695 Lafayette Avenue

William F. and Lula Colton Strasmer

695 Lafayette Avenue, Buffalo, NY

Ca. 1898
2 1⁄2-story hipped roof Colonial Revival frame house.
Stone foundation, wood clapboard siding with Ionic corner pilasters, asphalt roof.
Central entry under full width flat roof porch with plain balustrade, square supports, and denticulated cornice.
Mixed replacement and 1/1 double hung wood windows.
2nd story small central Palladian window, twin bay windows.
Twin pedimented dormers, arched broken ogee dormer in center.
Contains contributing side gable frame secondary building (garage).

- Elmwood East Nomination for the National Register of Historic Places, Section 7, p. 192

On the Explore Buffalo Lafayette Avenue Tour of Homes
September 22, 2018
Research by Judy Tucker

This house was built for William F. Strasmer and his wife Lula Colton Strasmer in 1896. The young newlyweds held their wedding reception in the house on September 28, 1897. William was born and raised in Buffalo and became a very prominent solo practitioner attorney. Lula was active in social circles and was the President of Magazine Club, a weekly woman’s publication that covered topics from latest inventions to gardening. She also headed the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolutions from 1900 through 1920’s. Their daughter, Katherine Strasmer, married Robert C. Graves, Jr. in 1927 and continued to live in the house for another 30 years.

For eighteen years, John Bliss has been caretaker of this home, doing extensive renovations, while maintaining the integrity of the home’s original design. Bliss has turned it into a welcoming gathering place for his children, family, and friends.

The exterior of the home has undergone a 21st century makeover with a new porch, garage, deck, siding, and composite slate/copper roofing. Five steps past the oversized front door and you will be amazed by the massive quarter sawn oak wainscoting/staircase, and the cathedral like stained-glass windows. Nearly all walls/floors have been refinished, double hung windows restored, and modern heating systems added. Most recently, Lula Strasmer’s original safe, labeled with her name, has been integrated into a first floor bathroom restoration. The Strasmer’s may have built this house, but clearly, this house is earning the label “House of Bliss”.