Hewitt House / Inn Buffalo - Table of Contents

Dining room
Herbert H. Hewitt House - Inn Buffalo/Off Elmwood

  619 Lafayette Avenue, Buffalo, NY

Inn Buffalo/Off Elmwood - Official Website



2015 photos


Note revealed ceiling at right. White paint was removed by new owners in the 2014 rehabilitation.




Stenciing
Originally, all the ceilings and walls in the house were covered by canvas which was attached to the wet ("tender") plaster. The canvas was  then painted by artists in most rooms, including the dining room. The art work was later covered with white paint, perhaps in 1943 when the house was converted into a boarding house.  A small section of the ceiling and wall, as partly seen in this photograph, was uncovered in 2014 in the conversion to a B&B.




Revealed wall section under crown molding features dentils  ... The circular pattern was probably guilloche pattern when it was originally painted.



Revealed wall section behind thermostat, one of nine identical thermostats in the house  ... The pneumatic  heat control thermostat manufacturer was  Johnson Services of Milwaukee, WI,  which patented the design in 1894   ... Circles are probably a faded guilloche


pattern




Leaded glass sash window




Leaded glass sash window, closed  ... The development of counterweighted vertically sliding sashes in the 1670s eliminated the need for for mullions and transoms while allowing much larger areas of glass to be moved.




Leaded glass sash window, open ... Windows are raised into the upper wall.






Mirror was a gift in May 2014 from one of the guests in the B&B




Mirror detail




Fireplace with original gas logs ... Brick hearth




Fireplace marble detail






Empire style sideboard
Empire sideboards went classically architectural, with scroll or pillar supports, two end doors and two central doors.  Soon a looking glass was invariably set in the back rail, often with shelves above it. Mahogany was the preferred wood, with symmetrically matched veneers glued on pine ... Two details below:




Detail #1 - Empire style sideboard




Detail #2 - Empire style sideboard ... Flame / Crotch mahogany   ...  C-scroll foot




 
Empire style  server   ... Matches the sideboard illustrated above ... Both the sideboard and server, part of a dining room set (along with a dining table)  are family heirlooms from Jamestown ... Two details below:



Server detail #1: Console




Server detail #2: Bottom of scroll or pillar support ...  C-scroll foot






Special thanks to owners Ellen and Joseph Lettieri for their cooperation and assistance in 2015.
Photos and their arrangement © 2015 Chuck LaChiusa
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