39 Bidwell Parkway
Buffalo, NY

1 of 3 houses built for W. B. French

Additional sources of information found beneath the 2015 photos

Built:
1909
 W. B. French:  ##37, 39, 43 Bidwell Parkway
Architect:
?
Style:
Tudor Revival / Craftsman styles
Status:
Contributing building of the Elmwood Avenue-West Historic District

Bidwell Parkway
Elmwood Historic District (West)
National Register of Historic Places Nomination

Section 7, p. 8

Bidwell Parkway is an excellent example of Olmsted’s Buffalo parks and parkways system, cutting diagonally through the Elmwood Historic District (West) from Richmond Avenue and Colonial Circle through Elmwood Avenue near Potomac Avenue further on to Soldier’s Circle in the north-east.

The street and parkway itself were previously listed on the State and National Registers as a contributing element to the Delaware Park-Front Park system in the Olmsted Parks and Parkways Thematic Resources.

A divided roadway with grassy median, Bidwell Parkway is an excellent example of the type of road-as-park that Olmsted envisioned; linking pre- existing settlement at Black Rock and Cold Spring with ribbons of trees and landscape to Delaware Park.

The entire street measures approximately 200-feet in width, creating a broad roadway. The median is planted with numerous elm trees on a grid layout, helping give this area a shady, forest-like orderly appearance. Streetlights on Bidwell Parkway are cast iron decorative luminares on poles with Art Nouveau flourishes and glass globes.

Houses on Bidwell Parkway date from approximately the 1890s to 1900s, and many feature more high-style examples of Queen Anne, Colonial Revival and Tudor Revival styles. The street also contains several apartment buildings, compatibly scaled to the neighboring 2 1⁄2 or 3-story houses.
39 Bidwell Parkway
Elmwood Historic District (West)
National Register of Historic Places Nomination
Section 7  Page 85

1909
Built for W. B. French
2 1⁄2-story front gable frame ... Tudor house, ... stone foundation, ... masonry lower/faux half-timbered upper, ... asphalt roof.

Full width hipped roof [on top of porch]... open front porch with square columns, brackets, exposed rafter tails.

Tripartite windows flank small balcony at 2nd story. Band of 5 windows with diamond tracery in front gable. 12/1, 9/1 and fixed light wood windows.

Corner boards, ... flared eaves with bracketing.

Shed roof dormers on secondary elevation.

Contains contributing flat roof secondary building (garage).

[Ellipses added to the nomination excerpt.]
Property Details for 39 Bidwell Pkwy
Description provided by Trulia  (Online July 2015)
This is a Single-Family Home located at 39 Bidwell Parkway, Buffalo NY.

39 Bidwell Pkwy has 4 beds, 1 bath, and approximately 2,131 square feet.

The property was built in 1906 [1909]. 39 Bidwell Pkwy is in the Forest neighborhood in Buffalo, NY. The average list price for Forest is $190,562.


Tudor Revival / Craftsman styles







Supporting bracket




Exposed rafter tails   supporting widely overhanging eaves




Tudor Revival style:  Bargeboards on gable roof ... Half-timbering ...  Band of 5 leaded lattice windows with diamond tracery in front gable  ... Exposed rafter tails supporting overhanging eaves ...  9/1  tripartite windows flank small balcony




Craftsman porch:   Full width hipped roof   ...  Exposed rafter tails supporting overhanging eaves ... Large supporting brackets ... Plain balustrade on balcony ... 12/1 living room lights




Craftsman porch:  Exposed rafter tails supporting overhanging eaves ... Large supporting brackets ... Plain balustrade on balcony ... 12/1 living room lights




Exposed rafter tails supporting overhanging eaves ... Large supporting brackets ... 12/1 living room lights




Craftsman glass door and side lights




Craftsman glass door
Additional sources of information on this house found on Buffalo Architecture & History website:

1. Olmsted Park and Parkway System - Table of Contents
Bidwell Parkway is part of the Olmsted and Vaux-designed park system, the first designed park system in the US.

2. Grant-Ferry-Forest Intensive Level Historic Resources Survey
Intensive level surveys are usually professionally researched and published.  A wealth of information, among other uses, they can  lead to the formation of historic districts.

3. State and Federal Elmwood Historic District (West)
Bidwell Parkway west of Elmwood Avenue is included in the historic district.  There are current efforts (May 2015) to create a Elmwood Historic District (East) that would include Bidwell Parkway east of Elmwood Avenue. The main impetus for creating historic districts is for developers and  site owners to benefit from tax credits which is a way for society to express the appreciation of history.

Photos and their arrangement © 2015
Chuck LaChiusa

| ...Home Page ...| ..Buffalo Architecture Index...| ..Buffalo History Index... .|....E-Mail ...| ..

web site consulting by ingenious, inc.