249 North Street

April 2007

249 North Street's original owner, George L. Williams, was one of Buffalo's out standing citizens during the last quarter of the nineteenth century. He was a banker with Erie County Savings Bank and later went on to serve on boards with the Buffalo Historical Society, Pan-American Exposition,and the Buffalo Public Library.

He built 249 North Street in 1877 and lived there until 1896, when he moved to his new home at 672 Delaware Avenue (the palatial estate that still stands on the corner of Delaware Avenue and North Street previously known as the Butler mansion, now the UB Jacobs Executive Development Center mansion).

The massive frame Stick style house at 249 North Street has Swiss styling elements. Some of the distinctive features of this home include its flared eaves and elaborate stick design in the gable and eaves.  The chimney stacks are accented with stone, corbels, and panels. Adding to the high Victorian feel of this home are its three story rounded tower and stick design in the clipped east side gable.

The porch and portions of the interior of the house (including staircase and dining room) were substantially changed to the Colonial Revival style in 1909 during a $20,000 remodeling effort designed by architect Emerson C. Dell.

Inside, the open stairway is built of oak in the Colonial Revival style. An interesting feature is the use of a group of three repeating balusters.

The dining room, paneled in rich woods, is also from about the year 1900.