The Coles House Project will thoughtfully restore and transform the Coles House, Studio, and Gardens into a place where intergenerational designers, architects, planners, and advocates find inspiration and community. Its restoration and programming will advocate for a just built environment and become a resource and an inspiration for the East Side communities of Buffalo. Through this work, we honor and extend Robert Traynham Coles’ powerful legacy of using architecture as a tool for social justice and community empowerment. This signature mid-century modern house will be a place to engage, study, vision, and disseminate ideas for an environmentally healthy community in underserved parts of Buffalo and connect individuals to the resources they need to address problems.

■■■  In 2025, with the support of community, grants, and a lot of your love, in 2025, the Coles House Project successfully bought the house!!  ■■■ 

We have been continually building in 2025 as we... 

■ are bringing on a team of preservationists and architects to begin outlining a rehabilitation plan that will restore the home with integrity while also reimagining and transforming the space for the future, thanks to the Conserving Black Modernism grant.

■ are expanding our suite of open house gatherings as we bring together people - neighbors, community, designers, organizers, students, and more.

■ are expanding our programming as we table at Buffalo Juneteenth, join the East Side Garden Walk, and continue to bring the neighborhood in.

We are excited to have this all feed into the Underlying Core of our Work:

■ support community building within Hamlin Park, where the Coles House and Studio is situated in.

■ develop a living breathing site for intergenerational learning, exploring, and imagining of potentials and possibilities in the field of architecture and design.

■ create a communal gathering space.

■ develop a long term goal of a community design center for the East Side of Buffalo, in the East Side of Buffalo. 

This project will only be successful with wide community support. Your small or large donation is an investment in Black history and is a chance to change traditional architecture and design processes that lead to inclusive public spaces and affordable and just neighborhoods. Your investment will center communal knowledge building and sharing through anti-racist design education and spatial practice. 

For more information about the Coles House Project visit www.coleshouseproject.org