The Mrs. Seymour H. Knox House (also known as the Grace Millard Knox House) is a 48,000-square-foot mansion located in Buffalo, New York, which was built between 1915 and 1918. The house was designed by architect
C. P. H. Gilbert
Charles Pierrepont Henry Gilbert (August 29, 1861 – October 25, 1952) was an American architect of the late-19th and early-20th centuries best known for designing townhouses and mansions.
Background and early life
Born in New York City, ...
née
A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...
Millard) Knox, the recent widow of Seymour H. Knox (who co-founded F. W. Woolworth Company with his cousins Charles and Frank W. Woolworth), purchased property on Delaware Avenue north of Summer Street. The Knoxes lived at 1035 Delaware Avenue previously. Grace hired New York City architect
C. P. H. Gilbert
Charles Pierrepont Henry Gilbert (August 29, 1861 – October 25, 1952) was an American architect of the late-19th and early-20th centuries best known for designing townhouses and mansions.
Background and early life
Born in New York City, ...
to replace an older Italianate house that stood on the property with a new residence. The resulting structure was an extravagant stone mansion built over the course of three years that was completed in 1918. The house was designed in the French Renaissance style with a symmetrical façade and a U-shaped floor plan. The projecting side pavilions flank a recessed central elevation with French doors on the ground floor topped with round arches.
After the house was completed, Grace moved in with her three children, Seymour Jr., Marjorie, and Dorothy Knox. She lived there until her death in 1936, after which her eldest daughter, Marjorie, inherited the house. Marjorie sold it to the Montefiore Club in 1969.
Recent ownership
The Montefiore Club added a 20,000-square-foot addition to the building to house athletic facilities to the rear of the building, which included a gym, locker rooms, and three squash courts. In 1978, CTG (formerly Computer Task Group) purchased the property, which they used as their corporate offices.
In December 2020, it was announced that attorney Ross Cellino purchased the Knox Mansion for $2,470,000 million from Computer Task Group in June 2020. Cellino announced that he planned to make the house the new corporate headquarters for Cellino Law, the law firm he formed after the breakup of
Cellino & Barnes
Cellino & Barnes was an American personal injury law firm which was based in Buffalo, New York. It was founded in 1998 by Ross Cellino Jr. and Steve Barnes, and dissolved in 2020 shortly before the death of Steve Barnes.
History
Cellino & Barn ...
. Cellino also plans to fully restore the mansion.
Previous Knox residences
Before Grace Millard Knox and her children moved into the Gilbert designed mansion on Delaware Avenue, they successively lived at 414 Porter Avenue (a Queen Anne style residence designed by
Milton Beebe
Milton Earle Beebe (November 27, 1840 – February 3, 1923) was an American architect who designed numerous buildings in Buffalo, New York, in Fargo, North Dakota, and elsewhere.1035 Delaware Avenue (a Beaux-Arts style residence executed by Niagara Falls architect
Edgar Eugene Joralemon
Edgar Eugene Joralemon (1858–1937) was an architect in the U.S. The Drum Hill High School and Dunkirk School Number 7 are among the buildings he designed that are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
He worked in Minnesota and ...
) from 1904 until the Knox family moved to 806 Delaware Avenue (today known as 800 Delaware Avenue). After they moved, the family continued to own 1035 Delaware which they rented out until 1922, when it was sold to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Buffalo for use as the official residence of the Bishop.
Seymour Knox House, Porter Avenue, Buffalo, New York - 20200501.jpg, 414 Porter Avenue ()
Seymour Knox House, Linwood Avenue, Buffalo, New York - 20200502.jpg, 467 Linwood Avenue (1890)
Seymour Knox House, Delaware Avenue, Buffalo, New York - 20200430.jpg, 1035 Delaware Avenue (1904)
See also
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Delaware Avenue Historic District (Buffalo, New York)
Delaware Avenue Historic District is a national historic district located at Buffalo, New York, United States, and Erie County. It is located along the west side of Delaware Avenue (New York State Route 384) between North Street to the Sout ...
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Architecture of Buffalo, New York
The Architecture of Buffalo, New York, particularly the buildings constructed between the American Civil War and the Great Depression, is said to have created a new, distinctly American form of architecture and to have influenced design throughou ...