Bungalow Houses Are Important, Too

by Dan Tasman
December 1999


Highly modified houses, but still well maintained


Two-flat bungalows, unique to the Buffalo area


Mostly original

To view a larger size, click on the photo


Picture window replaced, siding added

I think it's great that so many people, so many organizations back home are working to preserve the legacy of Buffalo's built environment.

But there's one thing that's missing on all the Web sites, all the mass mailings, all the newspaper articles ñ the Buffalo Bungalow.

Tens of thousands of Buffalo Bungalows, called "semi-bungalows" at the time, were built throughout Buffalo and the inner ring suburbs through the 1920s.

The type of bungalow common in Buffalo is quite different than what was built throughout the rest of the country ñ wood construction instead of brick; a steeper roof pitch; and two stories where one was usually the norm.

However, most of the Craftsman features are evident in original construction -- knee braces, exposed rafter tails, porch supports with battered sides, a distinctive mullion pattern and multiple roof planes.

Included are some pictures of Buffalo Bungalows that I took several years ago. Some of them have been modified through the years, though -- the original windows replaced by more energy-efficient but historically inaccurate aluminum or vinyl windows, multiple picture windows replaced by single panes of glass, and rotted porch supports replaced by wrought iron among the most common modifications.

Many cities have a "Bungalow Belt" or historic district consisting mostly of houses built in the 1920s. Pasadena, California has "Bungalow Heaven." Denver has Park Hill and Washington Park. (In Denver, builders are constructing new homes incorporating Craftsman design.) Even Jesse Warner lives in a Buffalo Bungalow.

However, when folks in Buffalo think of "historic," the word usually implies pre-World-War I, and the generic term "Victorian" to encompass highly embellished houses built from the 1880s through the 1900s, spanning several distinctive architectural styles. Buffalo Bungalows are usually misidentified by area Realtors as "Colonial," and some have been "updated" with colonial features like fake shutters.

So, my question to the masses -- why are Buffalo Bungalows completely ignored by the preservation community?

Is it because the majority of them have been subjected to extensive modifications, detracting from their historically accurate appearance? Is it because Buffalo's bungalows don't look like those in the architecture guidebooks, the bungalows from Southern California, Chicago and Kansas City? Is it because they weren't built during Buffalo's "glory days," around the time of the Pan American Exposition and "City of Light?" Is it because Buffalo's "bungalow belt," roughly following the Kensington Expressway and coincidentally the outward migration of African Americans from Buffalo's Lower East Side, is not considered worthy of preservation because of its demographics?


See also:


Page by Chuck LaChiusa
|
...Home Page ...| ..Buffalo Architecture Index...| ..Buffalo History Index... .|....E-Mail ...| ..

web site consulting by ingenious, inc.