Western New York Heritage Press

Saving the Birge Mansion


George Kingsley Birge in 1900.
Image source: private collection

George K. Birge, seen at left, was the son of the man who started the wallpaper business that became M. H. Birge & Sons. Under his direction, the company expanded and built an international reputation. In addition to the factory at Niagara and Virginia street (below), Mr. Birge was a co-founder of the Pierce Arrow Motor Car Company and its president from 1908-1916.

In 1896, he and his wife, the former Carrie Humphrey, hired the Boston firm of Little & Brown to design a 17-room, 12,000 square foot Georgian Revival mansion that was modeled after a French villa the Birges had seen on their travels abroad. The home's ground floor featured a billard room,a gymnasium and a music room with a pipe organ that Mr. Birge played. The highlight of the first floor was an elliptical loggia which rose two stories and was surrounded on the second floor by a gallery whose French doors opened into bedrooms.

The Birges entertained lavishly in their home on Symphony Circle, which they called Circle House. (Read about a 1902 party they gave and view photos of the house in its prime, here.)

Between 1897, when the home was completed, and 1917 the Birges contracted with George Cary to make alterations and modifications. Mr. Cary later married daughter Allithea Birge.


The Birge factory at 390 Niagara Street in Buffalo early 1900s. Image source: private collection

George K. Birge lived in the house until he died in 1918; his widow died in 1932 in France where she spent her last years. Their son, Humphrey, and his wife, the former Ethel Richards, lived in Cirlce House and raised their three children there. In 1938, they sold the mansion to the Sisters of the Divine Child for use as a convent. The order removed the fountain and its bronze statue of Venus from the loggia and used the space as a chapel. They owned the property until 1957 when they sold it to the Elks #23 for $100,000. The Elks owned Circle House until 1974 when it was sold to an entity called the Richmond Land Company. Although the property's grounds and gardens had been neglected, the house itself was intact until this time. That was to change dramatically betwen 1974 and 1982.


The Birge mansion seen from Richmond Avenue. Image source: Buffalo & Erie County Public Library

During this short period, vandals ransacked the house, removing the marble fireplace mantels and nearly all the hardware in the structure. Arsonists repeatedly set fires, destroying the billiards, music and gymnasium rooms as well as the servant and guest quarters. Broken windows caused water damage and the unsecured property attracted drug activity and became a neighborhood eyesore. The city granted the property landmark status in 1977 but no saviors appeared to rescue it. In 1982, the city auctioned the Birge mansion for $45,000 in back taxes. This time, investors and developers headed by John Chew's Olympian Properties stepped in to save the property from demolition.

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Use the controls to view the second floor plan of the Birge mansion as it was originally designed by Little and Brown of Boston, Massachusetts in 1896-97. Image source: Buffalo & Erie County Library

Two years and nearly $900,000 years later, the mansion was transformed into Class A office space following a historical restoration of the building to as near the original plan as possible. The Tonawanda firm of John Kloch Associates was awarded the project. The fire-destroyed rooms were rebuilt as office space, but missing windows were replicated to match those remaining. Mold was removed from the mahogany paneling in the library; ceilings were repaired or rebuilt, marble fireplace mantles and casings were replicated; ornate plaster work was repaired by hand; columns and capitals refinished or replaced by casting from wax molds of remaining pieces.

The exterior entrance area could not be restored; the covered pergolas were long gone and permission was granted to utilize the space for parking. The courtyard gate, although removed, was discovered and reinstalled. The brick wall that provided privacy and security for the Birges was deteriorated beyond repair. To save the expense of rebuilding it, approval was granted for brick columns and period-appropriate wrought iron fencing to stand in its place.

Despite this investment, the property did not return sufficient rentals and, in the early 1990s, the mansion was sold and, in 1996, it was sold again. John Baicco, owner of Biac's Restaurant on Delaware Avenue, purchased it and successfully operated a banquet and catering business on the first floor. Two years later, this business came to a halt and two partners, William Koessler and Frederick Pierce II assumed full ownership. The mansion was vacant again in 1999. (The two carriage houses on the property were owned separately.)

In 2001, the Buffalo Philharmonic purchased the mansion for $280,000 with the intention of refurbishing it for use as executive offices for the organization. Financial difficulties prevented this from becoming a reality, however, and the building remained vacant for another three years. A Buffalo law firm, about to be displaced from its offices downtown for construction of the new federal courthouse on Niagara Square, purchased the mansion for $235,000 in 2004. Matusick, Spadafora & Verrastro completed additional restoration and "freshened up" the 107-year old building. John Spadafora said, "We've worked very hard and put in years of long hours, so it will be wonderful to have a beautiful, prestigious building at this point in our careers. In a way, it will be like our home because we tend to live at the office 10 hours a day anyway." [Buffalo News, February 17, 2004]

In 2011, Spadafora & Verrastro continue to enjoy their offices in the Circle House, the Birge Mansion.

To learn more about the M.H. Birge & Sons Company, see the Fall 2011 Heritage Magazine article by Bonnie Ulrich, "A Design Wonderland."

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