503 East Buffalo Street

The Alpha Delta Phi fraternity first occupied this building, which was designed by William Henry Miller and built in 1878. When the fraternity decided to move to the Cornell campus in 1905, it sold the house for $9000.

What is especially interesting about the building is its complex roofline, with steeply pitched hipped section, hipped dormers, a tower, and a projecting central bay. The treatment of the entrance is unusual, too, with the chimney flanking the doorway and the windows above the doorway. The columns flanking the doorway have floral capitals, and a similar column separates the windows on the second story. All the windows have stone sills and lintels.

Miller paid particular attention to the west side of the house. Here again is a central projecting bay. Above the three windows on the second story is a wide masonry cornice, with brackets, which appears to support the gable. (The cornice has been partially covered by siding so you might not see these details.)

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