The John Bemis Residence

If J. L. Silsbee’s Syracuse Savings Bank Building can be considered the textbook example of High Victorian Gothic architecture, then it is not a stretch of the imagination to consider his Bemis Residence the textbook example of masonry Queen Anne architecture. 

With its prominent front gable, terra cotta accents, and detailing that borrows from both classical and gothic antecedents, this home is a showcase of picturesque composition and detailing that are trademarks of the style. Inside the home is one of the few remarkably intact interiors by the architect.  It's design continues the Victorian detailing in rich woods and highly colored art glass and tile surfaces.

Silsbee & Marling designed the home for John Bemis, a Buffalo lumber baron in 1885.  It stands along North Avenue, a street that was once lined with opulent mansions, several of them also designed by the firm.