I made the trip in sept 22' and can't wait to see Buffalo again ! the first tour was the Martin house and then The Pierce arrow museum , then drive-by's of all the homes he designed in the area including "Graycliff" the next day. the falls should not be missed BUT it was the last visit for me due to the crowds. Buffalo is Beautiful !
This has always been one of my all time favorite Wright house. It is a shame it was ever allowed to get into a deteriorate stat.e in the first place. If I ever came to Buffalo it would be to see this house, the falls would be a distend second.
My first trip to the Darwin Martin House was in 1976. My second in 1980. I visited it for the third time in 2003. The house was a revelation even in its state of disrepair in the 1976. The progress in restoring it extraordinary. I need to visit it again to see the reconstructed pergola, conservatory, carriage house and mosaic covered fireplace.
The color photo of the building being demolished by the steam shovel is not part of the Wright original. The owner of the complex, Sebastian Tauriello (an architect no less!!!) sometime in the 1950s tore out the pergola, conservatory and garage. In its place he built several undistinguished apartment buildings to generate income to save the main house. After the Martin complex was taken over by the State, those interloping buildings were removed, making way for the rebuilding of the lost pergola, conservatory and garage. That demolition is the photo shown here. The pergola conservatory and garage we see today are in fact new construction.
The live webcam coverage of the project was fascinating to watch. Is it possible to recapture that and put together footage for a DVD? Sales of that could help fund further work.
No. It was FLW's favorite statue which he had outside his own home in Oak Park. The behemoth at Jewett Pkwy was made in Boston, MA, first in plaster and then more recently it was recreated in resin.
