The Architectural Treasures of Buffalo New York

The Architectural Treasures of Buffalo New York are many, and a recent visit there highlighted several, including this magnificent pile of Medina Sandstone which was designed just after the Civil War by Henry Hobson Richardson. The Buffalo State Hospital, originally sat on 200 acres north of the city, and consisted of 11 buildings. It is in a rather uncertain state right now, with a chain link fence around much of the main building. Buffalo State University now stands on part of the original farmland which surrounded the building.

Another great Buffalo building is on Main St., downtown. The Ellicott Square Building, 1895-6 was designed by Daniel Burnham with Charles B. Atwood. At the time of its completion, it was called the largest office building in the world. Its glass covered concourse is one of Buffalo's most ornamental public spaces. Its concourse is so lovely that a wedding reception was being set up the day we were there.

Contrasting all this delicacy is the nearby Erie Community College building, originally designed to house Federal Courts and designed by James Knox Taylor, architect of the U.S. Treasury. It had later tenants and was in danger of being torn down in 1969, when a critic called it a "monstrous pile of death-like stone." Preservationists thought otherwise, and in 1972 it was placed on the National Register of Historic Places!
These are just a few of the great buildings that make Buffalo an interesting place for an out-of-town architecture lover and Realtor in the historic home field.