26 Park Street

26 Park Street was built in 1849-1850 by twenty-five-year old blacksmith Sylvester Kinnear.  Kinnear lived in the house with his mother, his wife Mary Jane and their son Charles.  In 1848, Kinnear purchased the land on which he was to build his house for $337, a substantial sum in those days.

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The house that Kinnear build is a wood plank-framed one and a half-story gabled house typical of the type that was being constructed in Buffalo in the 1840s and 1850s for working families.  While the house is of simple and charming proportions, Kinnear used Greek Revival styling details, popular in the 1840s and 1850s, to give the modest home distinction.

At the front entrance you are greeted by a lovely columned portico behind which is the original Greek Revival style entrance with original six panel door flanked by sidelights.  (Note: the glass block, while decorative, is not original.)  Inside the entrance hall, an entrance to the left retains its original six panel handmade door.  Greek Revival style moldings with a shallow pediment separate the room.

The parlor and dining room each have beautiful grey marble fireplace mantles, probably installed in the late 1870s or early 1880s.  In the dining room, an ornate window to the left of the fireplace was installed about 1880, while the window to the right is an original six-over-one window from 1850.  The eclective nature of the house adds to its charm.

The house retains so many of its original features because it has only had eight owners in its 150+ year history.  John Rex, the current owner, purchased the house last year and has spent much time restoring the house from recent neglect.  He had to rebuild some walls and installed the lovely new kitchen that is found behind the dining room.  He also had to reconstruct the study that is found behind the kitchen.  Rex installed new windows in the back study that let in much light and overlook the charming garden that was recently created in the back yard, on DeRutte Alley.

Rex has found that his collection of family heirlooms fit in perfectly with the house.  In the parlor hangs beautifully restored mid-nineteenth century oil painting portraits of Rex family ancestors.  In the corner of the dining room is found a stately old grandfather clock built for a Rex family ancestor in 1786.

Rex is very happy with his "new" home at 26 Park Street that is anything but.  His future plans for the house include the removal of the imitation brick asphalt siding on the front of his home and the restoration of the clapboards that lay underneath.