Clement House (Buffalo, New York)

The Clement House, also known as the Red Cross Building, is a 17,000 sq. ft. mansion located in Buffalo, New York that was built in 1913. The house was designed by architect Edward Brodhead Green of Green & Wicks for the president of Marine National Bank, Stephen Merrell Clement and his wife Carolyn.[1] The building is a contributing property to the Delaware Avenue Historic District designated in 1974.[2][3]

The Clement House
The Clement House, July 2017
General information
Architectural styleTudor/Gothic Revival
Location786 Delaware Avenue, Buffalo, NY
Coordinates42°54′21″N 78°52′22″W
Completed1913
OwnerBuffalo Philharmonic Orchestra
Technical details
Floor area17,000 sq. ft.
Design and construction
Architect(s)Edward Brodhead Green of Green & Wicks

History
The Clement House, July 2017
The Clement House, July 2017

In 1908, Augustus Franklin Tripp died and his daughter, Carolyn Jewett (nee Tripp) Clement, inherited the Tripp residence at 786 Delaware which had been built by Erastus S. Prosser around 1855 and purchased by Tripp in 1881. Carolyn and her husband, banker and industrialist Stephen Merrell Clement,[lower-alpha 1] tore down the Tripp residence in 1911 and commissioned Stephen's friend, Edward Brodhead Green to build them a palatial new residence. The fireplace in the drawing room of the Tripp residence was removed and installed in the master bedroom of the new house.[7] Before that, the Clements were living at the home of Stephen's later father at 737 Delaware Avenue. Sadly, Stephen died in Atlantic City, New Jersey on March 26, 1913 before the house was completed later in 1913 at a cost $300,000 to erect.[8][9]

Their home had 20 rooms, including a music room, a library, a reception room, and a wardrobe room. The family bedrooms were on the second floor and the third floor was the servants' quarters. The entire left side of the house was the Clement's 1,040 square foot music room which featured two Steinway grand pianos, a harp, and a pipe organ.[10]

In 1919, the neighboring residence at 776 Delaware Avenue, a Richardsonian Romanesque mansion known as the Gratwick House, was torn down. Carolyn's father had originally sold a portion of his property to William H. Gratwick who had Henry Hobson Richardson design the house in 1886 as his last commission. The home was constructed in 1888 and completed by Shepley, Rutan and Coolidge, the firm that continued Richardson's practice.[11]

American Red Cross

In 1941, Carolyn donated the house to the Western New York Chapter of the American Red Cross in June 1941.[12] The residence underwent major restoration in 1999.[10] In 2017, The Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra and the Red Cross announced that local developer and philanthropist John Yurtchuk (co-owner of Calspan) would purchase the property and donate the campus centerpiece, the Clement Residence, to the BPO as a gift to the orchestra. After the sale, the residence would house the administrative staff of both the Red Cross and Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra "with the Red Cross occupying a portion of the first floor and the entire third floor while the BPO staff will occupy the second floor. The foyer and conference rooms on the main floor will be shared by the two organizations."[13]

In 1979, an office building and an adjoining structure connected by an atrium were built on the back portion of the four acre plot near the carriage house and another parking lot. In 2018, BestSelf Behavioral Health, a nonprofit agency, paid $3.15 million to buy the 53,500-square-foot complex on 2.85 acres behind the Clement Mansion.[14]

See also

References
Notes
  1. The youngest of the Clement's six children was Stuart Holmes Clement (1895–1974), who in 1911 married Margaret Livingston Bush (1899–1993),[4] the daughter of industrialist Samuel Prescott Bush, sister of U.S. Senator Prescott Sheldon Bush, aunt of President George H. W. Bush and great-aunt of President George W. Bush.[5][4][6]
Sources
  1. Martin, Susan (October 20, 2013). "Meet the mansions: A stroll along Buffalo's historic Delaware Avenue". The Buffalo News. Retrieved 19 February 2021.
  2. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
  3. "Cultural Resource Information System (CRIS)". New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. Archived from the original (Searchable database) on April 4, 2019. Retrieved May 1, 2016. Note: This includes Cornelia E. Brooke (December 1973). "National Register of Historic Places Registration Form: Delaware Avenue Historic District" (PDF). Retrieved May 1, 2016. and Accompanying photographs
  4. "Margaret Bush Clement; Bush's Aunt, 93". The New York Times. 2 June 1993. Retrieved 16 June 2017.
  5. Shapiro, T. Rees (June 26, 2010). "Prescott S. Bush Jr., brother and uncle of U.S. presidents, dies at 87". The Washington Post. Retrieved January 27, 2017.
  6. Archives, Manuscripts and. "LibGuides: Yale Officers: Calhoun College". guides.library.yale.edu. Retrieved 16 June 2017.
  7. LaChiusa, Chuck. "Clement House / Red Cross". buffaloah.com. Buffalo Architecture and History. Retrieved 23 February 2021.
  8. LaChiusa, Chuck. "Clement Mansion". www.buffaloah.com. Buffalo Architecture and History. Retrieved 16 June 2017.
  9. Davis, Henry L. (30 October 1999). "REVIVED MANSION REMAINS A CORNERSTONE FOR CLEMENTS". The Buffalo News. Retrieved 16 June 2017.
  10. Explore Buffalo (11 June 2020). "Explore Buffalo Building Profile: The Clement House". Buffalo Rising. Retrieved 23 February 2021.
  11. Kowsky, Francis R., et al. Buffalo Architecture: A Guide, Cambridge: MIT Press, 1981.
  12. "MRS. S. M. CLEMENT, A PHILANTHROPIST; Gave $80,000 to U. of Buffalo and Endowed Chair at Yale -- Civic Leader Dies at 82". The New York Times. 30 December 1943. Retrieved 16 June 2017.
  13. Press Releases (20 September 2017). "John Yurtchuk to purchase and donate historic Clement Residence to the BPO". Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra. Retrieved 23 February 2021.
  14. Epstein, Jonathan D. (September 28, 2018). "BestSelf Behavioral Health buys former Red Cross building on Delaware". The Buffalo News. Retrieved 23 February 2021.
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