NEWS ARTICLE: BUFFALO NEWS (7/06) RESTORING AN EMBRACE OF SUNSHINE With skylight frame back atop conservatory, Darwin Martin House revival takes elegant step By TOM BUCKHAM News Staff Reporter 7/20/2006 Buffalo's Frank Lloyd Wright revival moved onward - and upward - Wednesday with the delicate placement of a metal skylight frame atop the Darwin Martin House's reconstructed conservatory. It took about an hour to swing three angled sections from flatbed trailers to the roof of the smallish golden brick building, where they all but disappeared from ground-level view. It is from the inside that visitors will be best able to see what Wright tried to accomplish with this structure - one of three buildings in the original Martin House complex that disappeared during decades of abandonment and neglect and have been painstakingly replicated as part of the $35 million project. "It's a simple concept, but a really elegant one," Mary Roberts, chief operating officer of Darwin Martin House Restoration Corp., said of the conservatory, whose wainscoted walls and tile floor, bathed in natural light, will be clearly visible through the pergola extending from the main house. "The skylight is a very important element of the design," she added. It may be one of those rare times in historic preservation where restorers are doing an old master one better. The 1905 skylight was made of steel, which rusted badly over the years, Roberts said, so the corporation decided to make the new frame of durable copper-clad aluminum - material that was not available early in Wright's career. The copper-clad replacement, fabricated by Colgate Industries in South Buffalo, will be more striking than the steel ever was, she predicted. The pergola, conservatory and carriage house - another long-missing element - are nearing completion, bringing Wright's plan into sharp focus and keeping the massive project on schedule for an October dedication ceremony. A greenhouse, reflecting pool and a fountain will be soon installed near the carriage house, and the property will be temporarily landscaped. Another piece of Wright's Buffalo legacy was spiffed up Wednesday at Swan and Seymour streets, as members of the Larkin Collectors Group spread crushed red brick around a historical marker near the "Larkin pier" - the only remaining trace of the famous Larkin Administration Building.