Issue 18: Living History
Posted on Thursday, March 11th, 2010
by block club
Living History
By Ben Siegel Photos by Steve Soroka
See this story in the magazine here.
More photos of Beth and Jason’s house can be seen in this slideshow.
Marilyn Rodgers doesn’t have to wonder what her walls would say if they could talk. Her historic 1820 cottage on Johnson Park in the West Village speaks to her regularly, exposing details of its former owners and past lives. If her house were a person, the walls would be its diary.
“The last owner, [Pat Wooley], fell in love with this house,” says Rodgers, who purchase it from Wooley’s estate in 1994. “She had an infatuation with the color yellow. There were yellow roses all through the backyard. The house was painted yellow with white trim. Every time we went to paint something over yellow, new paint would come through with yellow. We had to paint it three or four times.”
The recurring paint predicament revealed something to Rodgers about the house.
“Pat Wooley is still here,” says Rodgers. “She’s definitely still here.”
Spirits aside, the idea that a house can reveal its own legendary past––or that we may be open to receive its stories–– is not a ridiculous one to homeowners whose houses have long histories.
“I think more people believe that it’s your house today, and it’s your house for as long as you’re going to live there,” says Joe Saccone, a real estate agent at MJ Peterson who often deals with historic properties in Buffalo. “You’re basically the steward of that house for a period of time and then somebody else is going to take it down the road.”
These stories enlighten homeowners to the families and practices of eras past, but also educates them about its structural strength and integrity.
“Every house has a story, but you hope that people do the right thing with it, even though the next person might come in and completely change it around,” says Saccone.
Square one
When Chris Siano bought his Johnson Park home in 2005, he––like many new homeowners of older houses––wasn’t prepared for the financial and time constraints a renovation project would ensue. His 1857 house, just doors down from friend and neighbor Rodgers, would require significant structural repair and cosmetic renovation. The house was but a shell of its original self.
Siano, educated in architecture at the University at Buffalo and currently employed in its art department, imagined what he might do with a 1,200-square-foot blank slate.
“It’s a small house so either it’s going to be good for two people or you’re going to cram too many rooms in,” says Siano, who had a more contemporary approach in mind for the 148-year-old house. “I made the rooms big, the staircase big, so it [would feel] like a big house when it’s really a little house.”
In 2008, after three years of renovation work, Siano moved into his home, his wife later joining him when they married. They hope to start a family there.
“It’s tiny but it’s nice. It’s enough that it’s comfortable,” says Siano. “It should never feel like a 1,200-square-foot house.”
Before cosmetic work could take place, the house needed major structural work. Floors were re-hung, a new, wide staircase was installed, and a support beam was replaced. A back deck was added and new windows were needed, but much of the work indoors was completed over time. The exterior remains untouched, as it was determined the bricks were too old to be stripped of their paint.
Still, work continues.
Siano’s modern re-imagining of his historic house is a far cry from what some might think of with textbook restoration, no matter whose standards of the term are considered. But when Siano took over the house (after rental tenants had vacated), it was clear that very few, if any, significant architectural elements were left intact. All that remained were the exterior walls and the roof. He did salvage a piece of molding, which he plans on re-producing.
“That was literally the only thing left,” he said.
But more important to Siano than moldings and decorative flourishes was the structure, which had remained intact for more than a century.
“I think good architecture is uncomplicated. Good architecture is going to be around in 100 years. The fact that this house is still here 150 years later, makes it good architecture,” he says, adding that his background in the field informed every purchasing decision.
“Because I studied architecture, I didn’t want to compromise on it. I’m unwilling to do a Home Depot job on it. I’m unwilling to just cover up the walls and let the next guy worry about it.”
Most of Siano’s money was spent on staple elements and not décor, which he keeps minimal. Good floors, windows and doors were important, even more so than the use of so-called “green” materials.
“I worked on a house that had bamboo floors. I appreciate that, yes they’re green, and yes [bamboo grows] fast. But there are 16 pieces of wood in a single strip of bamboo floor. Don’t tell me that’s going to last 150 years. All you have to do with this floor is scour it every so often and refinish it. It’ll be here for as long as you want. It’s red oak. It’s not the best red oak, but what’s more environmentally friendly: The floor that takes a little more to grow but will have an indefinite life span, or the floor that doesn’t take very long to grow but you’re going to tear up in 15 years?” says Siano.
He wishes consumers were better educated on the home-building and renovation industry, no matter the age of their property.
“How can you possibly––if you’re not versed in this stuff––make that decision? If I were somebody that didn’t know about flooring, I’d try to do the right thing,” says Siano. “It’s like with anything else. You have to be really knowledgeable or you’ll get screwed.”
With structural reinforcements made, and an adaptable forward-thinking aesthetic inside, Siano is happy to help the house see another day.
“Hopefully it will be here for another 150 years.”
Living in the past
Reliving the glory of a house’s original era can be challenging and rewarding, but as Beth Dauria and Jason Adamczyk can tell you, you don’t have to go too far back to get a taste of history.
A step into the couple’s 1957 Cheektowaga ranch, which they purchased last year, reveals a kind of restoration that has more to do with things and less to do with structure.
The ranch, part of a quiet neighborhood just east of the East Side of Buffalo, is an example of the post-war suburban boom which some point to as the beginning of the city’s end. But as this couple exhibits in their white-brick abode, respecting the region’s history means honoring more than just turn-of-the-century Victorian homes.
The couple’s late-’50s aesthetic is seen in practically every square inch of their house, from furniture to silverware to sofas to door knobs to window treatments to placemats to televisions to practically everything else two people would want to live with. Even their careers are ’50s-themed. Adams plays in the Toronto-based rockabilly band, The Royal Crowns. His girlfriend of 10 years, Beth, owns her own vintage handbag company, DungareeDolly.com.
For them, the mid-20th century was an era of simplicity in design and living. Their look reflects a marriage between “The Wonder Years” and “Edward Scissorhands,” where good, quality products with innovative design reigned supreme. This is not merely a trip down tchotchke lane.
“It’s a lifestyle,” says Dauria. “But I think a collector would come in and want a lot of our stuff. It’s just who we are. It’s not like a gimmick. A lot of people will do a ’50s kitchen and everything else [in the house will be] different. This is very cohesive. It just makes sense to us.”
The couple purchases vintage furniture and items from as close as the Clarence Antique Mall to as far as away as Albany, where they traveled to pick up their recently acquired maroon sofa. They found its owner on Craigslist and were happy to give it a new home.
“I always say, when people are hesitant to sell us something, ‘You’re not going to find a better home,’” says Adamczyk. His preference is for vintage finds, while Dauria will go with a reproduction––like their vintage-style green stove, with digital display in disguise––when necessary.
“I definitely like vintage stuff better, but if it’s a TV and I can get a new one and it’s in color…” says Dauria. “It’s good to mix the vintage stuff with the new, modern stuff of today. I like that collaboration.”
When settling into their new home, the couple looked beyond their things, though. A family-friendly environment was important, as was a neighborhood that valued a quieter, simpler lifestyle. The house came with many of the previous owners’ ’70s-era furniture, but required very little work besides removing carpeting and repainting.
“All the houses were well maintained, not just ours,” says Adamczyk of the neighborhood. “Everyone [here] takes pride in their homes. There’s a lot of new, younger families moving in, which is keeping that up. We plan on keeping our house up and living here and being happy forever.” Finding a house with original cabinetry and hardwood floors was important. What they found in this house was an authentic charm not usually intact today, such as the turquoise kitchen tiles.
“We really wanted something that was pretty unmolested,” says Adamczyk. “I wanted a lot of this stuff retained, because to go back to put it the way it was [originally], the way you think it should be, costs a fortune. So the more that you have to work with, the better. We came in here and there was enough to work with, and we could see past what was already updated.”
Though houses of the era lack the ornate details of a turn-of-the-century Victorian or Tudor––the typical image of an “historic” house––it’s the simplicity of functionality and form that give Dauria and Adamczyk a chance to connect with their house’s history.
“I want to come home and I want to get lost in a world. And I think people surround themselves with things that make them comfortable. Stuff from mid-century, it just makes us a lot more comfortable,” says Adamczyk. Dauria agrees. It’s become her life’s passion.
“I think a lot of this stuff give us some feeling. I think a lot of people will go to the store and pick something out and go, ‘Eh, I don’t know. I kind of like it.’ We don’t ‘kind of’ like anything. We love everything,” she says. “You definitely have to be passionate about everything in your home to make it everything you want it to be.”
