The Old Neighborhood Part II

A complex of house (#141) and four-apartment building (#145) at the corner of Avondale Place and Westcott Street (also originally #578 Westcott), this property was developed in 1910 by Rev. S. T. Ford of Chicago, designed by Taber & Baxter, and constructed by D.. Gallagher. Originally, the apartments had large porches facing Westcott Street similar to those of the Thornden next door. These can be seen in a photograph from 1927, and traces of the porch and of blocked windows can still be seen on the building’s east facade.  These apartments were call “The Montague” when built, but by 1938 they were called “The Wentworth.”

Taber & Baxter were active architects in Syracuse at the time. Baxter had previously worked with Baxter & Buell and then at Solvay Process. Wellington Taber, who designed the Psi Upsilon fraternity at Syracuse University (1898) and houses on Columbus Avenue in the Rosenbloom Tract, including the the Gustav Stickley House (1901), had previously worked on his own and with other architects.

Sources:

Atlas of the city of Syracuse, N.Y. and suburbs : from official records, private plans and actual surveys / compiled under the direction of and published by G.M. Hopkins Co. (Philadelphia : G.M. Hopkins co., 1938).