House History
Since 1983, the gracious structure at 780 West Ferry Street has been the Ronald McDonald House of Buffalo, accommodating as many as 15 families at a time who are in Buffalo to get treatment for their sick children. But when the building was constructed at the turn of the last century, it was a private home for a single family.
First Residents
The house was built for Dr. Alexander Main Curtiss in 1895. Dr. Curtiss’s family consisted of his wife, Sophia Jane Coleman Curtiss, and three sons, Coleman, Geoffrey and Charles. Family members recall that in an attempt to keep order in the house, Mrs. Curtiss required her three energetic sons to use the back stairs instead of the elegant main staircase, which was reserved for special occasions.
Dr. Curtiss practiced medicine in Buffalo for many years. He also served as a director of the Third National Bank of Buffalo and as a trustee of Fidelity Guaranty and Security Company. He was the son of Amelia Lent Main Curtiss and Charles Gould Curtiss, a self-made man and a close friend of President Grover Cleveland.
Prestigious Address
When the house was built at the turn of the last century, West Ferry Street between Delaware and Elmwood Avenues was one of Buffalo’s most prestigious neighborhoods. Just a few houses away at 730 West Ferry, you can see an extensive brick wall along the street that marks the location of what was, at that time, an enormous estate with grounds landscaped by famed landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted. That estate was owned by John J. Albright, a businessman and community leader whose name you may recognize from the world-famous Albright-Knox Art Gallery.
Hollister Family, 1913-1922
Mr. and Mrs. Hollister were both from prominent Buffalo families. Ruth Albright Hollister was the daughter of community leader John J. Albright who lived on the estate nearby.
Evan Hollister was an outstanding trial lawyer and civic patriot who worked to promote business and intellectual and cultural life in Buffalo. Mr. Hollister counted three U.S. presidents among his wide circle of acquaintances: Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft and Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Mrs. Hollister was also active in the community, carrying on her family’s leadership in the Albright Art Gallery as well as involvement with the Red Cross, Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, General Hospital and the Boy Scouts.
It took quite a lot of manpower to manage this kind of home and lifestyle in the early part of the 20th century. The 1915 census indicates that four domestic servants and a chauffeur served the four-member Hollister family!
Adam Family 1923-1939
From 1923-1939, Robert B. Adam II, his wife Lena Stevens Adam and their three children lived in the home. Wedding receptions for the two daughters, Harriet and Florence, were held under large tents, which filled the lawn on the east side of the house.
Born in 1863, Mr. Adam came to Buffalo at the age of 9 and was adopted by his uncle, Robert B. Adam Sr., whose name he acquired.
A distinguished merchant, Robert B. Adam II served as president of Adam, Meldrum, and Anderson, a chain of Buffalo department stores, for 38 years. He was also a noted scholar in the field of English literature. His library held a renowned collection of the works of Dr. Samuel Johnson and John Ruskin, which his father began and he expanded upon. The Adam library was located on the west side of the house, just behind the parlor on the left as you walk in. In 1930, Yale University conferred on Adam an honorary degree in recognition of his scholarship in the field of literature.
A New Era
When the Adam family moved in 1939, the home stood vacant for a year and then was subdivided as a boarding house.
In 1955, developer Hugh Perry and architect Gordon Hayes rehabilitated the structure into elegant apartments.
The structure became the Ronald McDonald House of Buffalo in 1983, offering comfort and protection for families of children receiving treatment at Buffalo hospitals.
The Ronald McDonald House began with an initial seed grant from the McDonald’s Corporation and the support and leadership of Western New Yorkers. Current funding comes from the generosity of the community.
The House has 15 bedrooms, and can accommodate up to 50 people. Families from all over the world travel to Buffalo and stay at the House.
For more on the history of the Ronald McDonald House of Buffalo, see How It All Began.