File:Matthew Klepfer House, Buffalo, New York - 20220720.jpg

English: The Matthew Klepfer House, 169 Morris Avenue, Buffalo, New York, July 2022. Situated in the tony Central Park section in the northern part of the city, this handsome two-story buff-brick residence is emblematic of the Mediterranean Revival style of architecture that was all the rage at the time of its construction (1929). All the requisite features are in evidence: symmetrical façade; low-pitched, tile-clad hipped roof with widely overhanging eaves, and a studied formality in the decorative scheme: witness the foliate reliefs that figure both in the stone surround framing the front doors and the lintels above the first-floor windows, and the prominent swan's-neck pediment that crowns the entrance. The house was built for Matthew Klepfer (1885-1946), who as secretary-treasurer of Klepfer Bros. was a local pioneer in the field of motor vehicle sales. Erstwhile bicycle salesmen in their nearby hometown of Depew, he and his brother Frank made the decision in 1906 to add automobiles to their store's inventory (stocking Buick, Ford, and Overland models), and a dozen years later moved their operation to Buffalo's "Auto Row" on Main Street. Their enormous dealership at the corner of East Ferry Street still stands and is now home to the Metro Self-Storage company. Klepfer lived in the house until his sudden death of a heart attack, and it remained in the family's hands as home to his widow Eunice and son Ward until the latter finally sold it in 1985.