506 Delaware Avenue

Chillion M. Farrar House / Knights of Columbus Building

The stunning property located at 506 Delaware Avenue is the best residential example of Richard Waite’s architectural design remaining in existence.  Its opulent interior is typical of Waite’s penchant for rich interiors of rare, expensive woods.  The imposing three story Second Empire style mansion is filled with detailed architectural ornamentation: scroll brackets, the slate tile roof and the pedimented dormers with their detailed decorations.  No surface is left unadorned; there are even scroll brackets under the roof eaves.  The windows on the first and second floor are arched and feature keystones.  The building’s carved stone panels of Renaissance derivation in the tower that would become a feature of Waite’s subsequent commercial architecture.  The Farrar house was greatly enlarged for the Knights of Columbus in 1915 by Max G. Beirl, who continued the original elevation south along Delaware Avenue.  The house was built by the late Chilion M. Farrar and occupied by three generations of his family.

A self-made man, Mr. Ferrar attained national leadership in the iron industry. He was a founder of the iron works known as Farrar & Trefts and invented the reversible steam engine.  While he was a partner in this firm, it produced most of the engines used in the oil fields of Pennsylvania.  A lifelong Mason, he served as treasurer and master of Hiram Lodge.  Born in Detroit, Chilion Farrar lived in Buffalo during the most productive years of his life. He came to Buffalo in 1870 at the age of 21, and Buffalo was his home until his death in 1907.

Farrar married Elmira Sizer. They and their daughter, Anna, lived in the mansion from the 1870s when it was built, until Mr. Farrar's death. Anna continued to live in the house with her husband, John A. Holloway.  Mr. Holloway was the brother-in-law of Richard Waite, which is probably how Waite obtained the commission from Mr. Farrar to design and build the mansion.  Holloway’s name is immortalized in Allentown’s Holloway Alley, that runs behind 506 Delaware, between Park Street and Delaware Avenue and allows access to the mansions and houses on both Park Street and Delaware Avenue between Virginia Street and Allen Street.

According to popular tradition, a long room opened onto the spacious porch at which President McKinley paused for a chat with Chilion Farrar on the occasion of the President's ill-fated visit to the Pan-American Exposition.