Syracuse Jewish Sites IV: The First Synagogue Buildings of Temple Concord

Syracuse, NY. First purpose-built home of Temple Society of Concord. E. T.  Hayden, architect, 1851 (demolished).

Syracuse, NY. Building Committee plaque from first purpose-built Temple Society of Concord. It was visible immediately inside the entrance of the first synagogue. Now it is installed at Concord's home at University Avenue and Madison Street.  Photo: Samuel Gruber 2019.

Syracuse Jewish Sites IV: The First Synagogue Buildings of Temple Concord

(Note: I have looked at Temple Concord records and old newspapers and maps for this account, but much of it is based on the indispensable account of Syracuse Jewish history: B. G. Rudolph, From a Minyan to a Community (Syracuse: Syracuse Univ. Press, 1970). The book, while lacking a lot of the texture of the diverse Syracuse Jewish community after 1900, provides a  detailed early history of the Temple Society of Concord).

Syracuse’s first Jewish congregation, Temple Society of Concord, was founded by German-speaking Jews in 1839 and it still survives through congregational splits and physical moves. In 2019, the venerable congregation voted to sell its landmark classical-style building, dedicated in 1911, in order to have some financial security to continue as a congregation. The sale of the property and its development for luxury student housing (the site is almost adjacent to Syracuse University) is still being reviewed, and it is unknown what will be the final outcome.

This article is about the earlier history of Temple Concord and the buildings its members occupied before the dedication of the present structure in 1911. Concord, one of the oldest Jewish religious congregations in the United States, has a history that is fairly typical of many American congregations. It was founded in 1839 by German-speaking immigrants drawn to upstate New York by the new economic opportunities offered by the Erie Canal, which opening 1825. Syracuse prospered as the center point of the Canal, and the first Jewish minyan (prayer group) of 1839 grew by 1850 into a substantial Jewish community of 100 families. In one decade, Temple Society of Concord outgrew its temporary home three times.

The small group of men first met in a back room of a local store, but soon moved to better quarters. They first relocated to the second floor of a member’s home on Mulberry Street and by 1841 they hired their first "rabbi," although he was not formally trained or ordained. At this time the minyan incorporated and first took the name “Comrades of Peace” and later Keneseth Shalome. This Hebrew name translated into the fulsome English language of the time. Shalom became Concord, and the congregation incorporated as the Temple Society of Concord. 180 years later the congregation survives with the same legal name, which it has shortened to Temple Concord for practical reasons.

Temple Concord's congregants weren't the only Jews in town. By 1844 a second minyan, named Beth Israel, was formed by Eastern European Jews, and this group was augmented by English Jews by 1854. This group would erect a synagogue on Grape Street in 1856.

In 1842 the still-new Temple Concord congregation purchased land at the edge of the Rose Hill Cemetery on Lodi Street as the area's first Jewish burial ground (this remained the primary burial ground for the congregation until three acres were purchased in Woodlawn Cemetery in 1893). Having fulfilled this responsibility, the congregation was then ready in 1846 to purchase its first permanent home; a house on the corner of Mulberry and Madison streets which was extensively remodeled for synagogue use.

Rabbi Isaac Mayer Wise as a young man. Photo: American Jewish Archives.

Rabbi Isaac Mayer Wise (1819-1900), then only 27 years old and recently arrived as a rabbi in Albany, came to dedicate the new house of worship. He described his visit to Syracuse in his memoirs (notes by B. G. Rudolph):

These gentlemen, who had been delegated by the congregation to call upon me, took me to Gerson's kosher hotel [Jacob Garson's boardinghouse], where I spent two weeks. I can recall the name of one of them, a Mr. Henochsberg [Aaron Henocksburg]. The builder had not finished the synagogue at the promised time, and the dedication had to be postponed one week.

During my stay in Syracuse I learned much of importance, for it was my first opportunity for intimate contact with the people among whom I was to live and work, and I had ample time to observe and study them. It did not take me long to view the salt-works, the Indi­ans, the canal, and other sights. ... I found there several people of culture, notably a Mr. Stein [Jacob Stone], a most intelligent man who explained the situation thoroughly. He was as witty as he was intelli­gent; he was well read, and understood human nature. He took charge of me, introduced me to the people, called my attention to their merits and their faults, so that I began to comprehend the lay of the land.

The dedication took place on the Friday and Saturday preceding the Jewish New Year in 1846, and was a great and joyous festival for the Jews of Syracuse. Everything passed off well, and the newspapers teemed with praise. All my instructions had been obeyed with one ex­ception, viz; to omit a certain prayer on Sunday morning, called Makhnise Rachamin. I was completely satisfied with Syracuse, and contributed, to the best of my ability, to the success of the celebration and the organization of the congregation.

It only took a few years, however, for the congregation to outgrow what really was just a house of worship and to begin planning a new purpose-built synagogue. They found a good corner site at Harrison and Mulberry (now State) Streets, engaged a leading local architect for the job, and the new building was ready for dedication on September 20, 1851.

Syracuse, NY. G.M. Hopkins, Atlas of the City of Syracuse New York, 1908, dtl plate 2. Location of first purpose-built home of Temple Society of Concord at Harrison and Mulberry (lower left), now site of Everson Museum of Art with street names changed to Harrison and State.

Syracuse, NY. G.M. Hopkins, Atlas of the City of Syracuse New York, 1908, dtl plate 2. Location of first purpose-built home of Temple Society of Concord (1851) at Harrison and Mulberry (State). The Rosenbloom Shul (1887), is located on Orange Street (McBride) just south of Madison Street, on the right of the map detail.

We know most of the details of the processions, orations, services of dedication and celebration. The events were covered repeatedly in the local press, with a mix of intense pride and intense curiosity. Syracuse at the time was a very German city, so the ceremonies of the German-speaking immigrants - whether they were Jewish or not - fit right in the cultural climate of the time. In the mid-19th century there were greater tensions between Protestants and Catholics than between Christians and Jews. The numbers of Jew were still small and their communities industrious and civic-minded, and so, despite some violence against Jewish peddlers in rural areas, the establishment of synagogues in cities was always welcome.

We are especially fortunate to have a detailed account of the dedication from a learned and authoritative Jewish perspective. The published account by Rev. Dr. Isaac Leeser offers one of the most comprehensive descriptions of a mid-19th century synagogue dedication to come down to us. And it all happened because some correspondence went unanswered, or wasn't sent, or got lost in the mail. Many dignitaries attended the two-day dedication ceremonies. Importantly, Leeser, America’s leading Jewish religious and intellectual figure, attended and then published a lengthy account of visit and the events in The Occident and American Jewish Advocate (September 1851). Leeser was originally intended to preside, but as notice of his coming never arrived the congregation invited another rabbi, and yet a third was passing through town. Leeser, therefore, who arrived at the last moment, consented to be a spectator.

Leeser took good notes. He quotes the cornerstone in its entirely. The tablet lists Temple Trustees and Building Committee (Jacob Stone, I. H. Bronner, H. Ekstine, I. Garson. M. Marks, E. Ettenheimer, M. Cone, A. Henochsberg, S. Oppenheimer, J Silberman, S. Rosenbach, S. Bamberger, M. Goldstein, M. Weisman, S. Manheimer), and lists Elijah T. Hayden (1809-1901) as architect and G. Blumer as builder. 

Hayden was not just an important Syracuse architect. He was also a leading abolitionist before the Civil War.

The architect distinguished himself with important Greek Revival buildings, but his Temple Concord was an eclectic mix of classical, Romanesque, and Gothic styles.  It had a large cupola - but this blew over in a storm in 1856 and was not replaced. An undated photo -- post cupola - shows a round stained-glass window with a Star of David above the entrance as well as a Hebrew inscription above the doorway – both would have been new sights to Syracusans.
 

Syracuse, NY. Building Committee plaque from first purpose-built Temple Society of Concord, now installed at Temple Concord's third home at University Avenue and Madison Street.  Photo: Samuel Gruber 2019.

A newspaper article published a few days before the dedication gushed:

“This beautiful building … is one of the most beautiful structures in our city and is an ornament to the section of the city in which it is situated. Our Jewish population are among the most industrious and frugal of our citizens and their beautiful house of worship will doubtless be an inducement for others of the same creed to make this city a permanent residence...” [“The Jewish Synagogue” Standard, 9-15-1851].

Indeed, already by 1854, according to The Israelite newspaper, there were 180 Jewish families living  in Syracuse.  And in fifty years, even with new congregations in the city, it would be time to build an even bigger Temple Concord.

The women of the congregation were enlisted to create and provide the decorations for the interior – and for this they apparently reached out to Christian women in the community, too, as is reported in a newspaper article of June 1851. We can wonder what these “decorations” were. Perhaps curtains, cushions, carpets and other fittings and finishes.

Jews Synagogue
We notice that a subscription paper is circulating among the ladies of our city, the purpose of securing assistance in ornamenting the new Synagogue now in course of erection on the corner of Mulberry and Harrison Streets. In this enterprise our Jewish citizens have been quite successful, but their ladies being few in number, they solicit the donations of others. For the procuring those ornaments necessary to the finishing of the interior. It is a worthy object and we heartily commend it to the liberality of the ladies of this city.”  Standard 6-23-1851

As plans for the new synagogue moved forward, congregants disagreed about the organization of the liturgy and performance of ritual. This was a scenario that was playing out in congregations across America, but would accelerate after the Civil War.

These were the years when Jewish religious Reform was advancing in America. Many congregations were experimenting – often in ad hoc way - with simplifying and adjusting their services often in emulation of contemporary American Protestant worship. The building committee found itself in the center of these discussions since many “reforms” would  impact  the building's design, especially seating and the arrangement  the Ark and bimah.

Older members of the congregation preferred, for the most part, to retain  traditional practices, which today we would call Orthodox. Newcomers, many who had emigrated to America after 1848, when Reforms had already taken hold in Germany and elsewhere in Central Europe, wanted reforms. These new members and younger American-born congregants were attracted to the movement of Rabbi Isaac Mayer Wise, now based in Cincinnati, but whom many remembered from his visit to Syracuse.

The reform-minded wanted family seating in pews instead of separation by gender. They favored an arrangement similar to what was common in Protestant churches. They favored an increased decorum, with pews arranged off of an central aisle and the reader's desk placed at the front of the sanctuary facing the congregation, set close to the Ark. They also advocated shortening services by eliminating prayer repetition, and advocated for other liturgical changes.

The result was a compromise. Galleries were erected around three sides of the new temple to separate women  from the men and a (modern) ritual bath (mikvah), with hot and cold water, was built in the basement. These steps met the expectations of the more "Orthodox" members. To satisfy the reformers the ground floor seating was arranged in a more church-like style, and the bimah, pulpit and Ark were all united at the far end of the sanctuary along a straight axis from the entrance.

Leeser in his a long account of the dedication, which can be read in full here, points out several interesting aspects of the new synagogue's design, which was

....a large, roomy, and lofty house, every way worthy to serve as a place for the dwelling of the God of Jacob. It is, from the front to the rear wall, sixty-four feet in length, of which twelve feet are appropriated for the vestibule and stairways, leaving the entire length of the main Synagogue fifty-two feet. The width is forty-eight feet; but, as the gallery on the west extends over the entry, the ceiling covers the whole length, so that the breadth just named is in perfect harmony with the other dimensions. There is a gallery running along three sides, and an upper one for the choir, whenever they shall have it, on the west, fronting the ark.

The ceiling is vaulted over the side galleries, and from them springs another vault over the centre, giving a beautiful finish to the whole. From the middle of this is suspended a beautiful glass chandelier, the metal work of which is of gilt lacquer, and it has forty-two gas-burners, in three tiers. It was manufactured by the Messrs. Cornelius, of this city, at a cost of four hundred dollars, and, from its loftiness and graceful proportions, is a real ornament to the building.

The seats are disposed of in two rows, with a broad walk between them, and a narrower margin on the sides, and are divided off in the centre, in the form of church pews, but without any doors. The portion near the ark is semicircular, as are also the step leading thereto and the ark itself, over which is a handsome stained-glass window, on which are inscribed the initial portions of the ten commandments. 

 Leeser regrets that there is no independent reader's stand, finding instead

...a sloped reading-table within the limits of the balustrade which surrounds the ark; within which are also two sofas for the President and Vice-President of the Congregation. There is also a movable pulpit, which can be placed when required within the opening of the balustrade just named, so that the preacher may face the audience.

The wood-work down stairs is painted in imitation of black walnut, whereas the columns and gallery are of a neutral colour, the walls being plain white. There are five windows on each side of the house, four of which are in the main Synagogue and one in the entry. The material used is for the basement blue limestone, and brick for the superstructure.

A flight of stone steps lead to the main entrance, where we saw a tablet bearing the names of the officers ....

He also describes that in the lofty basement

is a dwelling for the sexton, a meeting-room for the congregation, and a schoolroom; besides a Mikveh, supplied with hot and cold water. The school and meeting-rooms are so arranged with folding doors that, upon an occasion requiring it, they can be transformed into a large hall, well-lighted, running the entire length of the main building.

This last point is remarkable, as it pushes back by almost a century an innovation in religious architecture design that is often attributed to the post-World War II generation, i.e. folding doors to create flexible space. While I do know of several turn-of-the-20th century occurrences of this arrangement, Leeser's account is the oldest known to me.

Everyone was satisfied enough with the design compromises to turn out for a joyous dedication, but the rift in the congregation between traditionalists and reformers was again soon apparent and got worse after 1860. The country was divided during the Civil War, and so was the congregation. There was no peace at Concord. The reformers, made their case in the pages of Rabbi Wise's national Jewish newspaper The Israelite. They went ahead and introduced organ music, a choir singing, English translation of prayers, and mixed seating. The rift culminated when the reformers, led by President Joseph Falker, decreed that all men should take their hats OFF during services, and they also doubled annual dues to penalize the poorer - and more traditional - congregants.

According to the traditionalists:

"impure elements forced their way into [the congregation]. creating quarrels, enmity, lawsuits, and finally separation, through the unlucky choice of a president, who, like a Bavarian petty official, agitated and through low intrigues, heaping wrong upon wrong, deprived the members of their holiest right. (quoted in Rudolph, p. 69).

Subsequently, on June 6, 1864 a new congregation was formally organized by the old guard. Leopold Schwartz and Morris Thalheimer laid out the grievances of the group against the Concord congregation, and this was published in the The Occident and American Jewish Advocate and the Adath Jeshurun Congregation received a charter in March 1866. The new minyan met in a one-story building on Harrison Street.

Syracuse, NY. Adath Jeshurun (The Rosenbloom Shul).  Photo from Rudolph, From a Minyan to a Community, original courtesy Onondaga Historical Association.

Solomon Rosenbloom. Oil portrait in Collection of Temple Concord. Photo: Samuel Gruber 2019.

Solomon Rosenbloom, who had arrived in Syracuse from Bavaria in 1847, was part of the split. In the 1880s, as his department store business prospered, he became the lead funder of a new synagogue building on Orange Street. Adath Jeshurun, with a stone foundation and wood frame construction with wood siding, came to be known as the ""Rosenbloom Shul," and Solomon was president of the congregation for twenty-five years. He died in 1896, but the congregation continued until 1925, after which surviving members of the Rosenbloom family rejoined Temple Concord.

The new Rosenbloom Shul seated 256, and there were classrooms in the basement space which was elevated enough above ground to receive ample natural light.

In 1909 Temple Concord purchased parcel of land at the corner of Madison Street and University Avenue and began planning the present-day building which was dedicated on September 22, 1911. In 1912, the congregation sold 1851 building to a new Orthodox congregation, Tifereth Israel.  (“Teffaree Yisreal Purchases Synagogue,” The Syracuse Herald,  Feb. 24, 1912). The building is shown on the map of 1924 and again is visible in an aerial photo of 1931, but is gone in the City Atlas of 1938. I'll have to wait until I can do on-site library research to determine the exact date of its demolition.

Syracuse, NY. G.M. Hopkins, Atlas of the City of Syracuse New York, 1938. The former Temple Concord, then Tifereth Israel, has been demolished.

For more on Syracuse's Jewish Sites and Buildings see other entries in this series:

Former Beth Israel

Former Anshe Sfard 

Former Temple Beth El 

Coming soon: A look at the other early synagogue buildings of Syracuse, and a close look at the history and architecture of the present-day Temple Concord.

Consider the Bungalow: Always a Favorite House Type

Syracuse, NY. 106 Concord Place.  Photo: Samuel Gruber 2018.

Syracuse, NY. 2652 East Genesee St. Photo: Samuel Gruber

Syracuse, NY. 112 and 110 Greenwood Place. Photo: Samuel Gruber

Consider the Bungalow: Always a Favorite House Type 

by Samuel D. Gruber 

One of the local building types I am most often asked about is the bungalow. We begin to get mention of them in the local newspapers around 1910, when for example, in September bungalows are mentioned on both Maryland and Ackerman Avenues on the newly developing Eastside. One of them is listed as an "artistic six-room bungalow," a "short walk from University," for sale by local architect and developer Clarence Congdon. "It will make a delightful home for small family." It was "finished in mission," meaning the Mission or Craftsman style. I have not been able to locate this advertised house, but a similar bungalow is still standing in 1015 Ackerman Avenue.

Notice of bungalow on Ackerman Avenue, The Post-Standard (September 17, 1910).

Syracuse, NY. 1015 Ackerman Avenue, ca. 1912. Photo: Samuel Gruber 2019.

Syracuse, NY. 220 Roosevelt Avenue, ca. 1920. Photo: Samuel Gruber 2018.

Syracuse has dozens of examples of bungalows scattered throughout its neighborhoods. Unlike some West coast cities like Seattle or Los Angeles, or even Des Moines, Iowa, we do not have "bungalow neighborhoods."  Here, bungalows were mostly infill houses, or just one type of many "kit" house available to be home owners in the first decades of the 20th century.

Though they are similar, no two seem exactly alike. They are often the most modest houses on a street, but inevitably they are among the most memorable, the most charming, and sometime most beautiful. Some of our bungalows were designed by local architects such as Ward Wellington Ward and Harry Phoenix. Ward's forays into the style are best seen in the two A. Bradley Fuller houses at 215 and 225 Salt Springs Road. The origins of most, however, are still unknown.

Syracuse, NY. 215 Salt Spring Road. A. Bradley Fuller House, Ward Wellington Ward, architect, 1920. Photo: Samuel Gruber 2020.

Syracuse, NY. 225 Salt Spring Road. A. Bradley Fuller House, Ward Wellington Ward, architect, 1915. Photo: Samuel Gruber 2020.

The term bungalow is derived from Bengali, meaning a dwelling of that region of India, but American bungalows are only loosely based on the Bengali model. In the 1880s the terms was already popular in America to refer to Indian houses, and by extension, many "Eastern" exotic types. By the 1890s the form and term was trending for vacation homes for the well-to-do, as described in an July 19, 1893 article in the Syracuse Herald about the summer home of the poet and journalist Ella Wheeler Wilcox, in Connecticut, facing Long Island Sound:

The house is located on the top of some huge rocks which reach out into the sound, and is reached by a great natural stone stair case, which leads to a broad veranda surrounding the bungalow. The living room is a large, broad place running up to a gable roof, there being only one floor. It is filled with exquisite oriental curios, collected by Mr. Wilcox in his many years of travel. The entire room is skirted with cushion-covered lockers, which are used as stowaways. The sleeping apartments contain all the comforts of a city home, and meals are served in an adjoining cottage, one of tour which Mr. Wilcox has bought. The fireplace in the bungalow, Mrs. Wilcox declares, is the joy of- her life, and is built in exact reproduction of e times of our grandfathers. Under he great projecting stone mantel are niches tilled with bowie knives, pistols and old tankards, and near by are the logs ready to blaze in the cool evenings which spring up suddenly on the seashore.

These often opulent vacation homes were playgrounds of the rich, and continue a long tradition, but at the end of the Gild Age they were examples of a rejection of Victorian formality. Like the Adirondack camps, in which the type is sometimes included, they required money to build, maintain and serve, but they were intended to give the impression of simplicity - even for millionaires.

The simpler city adaptations of the bungalow which soon followed are something else altogether. They do strive to express both an informality and openness, while in a general way adapt that for the freer sensibilities of the new Progressive Age - breaking free from the both strictures of Victorian society and the inequalities of Gilded Age Capitalism. But until studies are made of who actually owned and built bungalows, we'll not know if these social and political ideals mattered much in the choice of a home. Certainly the idea of informality WAS important in the popularity of the bungalow as a vacation home and we still find variations on the type in many lake, seaside and mountain retreats and resorts.

The first notice of a bungalow in Syracuse is from 1907, when the Syracuse Herald (March 29, 1907) reports that:

Architect W. W. Taber has drawn plans for the first bungalow to be built in this city. It is to be similar to those which are in use in California and throughout, the West. It is to be built in Stolp avenue, on the Onondaga Highlands for Mrs G. C. Cheney A novel feature of the building, which is to be one story and a half in height, is the sleeping balcony. This balcony will be so protected that a person may sleep out of doors with the least possible discomfort. All of the living and bedrooms will be on the first floor and will be attractively arranged.

I have not yet identified this house, but presumably it is on Stolp Avenue near Summit Avenue. Perhaps one of my Strathmore readers will recognize the description.

The standard Bungalow is square or rectangular in plan, one-and-a-half stories high, with horizontal lines, a low pitched gable or jerkin-head (clipped gable) roof, wide roof overhangs and gable or jerkin-head roofed front porch.

A low, wide shed, gabled, or jerkin-head roof dormer is also a common feature. Sometimes a fuller second story is added, as in 307 Kirkpatrick Street on the north side, designed by local architect Harry Phoenix in 1917. Phoenix, or at least the local press, called this a bungalow. In 1923, Ward created similar long and low two-story variation in the Anna Stroher house at 700 Allen Street, and here one can see how easy it was to (literally) elevate the humble bungalow into a more dignified, arts and Crafts/Tudor style home.

Syracuse, NY. 307 Kirkpatrick St. Harry Phoenix, architect, 1917.

Syracuse, NY. 700 Allen Street, Anna Stroher House. Ward Wellington Ward, architect, 1923. Photo: Samuel D. Gruber 2012.

Syracuse, NY. 700 Allen Street, Anna Stroher House. Ward Wellington Ward, architect, 1923. Photo: Samuel D. Gruber 2006.

 
Bungalows can be faced in brick, wood siding, or stone. The first floor is often brick or stone with wood shingles or clapboards in the gables. Another variation is a first floor sided in wood with a stuccoed upper floor. Exposed rafters and battered (tapered) porch supports are characteristic. Typical paint colors are brown, tan, terracotta, white, gray, and muted greens.

The bungalow is often considered the poor step-child of the Arts & Crafts House. Since Arts & Crafts is not a style, but a Movement, many of the promoted characteristics of an Arts & Crafts or Craftsman House turn up in the wide variety of popular bungalows built in the first decades of the 20th century, and especially in the 1920s. 

Bungalows first seem to have been built in California in the 1890s and around 1909-1910 The Bungalow Magazine was published in Los Angeles. Bungalows were also popular in Seattle, where another magazine, called just Bungalow Magazine was published from 1912 and 1918. 

An important goal of the California Arts & Crafts Movement (sometimes called the California Craftsman Movement), as for its Central New York counterpart, was to preserve simplicity and craftsmanship in architecture. This was a stated purpose of Gustav Stickley's Craftsman Magazine, first published in 1901, and Bungalow Magazine echoes these sentiments, but focused more narrowly on a single class of house, though the Bungalow style adopted by the Magazine was influenced by other contemporary styles that were often featured in the Craftsman: Shingle, Stick, Swiss Chalet, and Spanish Colonial. Many examples of bungalow - both simple and high-end - were illustrated in the Craftsman Magazine.

This California bungalow was illustrated in the Craftsman Magazine in Nov. 1907 as an example of cobblestone architecture and reprinted in Gustav Stickley, Craftsman Houses  (2nd edition, 1909).

Syracuse, NY. 1119 Oak Street. Photo Samuel Gruber, 2019

Syracuse, NY. 165 Cambridge. Photo: Samuel Gruber, 2018.

The small but adequate Bungalow answered a growing need for low-cost housing and was popular in all parts of the country. The western version tended to be simpler, often built without a foundation, and ideal for a mild climate. In Syracuse there are many variations. In some cases the house size could be nearly doubled by extending its length into the lot, as at 165 Cambridge.

Like the related Craftsman Cottage type of small house, the bungalow type of style was early picked up by lumber and building supply companies as an easy and inexpensive type of house to market by catalog, where all the components could be prefabricated, shipped and then assembled on-site for the new house. This is the way many houses in different styles - urban and rural - were manufactured, purchased and constructed in the first part of the 20th century. Developers sold lots, but buyers ordered and built their own houses.

We find many examples of bungalows in house catalogues such as the Aladdin Bennett  and Lewis catalogues. Because usually these house were built without basements, they were more suited as summer cottage or as year-round houses in places with more temperate climates then Syracuse. Not surprisingly, bungalows are very common in California. Still a number of bungalow variants were built in Syracuse, though these were often hybrids, and included more features to secure them for the weather and expand them for year-round urban living.

"The Argo" Loizeaux Classic Houses of the Twenties.

"The Winthorp" Aladdin Homes Catalogue, ca. 1920.

Just as Ward and other architects could expand the form of the bungalow to make a more ample house, so too did "kit" house architects offer a slightly larger - and more vertical - cottage type of house, which was sometimes called a "Craftsman Cottage," or a "Bungalow Cottage."  These come in various sizes and are very common in Syracuse, such as the examples I recently wrote about on Strong Avenue.

"The Lancaster," Bennett Homes Catalogue (Ray H. Bennett Lumber Company), 1922.

This system of house design, purchase and construction was largely replaced in the post-World War II era where mass-production techniques - some developed for war-related construction - were applied to vast new housing developments where all the houses were built together by a single company, and then sold ready-made to eager buyers. 

Still, one can see that the bungalow form - both in elevation and plan - helped form the basis for the popular small ranch houses that sprang up across the country in the years immediately after World War II. Today these small houses are often called "starter homes," and for many families they were just that, small inexpensive houses bought by returning soldiers on the G.I. Bill. But many families have stayed in these houses over the decades, often expanding them outward and upwards as families grew, and our consumer culture demanded for space for stuff.

Syracuse, NY.  Simple Buungalow on Greenwood Place, ca. 1930. Photo: Samuel Gruber 2020.

Syracuse, NY. Small house on Meadowbrook Drive built after World War II, ca. 1950. Photo: Samuel Gruber 2020.

Syracuse, NY. Small house on Meadowbrook Drive built after World War II, ca. 1955. Photo: Samuel Gruber 2020.

One aspect of the early 20th-century bungalow - its smallness - has resurfaced in the 21st century in the small and tiny homes movement. Some proponents of small houses are in favor of their economy and energy efficiency and promote them as part of a ecology-minded possession-free way of life, bringing to a house the type of moral argument that has its roots in the aesthetics of the Arts & Crafts movement (honesty) and the social politics of the Progressive Era (equility) of a century earlier. Another purpose for tiny homes, as practiced here in Syracuse, in the A Tiny Home for Good organization, is to provide safe and independent space for the homeless. 

Perhaps we should bring back the bungalow!

Syracuse, NY. south Salina Street. Tiny Homes for Good. Photo: Sameul Gruber 2016.

A Craftsman Street in Syracuse: The 200 Block of Strong Avenue

Syracuse, NY. 200 block of  Strong Avenue, east side looking north. Photo: Samuel Gruber 2020.

Syracuse, NY. 208 Strong Avenue. Photo: Samuel Gruber 2018.

Syracuse, NY. 217 Strong Avenue. Photo: Samuel Gruber 2018.

Syracuse, NY. 200 block of  Strong Avenue, west side looking north. The houses on the west side are all variations on the same design. Photo: Samuel Gruber 2011.

A Craftsman Street in Syracuse: The 200 Block of Strong Avenue

by Samuel D. Gruber

In these days of corona virus induced isolation, there is still the opportunity for most housebound people to get out for a walk in their neighborhoods. Lack of snow and foliage this time of year offers a great chance to take a good look at houses. Near my house, one of my favorite blocks is the 200 block of Strong Avenue. Part of its appeal is its irregular alignment - a testament to its earlier role as part of an original Onondagan path that pre-dated Syracuse’s European settlement. It was subsequently transformed into Strong Avenue, which was continued directly to South Beech and Lodi Streets. 

Strong Avenue is the southern continuation of South Beech Street. As an historic road, several houses had been built along it prior to the development of development tracts. The block of 100 Strong Avenue lying north of Euclid Avenue, had two houses erected on its east side by 1892 map, as indicated on the map of that time. By 1908, most of the east side of the 100 block was fully built.
 

Stong Avenue, then still considered part of South Beech Street, represented in Vose Syracuse Atlas, 1892.

Stong Avenue represented in G. M. Hopkins Syracuse Atlas, 1908.

Stong Avenue represented in G. M. Hopkins Syracuse Atlas, 1924. Section 24.

 
The 200 block,which extends diagonally from Euclid Avenue to Lennox Avenue, was not platted even in 1892, when adjacent Westminster Tract and other surrounding areas were already laid out. It was entirely developed after 1908. We do not know if the street, part of the Mary Barber Tract, was planned and built all at once by one developer, as was nearby Euclid Terrace, which was also part of Berber's parcel. Nonetheless, the block is uniform in house type. It contains a large number and some of the finest examples of the “Craftsman Bungalow” type of house on the Eastside, and perhaps in the city. These houses are aligned to the grid, which was not platted until after 1908, and does not align with the earlier diagonal street. The resulting impression from the street is of a staggered, or saw-tooth, arrangement of houses.

Syracuse, NY. 200 block of  Strong Avenue,  looking north. Photo: Samuel Gruber 2020.

In Syracuse, the Craftsman ideal made popular by Gustav Stickley - who lived just a few blocks away - was transformed into several popular house types, all of which were being offered in a wide range of builder’s catalogs by 1908. Even Stickley was not entirely original. He and his designers adapted current popular house  designs and published them in the Craftsman Magazine. These were mostly affordable simple-to-build single-family houses that were devoid of non-essential decoration and variation and exuded an intimate and homey feel. Over all, they were square or rectangular in plan, two-story, frame houses.

By the teens and twenties, most such houses were built on cast block foundations and used a mix of standard wooden clapboard and small shingles for exterior cover.

This design published in 1903 already suggests some of Stickley's popular motifs. Photo: Daniel D. Reiff, Houses from Books (Penn State Univ. Press, 2001).

The shed dormer over an extended front porch, published by Stickley in 1905, came to epitomize the Craftsman Cottage in Syracuse. Photo: Daniel D. Reiff, Houses from Books (Penn State Univ. Press, 2001).

Syracuse, NY. 220 Strong Avenue. Photo: Samuel Gruber 2018.

Syracuse, NY. 228 Strong Avenue. Photo: Samuel Gruber 2018.

Syracuse, NY. 217 Strong Avenue. Photo: Samuel Gruber 2018.

The mix of materials gave each house a greater variety of pattern and texture, and the differences could be accentuated by using different colors for bottom and top levels, as can still be seen in the treatment of 217 Strong. This visual stimulation, however, has been sadly much reduced by the residing of houses in uniform aluminum or vinyl. The most egregious case of "vinylization" took place a few years ago at 202 Strong Ave. See the before and after pictures below.

Syracuse, NY. 202 Strong Avenue, before re-siding with vinyl. Photo: Samuel Gruber 2011.

Syracuse, NY. 231 Strong Avenue, after re-siding with vinyl. Photo: Samuel Gruber 2018.

The Craftsman cottages, which we see on Strong Avenue, merged first and second floors using high and steep side gable roofs which were then opened with a wide dormer across the house facade. This roof arrangement, and the always-present generous ground-story front porch, gave these houses a strong horizontal appearance, recalling contemporary Prairie School designs, but also suggested a more fluid spatial relation between the outdoor and indoor space. Unlike the more familiar low bungalows, this roof type really gave each house a full second story.

Syracuse, NY. 200 block of  Strong Avenue, east side looking south. Photo: Samuel Gruber 2020.

Sometimes, as at 226 Strong Ave., the front and rear roof sections were of equal size and pitch, and then both given large shed dormers expanding the upper story space. These angles are less steep than what ones seems in contemporary "Dutch Revival" houses (of which I've written about), but they do stand apart from the common Craftsman and Prairie style buildings which emphasis straight and often horizontal line.

At 221 Strong Ave. another variation has the shed dormers rise from a "Dutch" style gambrel roof, which are then set beneath a standard side gable roof. Many variations can be found in house catalogs. This one still uses some Craftsman-inspired elements on its from porch, keeping the house related to its neighbors.

Syracuse, NY. 221 Strong Avenue. Photo: Samuel Gruber 2018.

Craftsman style cottage call "the Lancaster" from the Bennett Homes catalog.

The interiors of these houses were simple but included relatively open plans on the ground floor - especially linking living and dining areas as can be seen on the plan presented from a Bennett Homes catalog. Finishes were simple and favored dark woods. The exteriors were sided with a mix of shingle and clapboard, or covered entirely in shingle, reminiscent of the early cedar shake and shingle style of the late 19th century, but on a much more intimate scale.

By the second decade of the 20th century, the term "bungalow" was being used very loosely to encompass a wide range of simple house types, which might be called “semi-bungalow” or “Craftsman bungalows.”

Syracuse, NY. 230 Strong Avenue. Here the front porch has been partially enclosed and the entrie exterior given a uniform aluminum siding.  Photo: Samuel Gruber 2018.

Syracuse, NY. 220 Strong Avenue. This form is similar to what we see at number 230, but the ways in which the front dormer meets the roof is different. Photo: Samuel Gruber 2018.

Syracuse, NY. 227 Strong Avenue. Here, instead of the shed dormer, the house is given gabled dormer. Otherwise the house is very similar to number 220 and 230. Photo: Samuel Gruber 2020.

Syracuse, NY. 231 Strong Avenue, before residing with vinyl. Photo: Samuel Gruber 2007.

Syracuse, NY. 231 Strong Avenue, after residing with vinyl. Photo: Samuel Gruber 2018.

Syracuse, NY. 235 Strong Avenue. Photo: Samuel Gruber 2020.

At the south end of the street where Strong Avenue meets a widened Lennox Ave, is one of the prettiest houses on the street, but one somewhat out of keeping with the others. It is a small, picturesque English-cottage style house that occupies a small irregularly shaped corner lot. The  two-and-a-half story gable-front residence has shed dormers on both north and south parts of the roof, and a continuous brick chimney that rises the full height through the apex of the steeply sloped roof. More houses of this type, which was popular in the 1920s, can be found on Euclid Terrace an on Westminster Avenue. These modest English cottages are an Anglophile's alternative to the large timber-framed Tudor mansions also popular at the time.

So if you are walking in the Westcott area, look at this block of Strong Avenue and look out for similar houses in your neighborhood!