Buffalo Tours: Twilight Tour of Mansions | Arts & Culture

A Statement Released by Buffalo Tours

Buffalo, NY-- For the first time ever, the public is welcome to visit the interiors and grounds of ten gloriously designed private mansions and homes during the city's first Twilight Tour of Mansions, Thursday, June 21st from 5pm to 9pm.  Several residences have never before been open to the public.

More than a home tour, the event is also a private party. All ticket buyers are also admitted into a special wine and cheese reception with live music in the iconic Butler Mansion-designed by McKim, Mead & White, then the nation's most prestigious architectural firm when it was constructed in 1896.   

Other century-old mansions on the tour include the Pratt Mansion, home to the son of M&T Bank founder Pascal Pratt, the Silverthorne Mansion, built for a Tonawanda lumber magnate, and two homes each on nearby Summer Street and Oakland Place. 

One hundred years ago, Buffalo's citizenry counted more millionaires per capita than any other American city. This concentration of wealth is evident today in the design and decoration of the fabulous mansions along Delaware Avenue, a street compared to New York's Fifth Avenue and Cleveland's Euclid Avenue in its heyday. 

"These mansions exemplify the luxurious lifestyles of Buffalo's most affluent citizens and remain the equal of any such homes anywhere in the country," according to architectural Historian Martin Wachadlo, author of Oakland Place: Gracious Living in Buffalo. 

Because of the fine architecture of these mansions, the first historic district in Buffalo was established here in 1974. Another preservation victory was the "save" of the Wilcox Mansion, the starting point of this one-night-only event. President Theodore Roosevelt took his oath of office inside in 1901, now a National Historic Site. 

Organizers are also holding a pre-tour lecture on the history of Millionaire's Row at the Theodore Roosevelt Site on June 13th at 5:30pm. The talk is free to anyone who buys tickets to the Twilight Tour; tickets will also be available for purchase at the event.

Ticket info:
Reserve online at www.BuffaloTours.org or call (716) 852-3300.
Early RSVP: $30 per person.  Week of event: $35.