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Martin House Reference and Style Guide For the press, students and those who want to be "in the know," here are various Martin House-related facts, references, key dates and people. To learn even more, see our recommended reading list. KEY TERMINOLOGY AND INFORMATION The organization responsible for restoring the Martin House complex and operating it as a historic house museum is the Martin House Restoration Corporation (MHRC), a not-for-profit corporation incorporated in 1992. The MHRC office is located in downtown Buffalo at the Market Arcade Building, 617 Main Street, Buffalo, New York 14203 (MHRC offices are not currently on the site of the Martin House complex). BUILDINGS and GROUNDS The complex that encompasses both the Darwin D. Martin House and George F. Barton House, as well as the Martin pergola, conservatory, carriage house and Gardener’s cottage is called the Martin House complex. 125 Jewett Parkway, Buffalo, New York is the address of the Darwin D. Martin House. 118 Summit Avenue, Buffalo, New York is the address of the George Barton House. The original, complete Martin House Complex was 29,080 square feet. The National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 created the National Register of Historic Places. The Darwin D. Martin House Complex has been on this list since 1975. The Martin House was named a National Historic Landmark (NHL) in 1986. The Martin House Complex is located within the Parkside East Historic District, which was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1986. Parkside was laid out by renowned American landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted and his partner, Calvert Vaux in 1876 and was part of the first coordinated system of public parks in America. The Martin House Complex is a prime example of a Prairie House, a revolutionary design developed by Frank Lloyd Wright in the first decade of the 20th century. The Prairie House style is characterized by rectilinear, horizontally-oriented structures linked by crossing axes and "woven" into their site. The Martin House complex was designed in this fashion, allowing clear, linear vistas throughout the various buildings and surrounding landscape. Other characteristics of the Prairie House style include:
Landscape architect and superintendent of Wright's studio, Walter Burley Griffin, designed the Martin House landscape, which was created as an element integral to the architectural design of the complex. It included a floricycle that surrounded the Martin House veranda. This semi-circular garden was comprised of a wide variety of plant species, chosen for their blossoming cycles to ensure blooms throughout the growing season. The Ginkgo, a "living fossil" which is indigenous to Asia, was a favorite tree of Wright’s. Two ginkgos, which were planted on the Martin House site (flanking the porte cochere) in 1905, were heavily damaged during a storm and removed during restoration (spring 2008). Some of the decorative motifs in the Martin House are based on wisteria, a flowering vine that was planted on the site. BUFFALO’S WRIGHTIAN GOLDEN AGE For a period of some 22 years-from 1927 to 1949-a critical mass of Wright-designed structures stood in and around Buffalo. This concentration of Wrightian buildings was the second largest in the nation, after that of the Chicago area. These buildings included: The Martin House Complex:
Larkin Administration Building (1904-06), demolished 1949-50 William R. Heath House & Garage (1904-05), extant Walter V. Davidson House (1908), extant The Graycliff Estate:
RESTORATION The Martin House complex is currently being restored to its condition of 1907-the "year of significance" for its restoration. It is an active construction zone, with restoration work now in Phase V (2010). Summary of Restoration Phases Phase I Restoration of the Martin and Barton house roofs and gutters was undertaken in 1996-1997 in order to protect the structures and prevent further water damage. Phase II Phase II (2003-2004) consisted of: Martin House foundation waterproofing; installation of new water service and sewer systems; replacement of the Martin House veranda concrete slab; and installation of a non-historic basement mechanical room (beneath veranda slab). Phase III The most ambitious and pivotal of the first three phases of restoration of the Martin House complex, Phase III focuses on the complete reconstruction on the original footprint and based on the original drawings and specifications - of the Wright-designed Pergola, Conservatory and Carriage House. Installation of mechanical systems such as the geothermal HVAC system, relocation of site utilities, and preliminary tie-in of mechanical systems to the Martin House also began in this phase. Phase IV Phase IV (2007) includes restoration of various masonry elements on the exterior envelope of the Martin House itself, as well as reversal of changes to exterior walls made by the Martins in 1920. Most notably, the second floor south elevation wall will be moved back to its location of 1907, and a trunk room added by filling-in a cantilevered corner on the northwest of the house will be removed. This phase will also include completion of masonry, tile and other elements on the Martin House veranda. Phase V Phase V (2010 - ) will be divided into two sub-phases: Phase 5A will upgrade all mechanical, electrical, plumbing, HVAC, security, fire monitoring and suppression systems in the Martin House. The main house will be integrated into the geo-thermal exchange heating and cooling system already in place on the campus and in use for the reconstructed pergola, conservatory and carriage house. An education facility - the Junior League / Buffalo News Learning Center - will be incorporated into the lower-level "playroom" of the Martin House. A motorized lift will connect the first floor of the building with the lower level to provide accessible entry to the Learning Center. In addition, a pantry kitchen has been designed for non-public space on the lower level to service programs in the building. The second phase of interior restoration, 5B, will focus on the extensive interior wood trim, plaster, and paint finishes, and exterior site-work. This highly specialized and detail-oriented work will complete restoration of the main Martin House to its appearance of 1907. Upon completion of 5B, the extensive collection of original furnishings entrusted to the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, Bureau of Historic Sites, will be reinstalled in the Martin House according to our Historic Furnishings report. Many pieces of original art glass will be reinstalled in the house at this juncture as well. ART GLASS There were 394 pieces of art glass in the Martin House complex originally. Though neither Wright nor Martin gave definitive names to any specific window, the most famous pattern has been referred to as the "Tree of Life" for several decades. There were 15 primary art glass patterns in the Martin House complex, 11 in the Martin House alone. These will all be restored or replicated in the final phases of restoration to the complex. The individual pieces of colored glass in these art glass compositions are held in place by metal strips called cames or, collectively, caming, which are soldered together and the glass cemented in place. The cames of the Martin House art glass are made of brass, while those in the Barton House are zinc. COLLECTIONS and DOCUMENTATION The Frank Lloyd Wright-Darwin D. Martin Collection of photographs, drawings, letters and other documentation on the Martin family, the relationship between Frank Lloyd Wright and the Martins, and the planning and construction of the Martin House complex, is held by the University Archives, University at Buffalo, State University of New York. A collection of Wright-designed furnishings and Martin family artifacts is held by the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, Bureau of Historic Sites, at their Peeble’s Island Resource Center, Waterford, NY. Many pieces in this collection will be returned to the Martin House once the restoration is complete, creating several historically furnished rooms in the house. The Wasmuth Portfolio, Aüsgefuhrte Bauten und Entwürfe von Frank Lloyd Wright, a collection of Wright’s seminal early work, was published in Berlin in 1910. The Martin House complex was included in this portfolio, which was highly influential to the European modernist movement. KEY PEOPLE Frank Lloyd Wright b. June 8, 1867 d. April 9, 1959 MARTIN FAMILY
Darwin Denice {da-'nIs} Martin b. October 25, 1865 d. December 17, 1935 Dorothy Reidpath (Martin) Foster, their daughter b. June 27, 1896 d. Feb 1980 Darwin Reidpath Martin, their son b. October 3, 1900 d. May 27, 1979 Delta Louise (Martin) Barton, Darwin D. Martin’s sister b. November 4, 1859 KEY DATES Darwin D. Martin and Frank Lloyd Wright agreed on Jewett Parkway for the site of the Martin's new home, and Martin acquired the property in December 1902. Building of the complex began with the Barton House in 1903. The Martin House was built primarily between 1904 and 1905. Hence, we cite the overall dates for the Martin House complex as 1903-1905. The last craftsman did not leave the Martin House until 1907, and Wright officially "signed off" on the project. The "Year of Significance" for the restoration of the Martin House Complex is 1907. The Larkin Administration building, Wright’s first major commercial building, was constructed in Buffalo between 1904 and 1906 and was demolished in 1949-50. Sebastian Tauriello purchased the Martin House in 1955 (it had been abandoned since 1937). The pergola, conservatory and carriage house were demolished in 1962. In 1967, the Martin House was purchased by the University at Buffalo, State University of New York for use as its President’s house. The house remained a UB property until 2002, although not a University President residence after 1970. Eric and Eleanor Larabee purchased the Barton House in 1967. In 1989, the late U.S. Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan (D-NY) championed the restoration and proclaimed the Martin House a national treasure. The Barton House was purchased from Eleanor Larrabee for the MHRC by M&T Bank, Rich Products Corp., and The Buffalo News in 1994. 1997 - Hamilton Houston Lownie Architects LLC selected as restoration architects. Title to the Martin House was transferred by the University at Buffalo to the MHRC in 2002. The Gardener’s Cottage (built 1909), which underwent an award-winning private restoration by Gregory Kinsman in 1991, was purchased for the MHRC by Stanford and Judith Lipsey in 2006. KEY RELATIONSHIPS The Martin House Restoration Corporation is an Associate Member of the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation. /p> In 2000, a Joint Cooperative Agreement was entered into among the MHRC, the University at Buffalo, State University of New York and the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation that set forth the organizational basis for restoring the Martin House Complex. RECOMMENDED READING AND VIEWING
© 2007, Martin House Restoration Corporation. All rights reserved. |
