50 Payne Avenue

Originally part of the DeGraff estate – 50 Payne Avenue – Circa 1890

Life in the 1930’s – Green Depression Glassware – many antiques throughout the home

This frame Queen Anne style house is typical of a middle class dwelling of the period. The asymmetry and the jagged, hard-edged appearance of this house are hallmarks of the Queen Anne style during the 1880s.

Note the variety of roof locations and juxtapositions, providing a very lively roofline. This roofline and the enclosed wrap around porch are the dominant features of the exterior. Although the original siding is now covered by vinyl, the upper sash of most of the windows features the rich variety of irregular panes so typical of the Queen Anne style. Also notice that the windows are grouped in twos and threes.

At the entry is the stair hall, with the well-executed woodwork typical of the period. All of the principal rooms are separated by pocket doors, which allow for the creation of one large space for special events, or closed off for more intimate occasions. The Queen Anne door and window woodwork dates to the construction of the house, but stylistically is related to the Greek Revival of decades earlier. Such fine woodwork was easily and inexpensively produced at the lumber mills that proliferated in North Tonawanda. The original woodwork in the butler’s pantry is also intact.

The earliest known occupant was Anna Carruthers, whose occupation is unknown. Around 1902, the house was used as a hospital, but such a use for a house during this period was not unusual. The house was built on part of the DeGraff family holdings, the family primarily responsible for the founding of DeGraff Memorial Hospital.

The house is best known to local residents as “Lillian’s place,” for Lillian Toth’s beauty shop, which was located here for decades. When the house was built the street was known as Payne’s Avenue; the “s” was later dropped.

The present owners have a wonderful collection of antique musical instruments,