Martin House - Buffalo, NY
Posted by: 
Rayman
N 42° 56.153 W 078° 50.883
17T E 675587 N 4755941
The Darwin Martin House is one of Frank Lloyd Wright's most famous houses.
Waymark Code: WM1NDY
Location: New York, United States
Date Posted: 06/08/2007
Views: 39
The following is an excerpt from
New York: A Guide to the Empire State in the Buffalo points of interest section:
The MARTIN HOUSE, 125 Jewett Parkway, built in 1904, is an important example of the work of Frank Lloyd Wright. Wright, a pupil of Louis Sullivan, evolved at the turn of the century a fresh and personal approach to residential design. The long, low horizontal line of the widely projecting eaves, the grouping of windows, the expansive porches, and the angular masses are all characteristic of Wright's early 'Prarie Architecture.' The house is of brick, with light parapet walls and large supporting piers, which make possible the thin screens of the banked windows. The interior, furnished completely according to Wright's designs, is notable for its facile plan arrangement.
There is an intimate affiliation of house and garden. Great stone vases are set on terrace walls; there are extensive flower boxes, and the planting is carefully distributed. A long pergola in the rear leads to the conservatory and stable, the roofs of which are accented with stone birdhouses.
After Darwin Martin's death, the house was too much for Mrs. Martin to keep maintained. There was talk of demolishing the site in the 1940s, but it survived until 1955 when it was purchased by an architect. In order for the new owner to maintain the house, he sold off part of the land that contained the pergola, conservatory and carriage house. They were promptly demolished and replaced with three apartment buildings.
The house was purchased by the University of Buffalo in 1966 and was used by the president of the university as his private residence. In 2001, the house was purchased by the Martin House Restoration Corporation and extensive renovations were made to the house. The pergola, conservatory, and carraige house have all been rebuilt to the way they appeared in 1907. Tours of the entire complex are available.