Just when you thought everyone had "Wright-fever" in Buffalo, New York—this article runs in The Buffalo News about neighbors of the Walter V. Davidson House and their opposition to it becoming an overnight rental. As explained in the article:
Some [neighbors] voiced grave reservations Wednesday about what they perceived as essentially a small-scale hotel operating on their residential street.
“I don’t know if this is going to be good for the value of my house when I go to sell it,” said one Tillinghast Place resident. “I just don’t know if I want that on street.”
Seems like everyone appreciates architecture until it's open to the public on their street. So are these people being unjustly paranoid or do they have a legitimate gripe? Let us know what you think.
Photo courtesy of The Buffalo News
Wright rental houses are much different from Wright house museums. The house museums bring thousands of visitors a year, require provisions for parking of cars and buses. The house rentals bring two to six people to a neighborhood for a few days usually in one or two vehicles. Wright rental houses have successfully co-existed in residential neighborhoods for many years in many types of neighborhoods in many different states. I see no logical reason for alarm by the city or the neighbors. This is a very viable way to preserve a piece of historic architecture that would not lend itself to becoming a museum or tourist destination. In addition a usually run-down piece of property gets restored and the property values of the neighbors rise.
Posted by: Paul Ringstrom | May 11, 2008 at 04:44 PM