Gypsy Heart
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Probably the oldest house in Delaware Ave. is the yellow brick mansion of Gothic architecture at the southwest corner of the avenue and Summer St., owned and occupied since 1945 by the University Post No. 2647, Veterans of Foreign Wars.
For 88 years -- from 1857 to 1945 -- that was the home of the late Dexter P. Rumsey, his widow, their children and grandchildren. During that period, its gracious hospitality was known and appreciated not only here but internationally. Guests it sheltered included eminent statesmen, writers, concert artists and leaders in important women's and girls' organizations such as women's suffrage and Girl Scouts of America.
Incredible as it seems, this mansion began its existence nearly a century and a quarter ago, as a two-room bungalow. Erected for Capt. Allen back in the 1830s it was built to last. The substantial beams supporting the original ceiling are admired today.
In the 1850s and 60s, the late Dexter P. Rumsey kept cows. He pastured them and let his spirited horses graze on land occupied by the parking lot of Westminster Presbyterian Church. His ample stables now are that church's junior parish house.
Yet Mr. Rumsey did not buy his house for a country home. Such was his faith in Buffalo's growth that he was certain he would see the city's expansion far beyond his house. Impelled by that faith, he bought extensive tracts of land, then woodland, in the vicinity of Delaware Park. After his death, the late Mrs. Rumsey gave the city seven acres between Lincoln Pkwy. and Rumsey Rd. now included in Delaware Park.
The house was enlarged, first by the late Dexter P. Rumsey, and later by his widow. It was one of the earliest Buffalo homes equipped with an elevator. The original elevator was operated manually, by means of ropes. For years after it ceased to be used, the pump that once supplied water for the house was left standing in the garden. A memento offormer days, that pump graces the lawn of the home of Donald Rumsey, grandson of the late Dexter P.
For 88 years -- from 1857 to 1945 -- that was the home of the late Dexter P. Rumsey, his widow, their children and grandchildren. During that period, its gracious hospitality was known and appreciated not only here but internationally. Guests it sheltered included eminent statesmen, writers, concert artists and leaders in important women's and girls' organizations such as women's suffrage and Girl Scouts of America.
Incredible as it seems, this mansion began its existence nearly a century and a quarter ago, as a two-room bungalow. Erected for Capt. Allen back in the 1830s it was built to last. The substantial beams supporting the original ceiling are admired today.
In the 1850s and 60s, the late Dexter P. Rumsey kept cows. He pastured them and let his spirited horses graze on land occupied by the parking lot of Westminster Presbyterian Church. His ample stables now are that church's junior parish house.
Yet Mr. Rumsey did not buy his house for a country home. Such was his faith in Buffalo's growth that he was certain he would see the city's expansion far beyond his house. Impelled by that faith, he bought extensive tracts of land, then woodland, in the vicinity of Delaware Park. After his death, the late Mrs. Rumsey gave the city seven acres between Lincoln Pkwy. and Rumsey Rd. now included in Delaware Park.
The house was enlarged, first by the late Dexter P. Rumsey, and later by his widow. It was one of the earliest Buffalo homes equipped with an elevator. The original elevator was operated manually, by means of ropes. For years after it ceased to be used, the pump that once supplied water for the house was left standing in the garden. A memento offormer days, that pump graces the lawn of the home of Donald Rumsey, grandson of the late Dexter P.
