Frank Lloyd Wright’s Martin House Is a Prairie-Style Masterpiece
Sitting in a library at the University at Buffalo are pages upon pages of letters about Frank Lloyd Wright’s Martin House, a historic home in the Queen City that is celebrating its 120th anniversary of completion this year. Written by Wright and Darwin D. Martin, a businessman and commissioner of the home, the pair discussed the minutia of the design of the property—the size of the structure, yes, but also the particular kind of trim, the material for the dining chairs, and many more details. “We like to refer to this house as the best documented house in America,” Martin House executive director Jessie Fisher says. “Some days there would be three letters back and forth between them on a detail as small as where to put a light fixture, and they refer to telegrams and telephone calls too. We’re lucky that we have so much of that correspondence and all of Martin’s diaries.”
The reams of detailed notes were crucial to a recent restoration and recreation of the Martin House complex. Officially completed in 2019, the nearly 30-year process included completely rebuilding the estate’s pergola, carriage house, and conservatory, which had been demolished in the ’50s. Additionally, the conservation team restored a number of the other structures on the complex. Historical upkeep alone can be a process full of pitfalls—the question of how to best maintain a historical space is a knotty one—and completely remaking a home even more so.
Below, we dive into everything you should know about the Martin House located in Buffalo, New York.
History of the Martin House
Located at 125 Jewett Parkway in Buffalo, New York, Frank Lloyd Wright’s Martin House is a National Historic Landmark and an incredibly significant work from the American architect’s Prairie period. In the early 1900s, businessman Darwin D. Martin was in search of an architect to design both his own home and a new building for the company he worked for, the Larkin Soap Company.
Martin’s brother, William E. Martin, lived in Oak Park, Illinois, where Wright himself was still living. William recommended Wright to his brother, stating in a 1902 letter, courtesy of the University at Buffalo Archives, “He is not a fraud, nor a ‘crank,’ [he’s] highly educated and polished, a straightforward business-like man with high ideals.” Later stating in the same letter, “He would be pleased indeed to design your house—and further he is the man to build your office.”
William’s inkling that Wright was the man for both jobs was proven correct. Wright was hired to design the complex for the Martin family and the Larkin Administration Building, which was completed in 1906. The Administration Building was Wright’s first office building design. It was unfortunately demolished in 1950, though remnants remain at 664 Swan Street, about a ten-minute drive from the Martin House.
Architectural details of the Martin House
Standing on Jewett Parkway, across the street from the Darwin Martin House, the property looks, at first glance, quite like another of Wright’s famous designs, the Robie House in Chicago. The location of its front door isn’t readily apparent and the building is low-slung and built of Roman brick, just like the home located in the Windy City’s Hyde Park neighborhood. Once you step onto the property and get a glimpse of its many other structures, though, it’s clear that the Martin House complex is in a league of its own. Between six Wright-designed structures, there’s nearly 30,000 square feet of interior space in total at the complex.
Those six Prairie style structures are the George Barton House, the Gardener’s Cottage, the main house, the conservatory, the pergola, and the carriage house (where the museum store is now located). At the west side of the property, the visitor center, named the Eleanor and Wilson Greatbatch Pavilion, is the only building on the property not designed by Wright. Instead, it was designed by Toshiko Mori and opened in 2009.
The property’s pergola is a long covered walkway that connects the main home to the conservatory. To the average visitor it would be impossible to tell where the original structure ends without that knowledge, though it’s useful information to understand the massive amount of work that went into faithfully recreating the Martin House complex.
Like the rest of Wright’s structures, compression and release are important to the design of the Martin House estate. The variation in ceiling height and room size ushers guests into the spaces that Wright intended visitors to linger in. The main home’s entryway and its staircase, which might have been a focal point in another architect of the time’s hands, is decidedly understated.
“He felt like the upstairs is a personal, private family space, so why would you make the stairs so prominent?” Fisher says. Relatively small details, like keeping the light level low in the staircase, indicate Wright’s deliberate reimagining of standards in home design.
Interior design of the Martin House
Wright designed much of the furniture for the Martin House, including the Barrel Chair, the light fixtures, and the built-in bookshelves that are cleverly hidden throughout the open living space (which is also called “the unit room”). The furniture within the home is a mix of original pieces and reproductions. A variety of different art glass windows appear throughout the property, creating a soft divide between the interior space and the surrounding landscaping.
The wisteria mosaic that graces all four sides of the fireplace is one of the most unique elements of the Martin House’s interiors. It stands between the entry hall and the unit room, connecting the two spaces and drawing visitors from the former into the latter. The brown-and-green-colored mosaic was recreated by Botti Studio of Architectural Arts using mostly new tile.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who owns the Martin House?
The main house itself is owned by a corporation called Frank Lloyd Wright’s Martin House (which was formerly named the Martin House Restoration Corporation). Ownership is currently being transferred to New York State, though. The remaining elements of the estate (i.e. the grounds and all of the buildings other than the main house) will continue to be held by Frank Lloyd Wright’s Martin House.
How much did it cost to build the Martin House?
The Martin House complex cost over $175,000 when it was first built, which is more than $5 million today when accounting for inflation. The decades-long restoration process cost $50 million.
Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest
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