Watson-Curtze Mansion
History
The mansion was designed by the Buffalo architectural firm of Green & Wicks and built in 1891–1892. It is a 3+1⁄2-story, two-bay, brownstone mansion in the Richardsonian Romanesque style. It features a short tower, smooth piers with decorated capitals, windows with transoms, carved tympanum, and deep-set windows. The 24 room home also has stained glass windows, oak flooring, an elevator, 12 fireplaces, and a solarium. Also on the property is a contributing carriage house.
The mansion features pierced and hand-carved woodwork, mosaics, stained glass and friezes. There are Tiffany light fixtures including decorative motifs with cherubs, peacocks, leaves, and shells.
Ownership
The home was built by Harrison F. Watson (1853-1904), an Erie roofing paper magnate and holder of U.S. Patents on gaskets and tubes. Harrison and his wife, Carrie Tracy, an avid gardener, lived in the home with their daughter, Winifred, until 1923.
In 1923, Frederic Felix Curtze (1858-1941), president of the Erie Trust Company, purchased the home and lived at the property until his death in 1941, when his family donated the property and it officially became a museum. Today, the Mansion is owned by the Erie County Historical Society and is operated as a historic house museum.
National Register of Historic Places
It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1983. It is located in the West Sixth Street Historic District.
References
- ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
- ^ "National Historic Landmarks & National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania" (Searchable database). CRGIS: Cultural Resources Geographic Information System. Note: This includes Catherin Callan West (March 1983). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory Nomination Form: Watson-Curtze Mansion" (PDF). Retrieved 2012-08-12.
- ^ Beardsley, Karen (October 30, 2016). "Enjoy professional holiday decorating at area homes". GoErie.com. Retrieved 3 March 2017.
- ^ Whitman, Benjamin (1896). Nelson's Biographical Dictionary and Historical Reference Book of Erie County, Pennsylvania: Containing a Condensed History of Pennsylvania, of Erie County, and of the Several Cities, Boroughs and Townships in the County Also Portraits and Biographies of the Governor's Since 1790, and of Numerous Representative Citizens. Erie County, PA: S.B. Nelson. p. 590. Retrieved 3 March 2017.
Frederic Felix Curtze.
- ^ Congressional Serial Set. U.S. Government Printing Office. 1898. Retrieved 3 March 2017.
- ^ Walker, Patricia Chambers; Graham, Thomas (2000). Directory of Historic House Museums in the United States. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 9780742503441. Retrieved 3 March 2017.
- ^ "Stepping Into Christmas Past". www.lakeerieliving.com. Lake Erie Living Magazine. Retrieved 3 March 2017.
- ^ "Visit Our Museums". eriehistory.com. The Historical Society of Erie County. Retrieved 3 March 2017.
External links
Media related to Watson-Curtze Mansion at Wikimedia Commons
