History

A multi-story brick building with white decorative trim at the top, large green-tinted windows, and a white base, located on Westfield, N.Y., with trees and a sidewalk in front.

Colonial Revival

The 1910 building wears its Colonial Revival style well: three stories of brick over a stone ground floor, engaged pilasters marking each bay, and a decorative tin cornice running the full length of the roofline.

A 1911 photograph shows the original corner entrance and storefront windows facing the intersection of South Portage Road and West Main Street; both had been closed off and altered over the years, and both are being reopened as part of this restoration. Upstairs, the building kept its original one-over-one wood windows and limestone sills through more than a century of use.

Black and white photo of the Welch Grape Juice Co. offices building on Westfield Avenue in North Westfield, New York, with street view, trees, cars, and pedestrians.

A building with a past

C.E. Welch has stood on the corner of South Portage Road and West Main Street since 1910, when it opened as the headquarters of the Welch's Grape Juice Company. A three-story addition followed in 1967.

Welch's moved out in 2005, and the building sat quiet for years, waiting for its next chapter.

A vintage aerial view of Westfield, New York, showing a park with walking paths, trees, and a church in the background, titled 'Birds Eye View, Westfield N. Y.'

Welch's Grape Juice Company

Dr. Charles E. Welch built this building in 1909 as the office headquarters for the Welch's Grape Juice Company, right on the corner of South Portage Road and West Main Street. Chautauqua County was the largest grape-growing region outside California at the time, and Westfield sat close to both the vineyards and the rail lines that carried the finished product out into the world.

A three-story addition went up behind the original building in 1967, plainer in style but true to the same stone and brick detailing at street level.

Vintage advertisement for Welch's Grape Juice, showing a hand pouring grape juice into a bowl with a bottle of Welch's Grape Juice in the background.

A future home

The building will become forty-six apartments across four floors, with a little room left downstairs for offices, boutiques, or a coffeeshop.

The work follows the Secretary of the Interior's Standards for historic rehabilitation, so the original masonry, cornice, and wood windows are being repaired and restored rather than replaced where it's possible.

Close-up of a brick building with a sign that reads "C. E. WELCH" at the top and "1910" inscribed below.

Preservation in practice

Terrazzo stairs, a decorative tin cornice, and the original one-over-one wood windows upstairs are all being restored in place. On the ground floor, the concrete beams and columns will remain exposed, as they did when this was Welch's office space and later a restaurant called the Motor Inn.

Today, C.E. Welch is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as part of the French Portage Road Historic District.

Visit Westfield, NY’s website to learn more about the area’s history and resources.

A historic red brick building with white trim, labeled 5648 Welch Block, Westfield, N. Y., set against a blue sky with clouds.

Let’s Connect

Let us know which of the C.E. Welch residential units you’re interested in.

We’ll be in touch when residential leasing begins.