Brick Bennett in the Village of LaSalle

A few years ago in one of the Sears groups, researcher Lara Solonickne of Sears Homes of Chicagoland mentioned two unauthenticated Sears homes in Niagara Falls, NY. The houses are located in the LaSalle section of the City of Niagara Falls (I see another Lay of the Land coming on about the different areas of Niagara Falls, NY).

Over the years I have Google driven down that block and the surrounding blocks to see what else might pop up. Well, armed with many more years of knowledge, I virtually drove up and down from 56th St and Buffalo Ave along the Niagara River to about 86th St when Buffalo Ave runs into the LaSalle Parkway. I kept to the south side of the parkway.

Part of the LaSalle section of the City of Niagara Falls. Courtesy of Google Map.

Those streets ended up being chock-a-block with kit houses – some Sears, an Aladdin, and many, many Ray H Bennett models. 

I decided that for my birthday if the weather was nice I was going to drive to Niagara Falls and photograph all of the houses I mapped out. I was off on a Monday, the weather was glorious and my husband and I got in the car and drove up to NF. We started on 84th Street because it was closest and there was a brick Lynnhaven type (or should I say Sears Belmont-type since the Belmont was the brick version of the Lynnhaven. Check out Sears House Seeker's excellent post on the Belmont).

The Lynnhaven is one of those pesky models because it seemed that every kit house and plan house catalog offered a version and except for glaring differences it can be hard to tell whose is what.  Since the front window configuration was different from the Sears Lynnhaven. I thought it was most likely a brick Sheffield, Bennett Better Built Homes version of the Lynnhaven.

Comparison between the Sears Lynnhaven, left, and Bennett Sheffield, right. Note the window configuration.

We drove down the block, parked, and I snapped a few photos.

207 84th Street, Niagara Falls, NY. Photo by Sarah Mullane 2018.

207 84th Street, Niagara Falls, NY. Photo by Sarah Mullane 2018.

207 84th Street, Niagara Falls, NY. Photo by Sarah Mullane 2018.

207 84th Street, Niagara Falls, NY. Photo by Sarah Mullane 2018.

207 84th Street, Niagara Falls, NY. Photo by Sarah Mullane 2018.

Catalog page courtesy Archive.org

When I saw the house in real life, I had my doubts. Even though the windows seem to match the catalog photo and the blueprint, the peak of the entryway seemed too high compared to the  catalog photo. Is this one of the myriad of Lynnhaven clones and not a Bennett Better Built Home (in brick or brickface no less)? I shared my findings and misgivings with my group and the consensus was, yes, it looks like it is a brick Sheffield. So I left it at that. Probable, but unauthenticated.

Then while researching some more, I ran across this advertisement in the June 21, 1929 issue of  The Niagara Falls Gazette:

June 21, 1929 Niagara Falls Gazette.

And then it gets BETTER! The June 29th edition of the Niagara Falls Gazette had this photo and look whose name is there!

June 29, 1929 Niagara Falls, Gazette.

It looks like it took a while to sell as the offer was reduced drastically as can be seen in this September 21, 1929 ad.

This is the first of many to come about the Village of LaSalle in the City of Niagara Falls, NY. 

Sweet Carolina: A Bennett Foursquare

I'm looking at real estate listings in Lockport, NY and I see many houses for sale on Regent St, (which runs parallel to Morrow which has a Bennett Drexel) and it looks like there might at least one Bennett for sale.

40 Regent St, Lockport, NY is what I am sure is a reverse-plan Bennett Carolina. The Carolina is a large four-square first offered in Catalog No. 21 in 1922. It is the fraternal twin to The Erie, which was offered in the first Bennett Homes catalog on 1920. It wasn't offered as many years as the more popular Erie.

The Erie as it appears in the 1920 Catalog No. 18

The Carolina as it appears in the 1922 Catalog No. 21

The biggest difference it the Erie has a seperate front entrance and a smaller living room, where the Carolina's living room spans the front of the house and has a fireplace (which, of course, could be optional). 

Let's take a look, shall we? (All photos are from the real estate listing)

Real estate listing for 40 Regent St Lockport, NY

Windows on the non-catalog size match up perfectly, the proportions are perfect, the dormer window and dormer itself are good. Four our of five catalog windows are perfect. (Small "fireplace" window in the dining room instead of a full-size double window.) Facade windows are perfect, down the the proportions of the triple window. Chimney matches too!

The Carolina in the Bennett Homes catalog no. 21. 1921. Archive.org

Bennett Carolina 40 Regent St Lockport, NY. Non-catalog side.

The Carolina as it appears in the Bennett Homes catalog no. 21.

Bennett Carolina 40 Regent St Lockport, NY. Catalog side.

Floor plan 

The house does have an addition on the back. I don't think it's original because Bennett extensions, usually breakfast rooms, usually have a flat, not pitched, roof. The single bedroom window on the back is just where it should be!

40 Regent St Lockport, NY. Rearview with addition.

There are some differences but they aren't dealbreakers. In fact, I find some of them kind of fascinating.

.

Front door is a "Mohawk" door and not the "Chautauqua" that the catalog calls out.

Front door is a Mohawk design, not the Chautauqua the catalog calls for.

Mohawk door as seen in the Bennett Homes catalog no 21, 1922..

Hardware on the door is the typical Bennett offering.

From the Bennett Homes catalog no. 21, 1922.

Nice view of the living room and the staircase.

Living room with Mohawk door stair case. Reverse plan. 

The staircase and newel post are the typlical Bennett offering and match what is indicated in the floorplan. 

From the Bennett Bargain Book no. 35, 1928. Archive.org.

From the Bennett Bargain Book no. 35, 1928. Archive.org

The catalog calls for a bookcase colonnade between the living and dining rooms. This house has opted for smaller opening and French doors. The back wall which should have the two windows instead has a cased opening into the back addition which looks like a den opening onto a deck. I didn't include the real estate photo of the den.

View from den looking through the dining room into the living room. French doors instead of a bookcase colonnade.

View looking from living room to dining room. The opening is larger in the original floor plan but is actually smaller because of the bookcase colonnade fills in the space.

French doors as seen in the Bennett Bargin Book no. 35, 1928. Archive.org

Biggest and a really interesting difference is in the living room. What is not called out in the catalog but this house has are built in bookcases on either side of the fireplace. It was definitely an option as can seen in the photo of a living room featured in the same Bennett Homes catalog.

Living room showing the fireplace and triple window and built-in bookcases.

1921 catalog shows a living room from an Aberdeen with built-in bookcases.

Lo and behold! The leaded glass doors match bookcase colonnade Style B.

Bookcase colonnades offered in the Bennett Bargain book no. 35, 1928.

Leaded glass of the built-in bookcases at 40 Regent St Lockport, NY

Close-up of Style B. 

Anyway, I think it's exciting. 

Closets are where they should be. Added bathrooms, which one would expect when the original house comes with only one. 

Typical linen closet that can usually be found outside a Bennett bathroom.  

. For all its dowdiness, I love the Carolina.

The Dreamy Drexel -- A Bennett Beauty

The Drexel is one of my favorite Bennett designs and, from how many I have found, a popular model. It was first offered in Catalog No. 30, which was published in 1925, and then featured on the covers of catalogs numbers 34 (1926) and 38 (1928). 

1925 version from Catalong No. 30 Click here.

Bennett Catalog No. 34. 1926. Image courtesy Archive.org

Bennett Catalog No. 38. 1928. Image courtesy of Archive.org.

There are some minor cosmetic differences between the 1925 version and the next years'. The layout was identical but the 1925 version didn't have a roof over the side door and the milk box was inside the side vestibule, whereas the 1926 and later versions had a pitched roof over the side door and the milkbox was accessible from outside the house.

 

The Drexel is such a unique and intriguing design. (Well, as unique as a Bennett model having a sister can be. The Dorchester is the Drexel's stucco, less-popular, probably more expensive fraternal twin.)

The Dorchester

Back in 2015, I was going through the RE/mortgage/deeds/lien notices mentioning Bennett Homes over at Old Fulton New York Postcards (https://fultonhistory.com/Fulton.html) when I came across a mortgage transaction from Carolyn R Lyman in Tonawanda, NY to Ray H Bennett Lumber Company in a 1926 paper.

1926 also brought a date for the transaction — December 5, 1925

 

The 1930 census puts Carolyn and her husband Edward at 100 Claremont Ave in Tonawanda (Township of), NY. 100 Claremont Ave brought me to my first Drexel. Reverse plan, but definitely a Drexel and not a non-stucco Dorchester because the windows line up perfectly for the Drexel. 

Screen grab I took back in 2015. Google streetview.

Windows match up nicely to the Drexel catalog image. 2015 screen grab from Google streetview.

I drove down Claremont Ave a few times in the ensuing years when I worked in Depew, NY.  The house isn't too far away from where I live – about 15 minutes south and east of me. There was no place for me to park to take photos, but I did notice that it still had the little window over the vestibule.  The window has usually been vinyled over.  

Fast forward seven years and I trip over a real estate ad on Trulia for 100 Claremont! With an Open House! I haven't been out of the house (except for work, helping my sister-in-law, or errands) for two years. I decide I can double mask-up to go and explore. Click to see listing

Bennett Drexel built in 1925 by Carolyn and Edward Lyman at 100 Claremont Ave, Tonawanda NY. Photo courtesy of Howard Hanna WNY 

Most of the photos are from the real estate listing and are courtesy of Howard Hanna WNY Inc and are watermarked WNY Reis. I took photos of details like the front door, linen closet, staircase, windows, etc. 

Two factors that also point to the 1925 version, in case you didn't have the mortgage information, are the fact that there is no roof over the side door (though that could have been removed) and that the milk box is inside.

100 Claremont, Tonawanda, NY from the real estate listing.

Bennett Drexel from 1925 catalog image flipped. Archive.org

    

The "catalog" side windows match the image beautifully and look at the small window! Photograph Sarah Mullane 

According to the floor plan, there are two French doors between the Living room and the Dining room, flanking the fireplace. These have been replaced by plastered arches, which were a typlical Bennett offering and probably a less expensive option. There is supposed to be a set of French doors between the Living room and Hall, but this, too, has been replaced with a plastered arch. The original hardwood floors are amazing throughout the house.

Real Estate photo of the living room showing the three plastered arches. 

Another view of the Living room looking into the Dining room. Windows match perfectly to the floor plan.

View looking toward the front of the house with the view of the plaster arch into the foyer.

Dining room looking into the Living room.

Dining room looking into the kitchen. 

One of the interesting aspects of this model is the living room. As you can see it is one great expanse to the triple window at the front of the house. What is unusual about this is that with a Bennett house, a protrusion in the front of the house like this would normally be a sunroom, defined as a separate room with French doors or a plastered arch. This is not the case with the Drexel and the Dorchester. It was also used in the description as a big selling point.

The sunroom would generally line up with the vestibule wall and would hit somewhere between the first and second sets of double windows.

Living room facing the street. 

The one place that does have the French doors besides the front door (which is described as a French design), the set at the back of the dining room that opens up onto a concrete deck. They are beautiful and just where they are supposed to be!

Dining room and French doors to the back patio. Look at that perfect triple window!

French doors leading from the Dining room to the patio. The bumpout on the back is the breakfast room.

The breakfast room is there with the double window, but it has been altered, and expanded to make a half bath. The half bathroom is off the breakfast room and is an add on, or at least not on the original floor plan. 

Breakfast room

Breakfast room looking through to the kitchen on the right and bathroom to the left

The kitchen needs updating. I hope they don't open everything up. 

Kitchen with peeks into the side hall and foyer.

Kitchen with a peek into the breakfast room.

Kitchen looking toward the Dining room. Breakfast room to the right.

The milk box in the 1925 version of the house is inside the house. The milkman came inside and dropped the bottles in the box. The ice box was also located here at the top of the stairs. It's now a closet or pantry. The basement and the rest of the house must have been kept locked. Not exactly sure where the bottles would go. On the floor plan it says "cupboard". (For that matter, the milk box is also inside of my 1927 home. Can't tell where it was supposed to go. Butler's pantry? That's the one part of my house that has been altered.) The next catalog access was moved outside which is more typical.

Milk box and side door and a visitor in the kitchen examining the information I brought with me. Photo by Sarah Mullane.

Milk box as seen from the stairs up from the side door. Basement stairs are down and to the left. You can see the entrance to the kitchen on the right. Those double cabinet/pantry doors is where the ice box was originally according to the plans. Photo by Sarah Mullane 

Moving upstairs, but bypassing the staircase which I will come to later. The bedrooms and closets are just as they should be, and except for the full bathroom being modernized, in highly original condition, including floor vents. 

The wonderful thing about this house, which I should have mentioned before, is that it has not one deck accessed from a bedroom, but two! One is in the large front bedroom and opens upon onto the deck over the living room and the other is in the back of the house and the master bedroom and opens over the breakfast room. Only the front bedroom specifies French doors. The back bedroom has a regular door. 

The larger of the two front bedrooms:

Front bedroom with French door to deck over living room.

Front bedroom and closet. The closet is very deep. 

I am calling the back bedrrom the Master bedroom only because it is the largest and also closest to the bathroom. The closet is smaller, however. The back bedroom:

Back or Master bedroom. Door on the right is the closet door and the left hand is the door to the deck.

Other side of the back bedroom.

Photo of the back of the house. Good view of the balcony door and single window.

What about the other front bedroom? What is that weird little window over the vestibule? 

The second front bedroom is the smallest out of the three. Nothing too exciting. 

Small front bedroom looking at the bedroom door. Window is on the side of the house

Small front bedroom with window looking out the front. 

The small front bedroom is actually larger than it looks in the photo. The thing it lacks, according to a young couple at the viewing, is a closet. But what is that door? That's the door to the attic — and also a closet! The window is a closet window. The closet is not as small or non-existent as the young couple thought and I can only imaging what fun young kids must have had playing hide and seek behind what clothes would be hanging there. Kind of like when I was small hiding in the cedar closet. 

Window over the vestibule. Photo by Sarah Mullane.

The bathroom, as I said, has been modernized somewhat. Tile floors look original as does the door and whatever the door is. Maybe a laundry chute, but I doubt it. 

Bathroom.

Cupboard is not original

 

A strange view, but looking out the bathroom door to the small hallway. Built-in linen closet that came with the house is unseen on the right. That little jog in the wall ahead is spot-on. Photo by Sarah Mullane.

Built-in linen closet with door closed. Photo by Sarah Mullane. 

Linen closet door open. Photo by Sarah Mullane. 

Let's go back downstairs to check out the foyer and vestibule. 

The view down. Photo by Sarah Mullane.

The view from the foot of the stairs with newel post. Photo by Sarah Mullane.

The newel post is the typical style that Bennett used for a lot of their homes: Main Newel # 680

Photograph by Sarah Mullane

Main newel post #680 which was included in multiple years of The Bennett Bargsin Book, their millwork catalog. The image is taken from Catalog# 35, copyright 1926. 

Base of the staircase. Good millwork match. Photo by Sarah Mullane.

From The Bennett Bargain Book Catalog No. 35 (1926)

The front hall looking into the vestibule to the front door:

French door to the vestibule with closet to the left. Photo by Sarah Mullane. 

French design front door. Look at that perfect half circle window. Photo by Sarah Mullane.

From The Bennett Bargain Book Catalog No. 35 (1926)

Last but not least, let's take a look at the garage, which in my opinion is a Bennett "Hudson" model. 

Hudson garage form the 1925 catalog Click here

View of the garage from the rear bedroom. Photo by Sarah Mullane.

I've been noticing the garages a lot more now. I am very much more aware of them now as their own designs and structures.

All in all, the Drexel is a very cute, not too small house of a nice design. Plenty of room and 100 Claremont Avenue in Tonawanda, NY is a very nice example.

There are two, possibly three other Drexels on Winston St which is a few blocks away. The weather was just too bad for me to stop.