689 & 691 Lafayette Avenue
Buffalo, NY

July 2018 photos

  • (aka 689 Lafayette Avenue & 691 Lafayette Avenue)
  • Ca. 1921
  • 2 1⁄2-story hipped roof frame duplex with Prairie styling.
  • Stone slab foundation, brick siding, asphalt roof.
  • Side entries on both sides.
  • Wood casement windows.
  • 1st story enclosed sunroom with leaded  casement windows and roof deck.
  • Block modillions at flared boxed eaves.
  • Contains contributing flat roof brick 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

Built in 1921, this stately Prairie style Arts and Crafts upper/lower duplex has two separate side entries comprised of Tuscan columns and pilasters supporting a wrought iron balustrade.  It is impossible to miss the flared block modillion boxed support eaves.  A single driveway serves both the upper and lower unit. 

First occupied by Claude H. Eggleston and his family in 1922 through his death in 1954, Eggleston was an insurance executive with Aetna, a founding member of the Buffalo Drum Corp., and was politically active in Francis X. Schwab’s mayoral campaigns throughout the 1920’s. 

The highly unusual marble flooring in the entry foyer matches the flooring found in Bennett High School.  The owners have researched style-specific Arts and Crafts furnishings and decorating styles and have restored the home’s original moldings and had Arts and Craft style custom radiator covers made.  There is subtle wall stenciling located throughout the house. Nearly every room has been stenciled by a local artisan in authentic Arts and Crafts palettes and colors to compliment the geometric patterns in the wood floors.  Previous owners removed the butler pantry in the kitchen using inferior quality materials.  The current owner has restored that woodwork and molding to reflect the style of the rest of the house.  The dining room is handsomely appointed with a rich, dark wainscoting.  Sunrooms flank both the front and the back of the house and the front sunroom is lined with leaded casement windows. The upper unit is the twin of the lower unit. 

Facade


2 1⁄2-story hipped roof frame duplex with Prairie styling.




Left (east) house number: 691 - Second floor  ...   Right (west) house number: 689 - First floor



#689 first floor enclosed porch   ...   #691 second floor porch



Copper conductor head  and downspouts



#691 second floor  French doors   ...   Wrought iron  balustrade




#689 first floor wood Tuscan pilaster   ...  
Leaded  casement windows




East elevation


North (front) and east elevations   ...   #691 second floor entrance



Dormers with  hipped roof    ...   Block modillions at flared boxed eaves


#691 entrance:   Wrought iron  balustrade    ...   Tuscan columns and pilasters




West elevation


North (facade) and west elevations



 Eaves and #689 entrance
identical  to those on the east elevation



West elevation
Block modillions support eaves    ...    #689 entrance



  Block modillions at flared boxed eaves



#689 entrance:  Tuscan columns and pilasters



  Tuscan capitals





Photos and their arrangement © 2018 Chuck LaChiusa
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