Harlow C. Curtiss Building
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The Harlow C. Curtiss Building, is a historic building located in
Buffalo Buffalo most commonly refers to: * True buffalo or Bubalina, a subtribe of wild cattle, including most "Old World" buffalo, such as water buffalo * Bison, a genus of wild cattle, including the American buffalo * Buffalo, New York, a city in the n ...
, New York. Originally built for office use, the building was named for its owner Harlow Clarke Curtiss, a prominent Buffalo attorney and real estate investor. The building design resembles elements of the works of renowned
Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
architects such as
Daniel Burnham Daniel Hudson Burnham (September 4, 1846 – June 1, 1912) was an American architect and urban designer. A proponent of the ''Beaux-Arts architecture, Beaux-Arts'' movement, he may have been "the most successful power broker the American archi ...
and
Louis Sullivan Louis Henry Sullivan (September 3, 1856 – April 14, 1924) was an American architect, and has been called a "father of skyscrapers" and "father of modernism". He was an influential architect of the Chicago school (architecture), Chicago ...
, both of whom also designed buildings in Buffalo. The Curtiss Building was designed by Buffalo-based architect Paul F. Mann, who was a brother-in-law of Curtiss. The building is one of the largest
terra cotta Terracotta, also known as terra cotta or terra-cotta (; ; ), is a clay-based Vitrification#Ceramics, non-vitreous ceramicOED, "Terracotta""Terracotta" MFA Boston, "Cameo" database fired at relatively low temperatures. It is therefore a term used ...
structures of its type and period in downtown Buffalo. ''Note:'' This includes an
''Accompanying photographs''
/ref> It was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...
in 2008.


History

Construction on the building began in 1912 and was finished in 1913. The building's earliest tenants included the Kittinger Furniture Company. Other occupants included lawyers, stationers, and paramedical companies, but Curtiss did not have his own office here. The building had a series of successive owners and tenants over the ensuing decades, but was vacant by the early 1990s. In 2008, the building was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...
. Developer Mark Croce bought the Curtiss in 2002, and acquired the adjacent former Continental nightclub and a parking lot in April 2009. Croce also owned the Hotel Statler in downtown Buffalo before dying in a helicopter crash in early 2020. As of June 2017, Croce completed an $18+ million renovation of the building to adapt it as the "Curtiss Hotel". The Curtiss is Buffalo's only 5-star hotel. It has 68 rooms and is open for business. Amenities include a first-floor corner 3-meal restaurant, featuring a revolving bar reminiscent of Buffalo's historic Chez Ami Supper Club. This will have patio seating along W. Huron Street. On the opposite corner of the building, adjacent to a ''porte cochère'' and main entranceway, the hotel features Buffalo's first all-weather, urban hot springs/Roman bath.Tim Scanlon, "Curtiss Gets Corniced, More"
July 2015, ''Buffalo Rising'' website As of December 2015, project costs were estimated at $20 million because of upgrades. The bar is called ''"Chez Ami"'' and makes one full rotation per hour, "at a non-discernible speed," to give patrons a 270-degree panoramic view of the city through giant picture windows.


357-363 Delaware Avenue

In 1924, Harlow C. Curtiss commissioned a second commercial and office building, to be built at 357-363 Delaware Avenue, and bearing the address as its name. The Buffalo architectural firm of
Esenwein & Johnson Esenwein & Johnnson was an architectural firm of Buffalo, New York. Firm history It was a partnership of German-born August Esenwein (1856-1926) and James A. Johnson (1865-1939). The partnership was started in 1898; the firm designed "many of Bu ...
was the architect selected for that building.


See also

*
John Shelton Curtiss John Shelton Curtiss (July 15, 1899 – December 27, 1983), was an American historian of Russia and historical scholar of old Yankee stock. Curtiss was a longtime professor of history at Duke University. Early life and education John Shelton Cur ...
, son of Harlow Clarke Curtiss


References

{{National Register of Historic Places in New York Office buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in New York (state) Commercial buildings completed in 1912 Buildings and structures in Buffalo, New York 1912 establishments in New York (state) National Register of Historic Places in Buffalo, New York Chicago school architecture in New York (state)