# 8 .... Buffalo's Best - Table of Contents

Parkside

Text by Anne Putman
Illustrations by Roger Leyonmark

Designed:

1876

Architect:

Frederick Law Olmsted

Location:

North and Northeast of Delaware Park

Status:

National Registers of Historic Places (1987)

Related Pages:

Parkside - Table of Contents


American Four Square
A sturdy early 20th century style of the middle class. Typically two story, square and box like, with low hipped roof and overhanging eaves. Often with dormer and full porch.



Queen Anne
A late Victorian style characterized by asymmetry and mixed materials. Picturesque roof lines and wraparound porches common.



Colonial Revival
A version of the Federal and Georgian styles of early America. Symmetrical facade and classical details. Often with dormers.

Tudor Revival
Picturesque style, featuring half-timbering, many gables, large chimneys and windows with many small panes in leaded  casements.


Bungalow
Typically 1 or 1 1/2 stories with wooden frame. Low-pitched roof with broad overhangs and exposed rafter ends. Chimneys and porches often of stone.

Few neighborhoods in the country had as auspicious a beginning as Parkside in Buffalo. Planned by the renowned landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted, the area quickly attracted the rich and professional classes of a booming metropolis. Many had houses designed by eminent architects.

Parkside was an internal part of Olmsted's park and parkway plan for Buffalo. The centerpiece of the plan was Delaware Park. From this green center the roads of Parkside spread like ripples, extending Olmsted's pastoral aesthetic. Parkside's gently curving roads and leafy land holdings, suggesting leisurely travel, aided the transition from the frenetic city on the outside.

Parkside's design, along with the architecture of its houses and buildings, and its significance as a social idea, earned it a place in the National and State Registers of Historic Places in 1987.

The Parkside Historic District is divided into two sections. Institutional development west of Colvin Avenue interrupted Olmsted's original design. Development of the west side didn't begin until 1923.

Parkside East: The impetus for the development of Parkside East [online October 2013] was the rapid growth of Buffalo's population, which doubled from 1890 to 1930. Subdivision of Parkside became feasible with the extension of the so-called Belt Line railroad to Amherst Street in 1883.

The landowners of Parkside East opted to increase the number of lots in Olmsted's original plan to profit from the high demand for housing. Olmsted was retained to revise his earlier plan. The subsequent development incorporated much of Olmsted's original design and intent, such as the curving streets and building setbacks, but not the generous lot sizes.

The architecture of Parkside East represents fifty years of popular residential styles, as well as church and commercial architecture. Within Parkside East are four houses designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. Prominent Buffalo architects W.S. Wicks, James Marling and Herbert Burdett are also represented.

Architectural styles include late Victorian, Queen Anne, Shingle, Bungalow, Prairie, Romanesque Revival, Colonial Revival, and Tudor Revival. The beginning of standardization is seen in the large number of "American Four Square."

Parkside West: Development of Parkside West [online October 2013] began in the 1920's on what had been the grounds of the Pan American Exposition of 1901. The streets of Parkside West, like those of Parkside East, curve to follow the boundaries of Delaware Park. The use of restrictive covenants governing setbacks, architectural character and construction costs resulted in a visual quality very close to what Olmsted had hoped to achieve. Buffalo's wealthy citizens built large houses in the historically-derived eclectic styles of the 1920's and 1930's. Among these are French Chateau, and Tudor, Jacobean, and Colonial Revival.

Parkside East:The borders of Parkside East are as follows: From the NW corner of Main St. and Humboldt Parkway west along Humboldt to Parkside Ave. then north to Amherst St., west to Colvin Ave., north to the Conrail tracks, east and south along the tracks to Main St., then southwest to Main and Humboldt.

Parkside West: Parkside West includes all properties abutting Nottingham Terrace, Meadow Road, and that part of Middlesex Road between Delaware Ave. and Amherst St.


Buffalo's Best is produced by The Preservation Coalition of Erie County, 20 Angle St., Buffalo, NY 14214.
The Coalition sponsors educational tours, lectures and special events and actively seeks to preserve the architectural heritage of Erie County. Write for information and newsletter.
This card is made possible with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts. Series editor: Timothy Tielman.
© 1987 Preservation Coalition of Erie County.


Page by Chuck LaChiusa
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