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Architects
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Joseph Lyman Silsbee and James
Marling
Silsbee's second house commission for Buffalo. $25,000.
The first commission was next door at 291 North St., the Noyes/Naylon House. The
cost for each house was $25,000.
In 1882 Silsbee opened an office in Buffalo with Buffalonian James H. Marling (1857-1895)
who also had worked in Silsbee's Syracuse office before coming to Buffalo. (Silsbee
continued his office and residence in Syracuse.) All of the commissions that Silsbee
had in Buffalo (21 houses, plus some commercial buildings) were the result of the
contacts he made when he designed the Falconwood clubhouse in Grand Island and the
Hamlin Park Driving Club. Silsbee designed several houses for the Hamlin family. |
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Built
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1885 or 1886
Bemis lived on the property in another building and is listed at the address in '83
but building citations and research of Silsbee's work of the period proves that the
home was built a few years later.
See also: Highlights of Buffalo's History,
1885 |
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Style
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Queen Anne....... Flemish Renaissance |
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Owners
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The home was designed for John Muzzy Bemis and his wife,
Mary. Mr. Bemis owned a wholesale lumber company in downtown Buffalo until
1891 when the family moved to Pennsylvania. The company was then consolidated with
Taylor and Crate.
Silsbee met Bemis when he was designing the Falconwood Club. Bemis was a lumber baron
who accumulated great wealth selling the abundant timber from area forests. The exquisite
interior woodwork reflects Bemis's career success.
Mr. and Mrs. Philip W. Ransom lived in the house from 1955 to 1981. . Mr.
Ransom's career centered on real estate and investments. He was a descendent of Asa
Ransom, an early settler of Western New York.
The house was the Decorators' Show House in 1983. |
