Coplon Mansion & Apartment - Table of Contents

Coplon Mansion / Alverno Hall / Curtis Hall
Daemen College, 4380 Main St., Amherst, NY

Erected:

1918-1919

Architect:

Louis Greenstein                     

    Builder:

Siegfried Construction

Style:

Italian Renaissance Revival

Building materials:

Columns, arches, and base of building are of Indiana stone.

Original owners:

Coplon family

2006 building uses:

  • Mansion -Patricia E. Curtis Hall (classrooms and offices)
  • Garage/chauffeur's apartment - Thomas Reynolds Center for Special Education

TEXT Beneath Illustrations

Click on illustrations for larger size -- and additional information

Driveways (2) from Getzville Rd. and Main St. and the driveway around the mansion are original

 

 

Italian Renaissance Revival, an  architectural style which is relatively rare in Amherst

  • Recessed portico with Tuscan order columns
  • The portico is three bays wide
  • The central section of the mansion is flat roofed distinguishing it from the hipped roofs
  • Stucco wall cladding

Copper gutters and drainpipe

 

Eared window architrave

Stone walls (southeast of house) are original and made up part of the formal, sunken garden

 

 

Blind arch

 

Contributing garden wall of uncoursed fieldstone includes a stone bench and flagstone stairs leading to the north driveway




The U-shape design of the mansion was strictly symmetrical and the east and west wings are nearly identical.




Daemen College, formerly Rosary Hill College, was founded by the Franciscan Sisters of Penance and Christian Charity (O. S. F.).

Alverno takes its name from a mountain in Italy (La Verna) that was given to St. Francis as a gift. The mountain was used by St. Francis and his followers as a place for reflection. It is there that St. Francis gained a perspective on life that never left him - an understanding of what it means to love in life, to love God and to love one's sisters and brothers, one's family and neighbors. "Alverno," then, has meant for Franciscans a place to gain such an insight into the meaning of one's life that it enables one to help others also to find a deeper more meaningful life. "Alverno" - a mountain to be found everywhere when one chooses to gain a perspective on one's life. --Alverno

Patricia E. Curtis chaired the music department of the college which had been housed in that building for many years; she became the Vice President for Academic Affairs and Academic Dean of the College before her untimely death.

- Dr. John Segmen

Photo © 2006 Carolyn Duax
Page by Chuck LaChiusa
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