So I live in a housing cooperative, called Nickel City Coop. It is a 13 bedroom mansion located on the corner of Elmwood and North and is completely beautiful. It was purchased back in 2001 by 6 UB students that didn't want to have landlords anymore they wanted to be their own landlord. Ever since then this house has been a coop where 14 people have lived in relative happiness together.
The house is also known as the Granger Mansion was designed by Green and Wicks and built by Edward Granger in 1885 it was built on the outskirts of Buffalo at that point. The Granger's were judges and a green grocer and could afford to build such an opulent house on the "outskirts" of town. The house had a wrap around porch, gargoyles and a beautiful slate roof. Fast forward a couple of years and the invention of the car comes along, Elmwood Ave. "needs" to be widened in order to make way for this horseless contraption so the wrap around porch is removed from the Elmwood side! We still have a great porch, but not a wrap around anymore. Fast forward until around 1995 (I know that is skipping about 100 years or so but hey, that's how it goes) The house is being used for offices and an antique store in the basement. Around 1999 the house goes empty and is vacant until 2001 when our group moves in. I guess vacant isn't the right term, there were homeless people living in the house during that time. Then we buy the house in 2001! Stay tuned for more of the house that almost wasn't next time!
http://nickelcitycoop.org/house1.php
