About the House

When we moved to WNY, we were tired of living in a stamped cookie cutter house that is so common in many sub-divisions.  We were looking for a house that had character, one that was interesting and different.  We found that house on Salt Road . 

The deed for the property goes back prior to 1900.  The history that I know starts in 1912 when the Yokum family purchased the house and 60 acres to be used as a dairy farm.  The property ran north on Salt Road to the peanut rail line (present day bike path), south to Clarence Center Road and west to a currently unmarked location.  The Yokum family farmed the land until August 1947 when a summer lightning storm struck the hay barn and burned it to the ground.  Mr. Yokum then retired from farming. The house and land changed hands several times after 1960.  Eventually the farming land was sold off, and at one time the house was converted into a duplex with an upper apartment.

In more recent times, the house was owned by the owners of Buffalo Hardwoods.  From my understanding they did a major remodeling project which completely gutted the house.  This project resulted in all of the custom hardwood floors, wall moldings and room reconfigurations.  At this time the exterior of the house was sided and all of the windows were replaced with Pella windows.  All of the plumbing and electrical service was updated at this time as well.  Essentially, the house was completely rebuilt in 1995.  Only the original foundation/basement remains from the old farm house.

Our additions to the house were mainly mechanical.  We worked with Greenhomes of America/Hughes Co to bring the house up to NY Energy Star standards.  This project included insulating all exterior walls and ceilings and an upgrade of the furnace/hot water systems.  We also brought the septic system up to current code and replaced the bubbler pump.  The entire system was pumped out in 2004.  We also continued the landscaping work with the help of area professionals.

The house is quasi-famous.  While vacationing in Jamaica a few years ago, we met another couple from WNY.  As we conversed, it came out that the husband had worked on the team that installed the hardwood floors.  He named room by room and floor by floor, so there was no doubt that he knew the house.  While working with Huges Co last year, our salesman kept commenting that he was vaguely familiar with the house.  He knew where the basement door was, he knew all of the bedrooms, which was odd.  After his second visit he remembered a childhood friend that lived in the house and how they used to play hide and seek in the house.  Most recently, Mr Yokum’s grandson, Daniel, stopped by and asked if he could walk through the property.  As we walked through the yard, he gave me the history lesson that I related above.  These aren’t things you would hear about from a cookie cutter sub division house.