June 23rd. Darwin Martin house.

On the continuing journey of Frank LLoyd Wright houses, the first one we ever visited was the Darwin Martin complex in Buffalo. This was a first time visit for the eldest daughter, and a great excuse to spend a day out and about with her.😁

This complex has been the subject of a mammoth restoration and reconstruction project guided by an incredible collection of volunteers who have taken this project from near ruin to its full former splendour.

It doesnt usually take much to persuade us to spend a day in Buffalo and this day was no exception. The weather was quite perfect, sunny but not too blisteringly hot.

Our last visit here pre pandemic was just as they were getting going with replacing the floriscape. Two years of pandemic restriction later and the garden is now well established and a magnificent compliment to this quite beautiful housing complex.

FLW built three housing complexes during his illustrious career, and this is the only one still standing. It consists of the main family house, the gardeners cottage, the carriage house and the Barton house which Darwin Martin had built for his sister on the same property.

At the Darwin Martin house, as with many of the FLW houses, there is no photography allowed inside the building. My resident photographer satisfied himself with scoping out the outside, and the pergola walkway down to the ‘greenhouse’.

We finished up the day at one of our very favourite haunts in Buffalo, the Allen St Hardware Cafe. A stop for dinner before heading home.

A great day out…!!!

For anyone in Southern Ontario, this house ( and the Martins summerhouse at Greycliff) are an easy day out, and, if you have even the slightest interest in architecture, or art in general, a must do trip.

Its a 2 hour tour around the house and gardens, and we have been here a few times before….but it never seems like that long. This place is just such a magnificent piece of design. That Frank guy really knew what he was doing…!!!

As always, the pictures are all clickable if you wish a clearer view, underlined text provides clickable links to further information.

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