December 19, 2001

Buffalo's largest Italianate style house, the Squier house (1863) at 1313 Main St. at Riley - part of the St. Vincent's Female Orphan Asylum - was sold at a quickly arranged auction on December 7, 2001, to Cash Cunningham, an auctioneer with operations in the Packard building and showroom directly across Riley Street. Closing is expected in about a month.

It was reported to the Coalition that Cunningham expressed to Judge Diane Devlin In Housing Court earlier that week a desire to take over the property for purposes of parking.

The house is a designated Buffalo landmark as part of the St. Vincent's Female Orphan Asylum, an institution to which the George L. Squier donated the original house and grounds in 1885.

The house was completed In 1863, when Squier, a manufacturer of agricultural machinery who came to specialize in sugar, coffee, and rice equipment for Caribbean plantations, join his brother Fred, who lived on Utica near Delaware, In the far reaches of the city.

The house is a massive and pleasingly proportioned cube 50 feet on a side, and from the ground to the top of the roof, once surmounted by a cupola 10 feet square.

The ground floor windows measure 12 feet from stone sills to cast iron hoods. A smaller wing with an arcaded porch recedes on the north (lee) side, providing picturesque asymmetry and a focus for informal activities on hot summer days.

Missing its cupola and chimneys, the main house is in otherwise good condition. The same cannot be said for an attached addition, which has a falling roof, a building code violation which landed its previous owner in housing court more than once.

In 1885, after more than two decades overseeing the day-to-day operations of George L. Squier & Brother, Squier moved to the Town of Evans, presumably into semi-retirement, and donated the house and large grounds to the St. Vincent's Female Asylum of Broadway. The orphanage completed the move to 1313 Main In 1886.

Through the years several buildings were added, most notably a small handsome school building on the North Ellicott Street side of the property.

In the 1960s, the property was occupied by Erie Community College's city campus (which moved from the Pierce Arrow Motor Car building, its first home}. In the late 1970s, after ECC moved into the renovated Old Post Office, the property was sold to a dentist, who never occupied the buildings, although a Griffin-era sign announces an apartment project In the school room building

Although it is illegal to demolish a city landmark and illegal to obtain an emergency demolition order without going through the proper process, we have seen breakdowns 1n this protection before.

Those wishing to express support for preservation of the house should write to Judge Devlin at City Court.

• Saint Vincent's Female Orphan Asylum - List of Pages
  
  
• Buffalo as an Architectural Museum Links to photos and history of dozens of Buffalo well-known (and even a few not-so-well-known)houses and buildings. Listed by name, address, architect, and section of the city

• Important Styles of Architecture in Buffalo Links to photos and architectural features. Greek Revival, Bungalows, Queen Anne, Tudor Revival, Art Deco, etc.
  
  
• The History of Buffalo: An Illustrated Chronology Hundreds of short entries and links to photos and in-depth articles
  
  
• Illustrated Architecture Dictionary Dozens of terms with definitions and illustrations from Buffalo architecture
  
  
• Designated Landmarks of the Niagara Frontier Complete list of all local, state and national designations. Includes links.

---

This page was created by Chuck LaChiusa. Your comments are appreciated.


The Coalition seeks to disseminate architectural and historical information to the general public from many sources. While we use only reputable sources, we cannot guarantee the accuracy of every item presented as fact.