys have been reduced to begging for mercy when confronted by the two spirits that still roam these walls. The people that have told these tales are ones that I'd tend to believe were telling the truth.

It appears that the house has always occupied that site. The Buffalo Sanborn Map from 1889-1900, (vol.1,1899,Sheet 79 and earliest that it shows up) shows it as it is today, but as a 2 storey dwelling. The "carriage house" out back is actually labeled as a dwelling and stable with a lumber storage area at the end of the alley, and is not part of the lot the house sits on. Map from 1916-1940, dated 1925 shows it as a 35 car garage, while the dwelling is the same. The 1925-1951 map shows it as an auto repair shop and the dwelling as 2 1/2 storey building.

Having owned the home for twelve years I can tell you that it is Medina sandstone, and is two units as earlier stated. It was the first home on the property, with windows to the north and south that were covered up before i was even born in the 60's. The place has had much refurbishing, both in and out, but unless you possess the GNP of a small country you too will be overwhelmed by the amount of cash that a home like this gobbles up. And, yes, the ghosts want their cut, too.