Some of the storied family names of Buffalo's gilded past may be lost to history, but their legacy lives on in the stretch of head-turning mansions on Delaware Avenue.

Take, for example, what's now the Oracle Charter School, which was built in 1903 for lawyer and lumber businessman Charles Goodyear and his wife, Ella.

It's an opulent home built during the city's heyday at the dawn of the 20th century. And it was one of 11 such buildings open to the public Saturday as part of the first Delaware Avenue Tour of Homes.

Sue Mair of East Aurora was one of 800 people who took part in the rare showcase. The art teacher and master craftsman at the Roycroft Campus said she admires the variety and detail of the grand mansions.

"I knew that the area was rich in architechtural gems and sometimes we don't look in our own backyard to see what we have," she said.

The tour featured six mansions along Delaware between Summer and Bryant streets, as well as five private homes on Oakland Place, which runs parallel to Delaware Avenue one block west.

Eric Stenclick, owner of 94 Oakland, admires the Colonial Revival home's "world-class architectural detail." The reception room's leaded glass windows, Corinthian pilasters and hand-carved woodwork were what led him to buy it five years ago.

The ornate room is from a bygone era when visitors conducting business in the home would be limited to that room and denied access to its private family areas.

"It spoke to me because it was from a totally different era than houses today," he said. "You would never see a room like this in a contemporary house. They would never build a room for that purpose any more."

It was built by J.J. McWilliams as a wedding gift for his daughter Mary and her husband, Horace Reed, in 1894 at the peak of Buffalo's national prominence.

The city at that time boasted a population that put it among the country's largest. Millionaire captains of industry were brought here by the growth of the Erie Canal and railroads. And the widespread availability of electricity gave Buffalo the distinction of being called "the City of Light."

Families had grand mansions built along Delaware Avenue befitting their wealth, such as the French Renaissance-style home built in 1916 for Mrs. Grace M. Knox, whose husband, Seymour H. Knox Sr., made a fortune in five-and-dime stores that he sold to the Woolworth chain.

Today, an information technology company called Computer Task Group uses the mansion at 800 Delaware for its offices. But much of its unique charm has been saved.

Jeff Priore, a self-described "history buff on Buffalo," showed guests -- who were asked to wear cloth covers over their shoes to protect the floors -- the mansion's circular rotunda, which features a Tiffany-style peacock window, fountain and chandelier.

"Mainly they're awestruck by the beauty of it and the way that [the group] has preserved it," he said.

For Stan and Karen Polaske of Amherst, the tour gave them a chance to connect with Buffalo's past.

"It's interesting to see how Buffalo was years ago at the turn of the century," Stan Polaske said as he marveled at the Knox mansion's elegance. "It's all rich history."

But the couple most enjoyed seeing the interiors of the private homes and learning that, yes, even residents of Buffalo's finest homes still use magnets to post items on their refrigerators.

The tour was co-sponsored by the Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural National Historic Site and the Preservation Buffalo Niagara's Buffalo Tours, which have offered similar walking tours on their own but decided to team up.

The fact that the tour sold out indicates there's enough interest to consider making it a regular part of Buffalo's cultural tourism offerings, said Janice Kuzan, the Inaugural Site's assistant director.

"I think the demand for the tour is going to be huge ... It's one of the big questions: 'Will you do this again?'" she said. "It's been a great collaboration and I would be hopeful that, yes, we will join forces again."

jpopiolkowski@buffnews.com null