English: The George K. Birge Mansion, 33 Symphony Circle, Buffalo, New York, April 2015. Designed by the Boston architectural firm of Little and Browne and otherwise known as the "Circle House", the house was modeled after a villa the owner had seen while vacationing in the French Riviera; the tripartite design of the façade sees two pavilions with Palladian windows flanking a central section with arched windows tucked between recessed Tuscan columns. A prominent businessman and scion of one of Buffalo's most well-known families at the time, George Kingsley Birge (1849-1918) was employed at, and later co-head of, the wallpaper firm founded by his father Martin, and also served as owner of the Pierce-Arrow Motor Car Company after the 1907 retirement of its namesake founder George Pierce. After Birge's death the building was pressed into service as a convent and an Elks lodge before its abandonment in the 1970s. Ransacked by vandals and arsonists, demolition of the Birge Mansion was forestalled in 1977 with its nomination as a Buffalo Landmark, followed by nearly a million dollars in restorations that occurred after its purchase in 1982 by a consortium of local real estate investors and community groups. Since then, the Birge Mansion has been used as offices, most recently those of the law firm of Spadafora & Verrastro.