Buffalo

 Cheryl has a conference in Corning, NY and Bennett is on spring break, so we are in NY to do childcare.  No complaints here.

We chose to start our voyage in Buffalo, a city we had never visited.  We have been to Niagara which is near by but too cold for this trip.  Instead, we are enjoying indoor entertainment.

We started with the Martin House, a multi-building complex designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in his Prairie style.

Darwin D. Martin came from a poor family whose mother died when he was young.  His father remarried and left Darwin and two siblings in New York.  Martin started work at the Larkin Soap Factory as a salesman, rose to be their financial VP and became a millionaire.  He wanted a house and he knew who he wanted to design it.

At the same time, Wright was making a name for himself with new ideas and a willingness to take risks.

Together, they created the three houses of  Frank Lloyd Wright Martin House Complex.  Started in 1907, the complex took six years to be completed.

The neighborhood was designed by Frederick Law Olmstead and Wright felt the houses looked like boxes.  

 

Wright felt a home should have five elements: shelter, privacy, comfort, a place to give you feelings and be wide open.  

This is the front view of the Gardner's house.  A house for a working class person.

 

To prove himself, Wright built the Barton House, 1903-1904, as a model.  The neighbors were not happy but Martin was.  His use of a horizontal plane follows nature in design of house.  This house features interior walls of thin brown bricks with gold glitter in the mortar.  One million bricks were used in the complex, both inside and out.

The Barton House was considered a middle-class residence.  The main house for a millionaire.  The Gardener’s Cottage was for working class residents. (Later owners added to the house.)  

Unfortunately, no photos were allow inside any of the houses.  Wright felt houses had public space and private space.  He concealed stairways outside to call more attention to the full exterior.  He concealed stairways indoors as they led to bedrooms and no one need to see them.  And he concealed front doors to keep the uninvited away.  He lowered ceilings at entry ways and in hallways so one wouldn’t stay there.  Frieze rails below the ceilings adding a feeling of comfort.

His many windows let light stream into the rooms.  The main house and gardeners house had wisteria patterns.

The Tree of Light windows, in the Martin house, have 750 glass pieces per window.

In addition to the houses, there is a pergola that leads to Nike of Samothrace and a conservatory.

Martin lost the property in 1937 during the Depression.  The Martin stood empty for 7 years.  The other two homes had several owners.  The complex was restored 1992 - 2007 and opened to the public.