Darwin D. Martin House
Darwin D. Martin House Complex | |
Location | 125 Jewett Parkway, Buffalo, New York |
---|---|
Coordinates | 42°56′10.18″N 78°50′53.27″W / 42.9361611°N 78.8481306°W |
Built | 1903–1905 |
Architect | Frank Lloyd Wright |
Architectural style | Prairie School |
NRHP reference No. | 86000160 |
Significant dates | |
Added to NRHP | 1975[1] |
Designated NHL | 1986[1] |
The Darwin D. Martin House Complex is a historic house museum in Buffalo, New York. The property's buildings were designed by renowned architect Frank Lloyd Wright and built between 1903 and 1905. The house is considered to be one of the most important projects from Wright's Prairie School era.[2]
History
The Martin House Complex was built for businessman Darwin D. Martin, his wife, and their family; and his sister Delta and her husband George F. Barton.[3][4]
Martin and his brother, William E. Martin, were co-owners of the E-Z Stove Polish Company based in Chicago.[5] In 1902 William commissioned Wright to build him a home in Oak Park, Illinois, the resultant William E. Martin House built in 1903.[5] Upon viewing his brother's home, Darwin Martin was significantly impressed to visit Wright's Studio, and persuaded Wright to view his property in Buffalo, where he planned to build two houses.[5]
In 1904, Martin was instrumental in selecting Wright as the architect for the Larkin Administration Building,[5] in downtown Buffalo, which was Wright's first major commercial project. Martin was the secretary of the Larkin Soap Company and consequently Wright designed houses for other Larkin employees William R. Heath and Walter V. Davidson. Wright also designed the E-Z Stove Polish Company's Factory built in 1905.[5]
Wright designed the complex as an integrated composition of connecting buildings, consisting of the primary building, the Martin House, a long pergola connecting with a conservatory, a carriage house-stable, and a smaller residence, the George Barton House, built for George F. Barton and his wife Delta, Martin's sister. The complex also includes a gardener's cottage, the last building completed.
Martin, disappointed with the small size of the conservatory, had a 60 ft (18m) long greenhouse constructed between the gardener's cottage and the carriage house, to supply flowers and plants for the buildings and grounds. This greenhouse was not designed by Wright, and Martin ignored Wright's offer "to put a little architecture on it".[6]
Over the next twenty years a long-term friendship grew between Wright and Martin, to the extent that the Martins provided financial assistance[7] and other support[8][9] to Wright as his career unfolded.
About twenty years later, in 1926, Wright designed the second major complex for the Martin family, Graycliff, a summer estate overlooking Lake Erie in nearby Derby, New York.[10] The Blue-Sky Mausoleum Wright designed for the Martins in 1928, but never built, was finally installed at Buffalo's Forest Lawn Cemetery in 2004.[11]
Design
The complex exemplifies Wright's
The main motives and indications were:
First – To reduce the number of necessary parts of the house and the separate rooms to a minimum, and make all come together as an enclosed space—so divided that light, air and vista permeated the whole with a sense of unity.
— Frank Lloyd Wright, "On architecture".[14]
In 1900
Of particular significance are the fifteen distinctive patterns of 394 stained glass windows that Wright designed for the entire complex, some of which contain over 750 individual pieces of jewel-like iridescent glass, that act as "light screens" to visually connect exterior views with the spaces within. More patterns of art glass were designed for the Martin House than for any other of Wright's Prairie Houses.
Walter Burley Griffin landscaped the grounds, which were created as integral to the architectural design.[16] A semi-circular garden which contained a wide variety of plant species, chosen for their blossoming cycles to ensure blooms throughout the growing season, surrounded the Martin House veranda.[16] The garden included two sculptures by Wright collaborator Richard Bock.[17]
Complex
The complex is located within the Parkside East Historic District of Buffalo, which was laid out by the American landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted in 1876.[16] Darwin Martin purchased the land in 1902.[16] Construction began in 1903, and completed with Wright signing off on the project in 1907.[16] The original complete Martin House Complex was 29,080 square feet (2,702 m2).[16]
The Martin House
Built between 1902 and 1905, The entry hall continues on axis to the pergola and conservatory beyond.
Martin had imposed no budget and Wright is believed to have spent close to $300,000.[5][20] By comparison Martin's brother's house cost about $5000,[21] and the Ladies' Home Journal house design an estimated price of $7000.[15]
The Martin House is located at the south end of the complex,[22] at 125 Jewett Parkway in Buffalo.[16]
The Barton House
Construction on the Barton House began first in 1903[16] and not only was it the first building of the complex to be completed but also the first of Wright's in Buffalo.[18] The principal living spaces are concentrated in the central two-story portion of the house where the reception, living and dining areas open into each other.[18] The two main bedrooms are on the second story, at either end of a narrow hall.[18] On the ground floor the kitchen is at the north end, while a scaled veranda extends from the reception hall to the south.[18]
The Barton House is on the east side of the complex,[22] at 118 Summit Avenue, Buffalo.[16]
The carriage house
Originally the carriage house served as a stable with horse stalls, a hay loft, and storage for a carriage, but soon became a garage with a service area for a car, and an upstairs apartment for a chauffeur.[23] The carriage house also contained the boilers for the complex's heating system.[23] Built between 1903 and 1905,[23] the original structure was demolished in 1962, and rebuilt during the restoration between 2004 and 2007.[16] The carriage house is at the north end of the complex,[22] directly north of the Martin House porte-cochere, to the west of the conservatory.
The gardener's cottage
Built in 1909[16] of wood and stucco,[24] the gardener's cottage is so modest in size that a boxy configuration appears to have been inevitable, contrary to Wright's ideal of opening up the confining "box" of traditional American houses.[24] Nevertheless, Wright managed to create an illusion of the pier and cantilever principle that characterized the Martin House by placing tall rectangular panels at each corner of the building.[24] The gardener was Reuben Polder, who had to provide fresh flowers daily for every room in the Martin House, a task which he completed until Darwin Martin died in 1935.[24]
The gardener's cottage is on the west side of the complex,[22] at 285 Woodward Avenue, Buffalo.[24]
The conservatory
Built for plant growing the conservatory features a glass-and-metal roof supported by brick piers.[25] A plaster cast of the Winged Victory of Samothrace stands at the entrance and creates a vista through the pergola.[15] The original conservatory was demolished in 1962, and rebuilt between 2004 and 2007 as part of the restoration.[16] The conservatory is at the north end of the complex between the carriage house and the Barton House.[22]
The pergola
The pergola runs from the entrance hall of the Martin House to the entrance of the conservatory,[15] and is about 100 ft (30m) long.[26] The original pergola was demolished in 1962, and was rebuilt between 2004 and 2007.[16] The Pergola is at the center of the complex, running north–south between the Martin House and the conservatory.[22]
Gallery of drawings
-
Landscape plan
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1916 map of the Martin House complex
-
1901 illustration
-
First floor
-
Second floor
Decline
Following the loss of the family fortune, due to the
Restoration
The Martin House Restoration Corporation (MHRC), founded in 1992,
One of Richard Bock's sculptures, Spring, now located in the Bock Museum at
Currently the MHRC operates guided public tours and present educational programs for volunteers and the general public. In 2008, the Gardener's Cottage was finally included on the tours of the complex.
The Eleanor & Wilson Greatbatch Pavilion Visitor Center, designed by Toshiko Mori, opened March 12, 2009.[34]
In June 2017, the unveiling of the Wisteria Mosaic Fireplace, a 360-degree work of art consisting of tens of thousands of individual glass tiles, marks the completion of the $50 million project.
See also
- List of Frank Lloyd Wright works
- List of National Historic Landmarks in New York
- List of New York State Historic Sites
- Other buildings by Frank Lloyd Wright in the Buffalo area:
References
- ^ a b Martin 02/02/2015 (PDF)
- ^ "An American Legacy: Architecture, Craft, and Design in Upstate New York". wrightwaytravel.org. Retrieved December 9, 2016.
- ^ "Learn: The Story". Frank Lloyd Wright's Martin House Complex. Retrieved December 15, 2016.
- ^ "George and Delta Barton House". Frank Lloyd Wright Trust. Retrieved December 15, 2016.
- ^ a b c d e f Edgar Tafel, Years with Frank Lloyd Wright: Apprentice to Genius, p.83, Courier Dover Publications; 1985
- ^ Buckham, Tom (June 21, 2006). "Darwin Martin complex to include working greenhouse". The Buffalo News. p. B1.
- ^ Robert M. Craig, Bernard Maybeck at Principia College, p.478, Gibbs Smith; 2004
- ^ a b Quinan, Jack (2004). Frank Lloyd Wright's Martin House. Princeton Architectural Press. p. 216.
- ^ Knight, Caroline (2004). Frank Lloyd Wright. Parragon. p. 124.
- ^ "Graycliff Official Site". Archived from the original on September 18, 2006.
- ^ "Blue-Sky Mausoleum Official Site". Archived from the original on July 20, 2009.
- ISBN 9781861895387– via Google books.
- ^ "Visit the Martin House". www.darwinmartinhouse.org. Retrieved December 9, 2016.
- ^ Wright, Frank Lloyd (1960). Frank Lloyd Wright: Writings and Buildings. New American Library. p. 4.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Gill, Brendan (1998). Many Masks. Da Capo Press. pp. 147–149.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v Martin House Reference Sheet, archived from the original on March 26, 2009, retrieved February 10, 2013
- ^ Lind, Carla. Frank Lloyd Wright's Furnishing.
- ^ a b c d e Banham, Reyner; Kowsky, Francis R. (1981). Buffalo Architecture. Buffalo Architectural Guidebook Corporation. pp. 195–197.
- ^ a b Storrer, William A. (2002). The Architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright. University of Chicago Press. pp. 99–100.
- ^ Gill, Brendan (1998). Many Masks. Da Capo Press. p. 172.
- ^ Gill, Brendan (1998). Many Masks. Da Capo Press. p. 141.
- ^ a b c d e f "Complex Model". www.buffaloah.com.
- ^ a b c "The Carriage House". buffaloah.com.
- ^ a b c d e "The gardener's cottage". buffaloah.com.
- ^ Quinan, Jack (2004). Frank Lloyd Wright's Martin House. Princeton Architectural Press. p. 13.
- ^ "landmarksociety.org". Archived from the original on January 26, 2009.
- ^ a b c d e f Tafel, Edgar (1985). Years with Frank Lloyd Wright: Apprentice to Genius. Courier Dover Publications. pp. 92–93.
- ^ Tafel, Edgar (1985). Years with Frank Lloyd Wright: Apprentice to Genius. Courier Dover Publications. p. 88.
- ^ "Greycliff official Site timeline". Archived from the original on September 3, 2009.
- ^ "Darwin D. Martin House". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. Archived from the original on March 12, 2007. Retrieved September 11, 2007.
- ^ Pitts, Carolyn (n.d.). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: Darwin D. Martin House". National Park Service.
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(help) and Accompanying Photos, exterior, from 1910 and 1975. (1.97 MB) - ^ a b "The Martin House Restoration Corporation". Retrieved February 10, 2013.
- ^ "Replica of Bock Sculpture, 'Spring,' Being Made from G.C.'s Original". The Greenville Advocate. November 4, 2008.
- ^ "$2.5 million gift for Martin House Visitor Center bestows it with its name: "The Eleanor and Wilson Greatbatch Pavilion"". Frank Lloyd Wright's Martin House Complex. Martin House Restoration Corporation. January 26, 2008. Archived from the original on May 16, 2009. Retrieved December 9, 2016.
External links
- Official website
- NYS Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation: Darwin Martin House State Historic Site
- Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) No. NY-5611, "Darwin D. Martin House, 125 Jewett Parkway, Buffalo, Erie County, NY", 15 photos, 27 measured drawings, 14 data pages
- Darwin D. Martin Photograph Collection Archived October 22, 2010, at the Wayback Machine at University at Buffalo Libraries Digital Collections
- Darwin D. Martin Photograph Collection from New York Heritage