I received some great old photos this week from my uncle who researches our family tree. This is the house my paternal grandpa built in Cheektowaga in 1947, doing much of the construction himself with some help from the neighborhood kids. He couldn't get a traditional loan because the bank didn't have any collateral and didn't trust his carpentry skills. So he got a loan from a lawyer friend, given to him in bits as stages of construction were complete. He also built a 3-car cinder block garage that would eventually house his little fishing boat. The house next to them was replaced by the Kensington Expressway around 1967. My grandpa and some buddies eventually popped up the roof to make more space upstairs for 6 kids. My dad said he was asleep as a kid when they popped up the roof and awoke to a strong breeze! The final image is my sketch of the first floor plan from memory. My grandpa died when I was 7 and my grandma died when I was 24 and haven't been in the house in 7 years and has since been sold. I have a lot of house builders in my family and it's a comfort to know it's in my blood.
