Hewitt
House / Inn Buffalo - Table of Contents
Formal Parlor /
Library / Music room
Herbert H. Hewitt House - Inn Buffalo/Off Elmwood
619 Lafayette Avenue, Buffalo, NY
Inn Buffalo/Off Elmwood - Official Website
2015
Photos Formal parlor Fireplace Foliated silk damask wallpaper stretched over felt(?) and tacked on furring strips ... Note tacks which were spit out of the artisan's mouth onto a magnetized hammer and then tacked Fireplace: onyx detail Fireplace onyx head (top) and jambs ... Original gas logs ... Hexagonal mosaic hearth Pocket doors Red mahogany pocket doors and baseboards with a French rub finish Pocket doors Kittinger Jacobean Revival table features elaborately turned legs and X stretchers on loan from the J. J. Marotto collection |
Library Bookcases are not original, but this was the original library. Evidence (not illustrated) is that the quarter-sawn oak flooring stopped a foot or so away from the wall indicating that there were original built-in bookcases. Looking into the front hall ... Wainscoting Facing the street Stenciled medallion on gilded ceiling ... Process: Plaster walls covered with canvas while the plaster is still wet ("tender.") The canvas is either painted or gilded - as in this room - or has furring strips added in order to tack on silk damask wallpaper - as in the formal parlor illustrated above - or tapestry - as in the music room illustrated below... Empire style Swedish chandelier is not original to the house Stenciled medallion on gilded ceiling - detail Stenciled medallion on gilded ceiling - detail Stenciled medallion on gilded wall Oak wainscoting Gas radiant heater probably not original ... Glazed brick hearth Adjustable music, lectern, book stand made of oak and brass with metal wheels |
2015 photos except where noted Music Room Evidence that this originally was the music room: The scenes in the tapestries involve music 2014 photo ... Artisans removing white paint to reveal the original stenciled gilding. Photo courtesy of Ellen & Joseph Lettieri 2014 photo ... White paint being removed to reveal the original gilding. Photo courtesy of Ellen & Joseph Lettieri 2014 photo ... Artisans removing white paint to reveal the original stenciled gilding. Photo courtesy of Ellen & Joseph Lettieri Coffered ceiling ... Three details below: Paneled ceiling detail #1: Uncovered stenciled lower section ... Wooden rosettes Paneled ceiling detail #2 Paneled ceiling detail #3: Uncovered stenciled middle section Note tapestry at right (in center, below:) Note center tapestry music scene, detailed below: Note bottom and top plain sections where tapestry is tacked onto furring strips Closeup showing furring strips, canvas, and tacks Walls were originally plastered, then covered with neutral colored canvas, and then painted or gilded ... Note unglued canvas Identical tapestries with music scenes on opposite wall 1871 Boston Chickering piano made of rosewood ... This style piano was a precursor of the grand piano ... Style: Rococo Revival |