Love Where You Live

Turn on to the stately streets of Houston Barnard’s first of two prominent suburban developments known as the Houston Barnard Subdivision, and one is quickly enveloped under luscious tree canopies and lovely harp street lamps. This neighborhood encompasses Grosvenor Road, Pelham Road, and Council Rock Avenue, bordered by Highland Avenue to the south and East Avenue to the northeast.

This historic, early twentieth century gem of Brighton is one of many upscale regions designed by prominent real estate developer Houston Barnard beginning in 1918. 

Architecture & Design

However, architectural design was not standardized nor restricted, allowing famous architects like Leander McCord and Ward Wellington Ward to take creative agency in craftsmanship and embark on very personalized designs in close correspondence with their trailblazing corporate executive clients. Thus, the subdivision boasts a great diversity in styles, from impressive Craftsman manors to majestic, eclectic Tudor Revivals with steep, dormer decorated roof pitches and opulent brickwork and masonry. The detailed work of a 1920s influx in Italian master craftsmen, alongside the war-stalled, drawn-out purchasing of lots, make for a very architecturally diverse presentation of styles, proportions, and textures. Most homes boast impressive grounds and sculptures curated by master gardeners.

Ward Wellington Ward

Ward Wellington Ward, though most prominent in Syracuse, created a collection of designs in Brighton. For example, Ward designed Nos. 42, 75, 165, 168, and 191 Grosvenor Road and Nos. 40, 110, 115, 125, 150, 155, and 165 Pelham Road in Brighton.

Ward was famous for his quick pen and watercolor sketches of home exteriors that Irving Hames, Houston Barnard’s salesman, could pitch to prospective inhabitants.

Houston Barnard’s network of architects embraced elements of the Arts and Crafts style, a movement conceived in the mid 19th century by William Morris to oppose the streamlined, drab housing manufacturing born of the Industrial Revolution. Morris, like any other proponent of Arts Nouveau or Art Deco, valued the individualized hand craftsmanship of the Medieval Age. Architects like Ward applied this doctrine to their Tudoresque homes that fill most of the Houston Barnard Subdivision.

Leander McCord & Others

A recent exploration of Leander McCord has revealed nearly seventy Tudor Revival works, many of which inhabit the Houston Barnard Subdivision. One could argue that McCord’s mastery of intricate design features exceeds the skills of Ward Wellington Ward and his mentor, J. Foster Warner.

The houses designed by McCord in the Subdivision include:

• 138, 154, 162, 172, 190 Council Rock Avenue
• 1, 151 Grosvenor Road
• 2, 55, 60, 61 Pelham Road

HB Subdivision Design

However, architectural design was not standardized nor restricted, allowing famous architects like Leander McCord and Ward Wellington Ward to take creative agency in craftsmanship and embark on very personalized designs in close correspondence with their trailblazing corporate executive clients. Thus, the subdivision boasts a great diversity in styles, from impressive Craftsman manors to majestic, eclectic Tudor Revivals with steep, dormer decorated roof pitches and opulent brickwork and masonry. The detailed work of a 1920s influx in Italian master craftsmen, alongside the war-stalled, drawn-out purchasing of lots, make for a very architecturally diverse presentation of styles, proportions, and textures. Most homes boast impressive grounds and sculptures curated by master gardeners.

Details & Craftsmanship

Leaded glass windows, generous wood wainscoting, intricate brick and marble tilework, gables, and elaborate porticos and balustrades are some of many features that define this master work. Famous tilemaker Henry Chapman Mercer of Moravian Pottery and Tile Works in Doylestown, PA and Henry Keck of Pike Stained Glass Studios are some of these expert craftsmen.

Ward, like many other residential architects, followed the tenets of an English cottage facade: apparently small, unassuming, with minimal dormers. None of these homes were actually small, however, but their humble facades added to the appeal of finding grandiosity as one circles or enters each house. Conveniently, homeowners and guests could celebrate this grandiosity from the coziness of alcoves and nooks that architects like Ward employed to break up the traditional four-square plan.

Thus, many of the homes of the Houston Barnard Subdivision can be marveled for their grandiosity while cherished for their humble intentions following the Arts and Crafts mantra “The small house made into art.” Ward Wellington Ward exemplified the selective, eclectic style of the Subdivision, with inspiration ranging from Arts & Crafts to American vernaculars like Colonial New England and Frank Lloyd Wright’s Midwest Prairie School.

Ward Wellington Ward

Ward Wellington Ward, though most prominent in Syracuse, created a collection of designs in Brighton. For example, Ward designed Nos. 42, 75, 165, 168, and 191 Grosvenor Road and Nos. 40, 110, 115, 125, 150, 155, and 165 Pelham Road in Brighton.

Ward was famous for his quick pen and watercolor sketches of home exteriors that Irving Hames, Houston Barnard’s salesman, could pitch to prospective inhabitants.

Houston Barnard’s network of architects embraced elements of the Arts and Crafts style, a movement conceived in the mid 19th century by William Morris to oppose the streamlined, drab housing manufacturing born of the Industrial Revolution. Morris, like any other proponent of Arts Nouveau or Art Deco, valued the individualized hand craftsmanship of the Medieval Age. Architects like Ward applied this doctrine to their Tudoresque homes that fill most of the Houston Barnard Subdivision.

Leander McCord & Others

A recent exploration of Leander McCord has revealed nearly seventy Tudor Revival works, many of which inhabit the Houston Barnard Subdivision. One could argue that McCord’s mastery of intricate design features exceeds the skills of Ward Wellington Ward and his mentor, J. Foster Warner.

The houses designed by McCord in the Subdivision include:

• 138, 154, 162, 172, 190 Council Rock Avenue
• 1, 151 Grosvenor Road
• 2, 55, 60, 61 Pelham Road