John D. Larkin - Table of Contents ................ Show Houses - Table of Contents
John Durrant Larkin Jr. House
65 Lincoln Parkway,
Buffalo, New York
Built: |
1915 |
Architect: |
Wood & Bradney |
Original owner: |
Originally the John Durrant Larkin Jr. House and one of five houses in Larkland |
Style: |
Colonial Revival |
Distinction: |
1981 and 1999 Junior League of Buffalo and The Buffalo News Decorators' Show House |
Location: |
Other Lincoln Parkway Homes Buffalo Park and Parkway System |
Bust of John D. Larkin in solarium |
The Onondaga limestone wall along Lincoln Pkwy. |
Architects: McCreary, Wood & Bradney |
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Rear of house on Forest Ave. |
Solarium |
Solarium entry. |
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Solarium marble fountain. |
First floor. |
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First floor. Original to house. |
First floor |
First floor |
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Second floor bedroom. Typical door throughout house |
Second floor bedroom. |
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Second floor walk-in closet |
- Built for John Jr.
- Designed in 1912 by Wood & Bradney
- Completed by 1915. Deeded to John Jr. in 1917
- After the death of her parents in 1945 and 1948, the task of going through their belongings and extensive collections fell to their only daughter, Mary Frances Larkin Kellogg. To make the job easier, she and her husband, Howard Kellogg, Jr. (grandson of the founder of Spencer Kellogg Company), moved into 65 Lincoln with their six children. The Kelloggs continued to live in the house until 1954 when it was acquired by The Buffalo Seminary through the generosity of the Larkin family.
- Privately owned beginning in 2007. See Larkin House Sold by Buffalo Seminary
John Durrant Larkin Jr.
- b. 1877
- Attended Lafayette College 1896-97
- M. Edna Crate in 1900
- Three children: J. Crate, John III, and Mary Frances (b.1909)
- Hired by Larkin company in 1898
- Worked as general manager, assistant to Treasurer, Darwin Martin, and elected president of Larkin company after his father died
- 65 Lincoln Parkway completed by 1915 and deeded to him in 1917
Mary Frances Larkin Kellogg, about age 15,
the only daughter of John D. Larkin Jr. and Edna Crate Larkin.
Painting by Alexander O. Levy, the art director at the at the Larkin Co.
Photo courtesy of Brian Kellogg
- In 1909 Larkin purchases a parcel of Rumsey's Woods (Ansley Wilcox represented Rumsey estate)
- Names the Lincoln Pkwy./Windsor Ave../Forest Ave../Rumsey Rd. block "Larkland"
- Limestone wall surrounding the block begun almost immediately
- The houses for the three sons were completed by 1915 and deeded to the children in 1917
- A service road cut through the block from Rumsey Road to Forest Avenue which provided for delivery of coal and other necessaries. In the center of the block was the large garage for 107 Lincoln with an apartment for Charles Pratt, the chauffeur, and his family, and next came the greenhouses and utility buildings.
- Each of the other three houses on the block had its own garage with an apartment for the chauffeur and his family, and each of the houses had its heating plant in the garage basement with a connecting tunnel for the steam pipes.
- Stables, garages for all the houses designed in 1913 by Wood & Bradney. The firm is best known for the Sidway and Spaulding building at Main & Goodell.
- Bradney lived at 547 Franklin
"The Buffalo Seminary Larkin House"
By Bonnie Bristol Clesse and Mary Beth Parrinello.
Pub. by the Junior League
The Georgian Revival mansion at the corner of Lincoln Parkway and Forest Avenue, now known as The Buffalo Seminary Larkin House, was originally only one of five Larkin family homes.
It was designed by McCreary, Wood and Bradney, a Buffalo architectural firm that designed both commercial buildings and private residences. The Spaulding Building and the Sidway Building are two examples of their work on Main Street. They designed several houses on Lincoln Parkway as well as the Willis K. Jackson, Conrad E. Wettlaufer and Forman-Cabana homes on Delaware Avenue.
In February of 1909, John Durrant Larkin, Senior, founder of Larkin Company, purchased an entire city block of land known as Rumsey's Wood. Bordered by Rumsey Road and Forest and Windsor Avenues, the property fronted on Lincol~ n Parkway. Larkin and his wife Frances called it Larkland and proceeded to have beautiful homes built there for themselves and four of their children (Charles, Frances, John D. Junior, and Harry). Each house had a garage with an apartment for the chauffeur's family above and a heating plant in the basement below. The heat was carried via steam pipes through a tunnel connecting the garage to the house.
In addition to the homes, there were greenhouses and utility buildings on the grounds. A road was built through the compound from Forest Avenue to Rumsey Road for deliveries of coal and other necessities. Finally, a limestone wall surrounded the whole property. Truly Larkland was a very extensive and beautiful estate.
Sadly, the main mansion of Frances and John D. Larkin Senior was demolished in 1939. The grandest, most lavish home of all, it had overlooked Delaware Park from the corner of Lincoln and Rumsey. The four children's homes at 160, 176 and 17S Windsor and 65 Lincoln remain with the original limestone wall to give us an interesting glimpse into the lifestyle of one of Buffalo's premier families.
John Durrant Larkin, Junior, worked in the family business as the general manager assistant to Treasurer Darwin Martin and finally, president. Married in 1900, he and Edna Crate moved into 65 Lincoln Parkway in 1915. There, they raised their three children, J. Crate, John III, and Mary Frances.
After her parents' deaths in 1945 and 1948, the tedious task of sorting through their belongings and extensive collections fell to their only daughter, Mary Frances Larkin Kellogg. To make this job easier, she and her husband, Howard Kellogg, Junior son of the founder of Spencer Kellogg Company, moved into the house with their six children. (Interestingly, the Kelloggs' own home at 12 Middlesex was the 1987 Decorators' Show House.)
In 1954 The Buffalo Seminary acquired and furnished The Buffalo Seminary Larkin House through the generosity of the Larkin and Kellogg families, Buffalo Seminary Graduates Association and many friends of the Seminary. The house has been used as the headmaster's residence and for social functions. In 1981 Larkin House, as it was known, was the first of the biennial Decorators' Show Houses. In 1999 it is the tenth, the only site visited twice.
Sources: "John D. Larkin: A Business Pioneer," by Daniel I. Larkin. Pub. by Western New York Wares, 1998
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