The two prime examples of Frank Lloyd Wright’s work in Western New York are unique homes that the famed architect designed for the family of Larkin Soap Company magnate Darwin D. Martin.
The Martin House in Buffalo’s historic Parkside neighborhood was completed in 1905, early in Wright’s career, and he called it his “opus” – a meticulously detailed, 15,000-square-foot piece of geometric art that is a perfect specimen of his signature Prairie School style.
Graycliff, the family’s summer home overlooking Lake Erie in Derby, was designed 20 years later and has a brighter, airy feel that sets it apart – in large part thanks to Martin’s wife, Isabelle.
Local Wright scholars say the two houses show the influence of two different Martins – Darwin, who let Wright do whatever he wanted, and Isabelle, who didn’t.
The tale of two houses and Wright’s 30-year relationship with the Martins are among the history documented in a huge collection of materials that have gained a permanent home at the University at Buffalo’s Special Collections library on UB’s North Campus.
The Graycliff Conservancy recently donated 373 items to UB, including some that were already being held there for preservation – a move that makes Wright and the Martins even more accessible to architecture and history fans in the region, said Anna Kaplan, executive director of Graycliff.
“Together, the two houses are such an important regional asset, because we have not found a similar situation where you have two publicly accessible sites designed for the same family by such a renowned architect, within driving distance of each other and fully restored,” Kaplan said.
“This collection is one of the few holistic views where you can see Wright’s work span a period of time between different properties with the same family,” added UB University Archivist Hope Dunbar. “You can see Wright develop as an architect and how he worked with clients,…
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