BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — Twenty-six years and $50m later New York State is taking the wraps off the completed Martin House designed by renowned architect Frank Lloyd Wright.
On Monday, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced the completion of the restored Frank Lloyd-Wright designed landscapeat the home, marking the final phase of restoration efforts.
In total, the project received more than $50m dollars from both Federal and State Partners starting back in 1993.
"The Darwin Martin House is one of Western New York's most iconic attractions," said Governor Cuomo. "The restoration of the historic landscape is an outstanding addition to this important piece of Buffalo's growing architectural tourism industry."
Bayer Lanscape Architecture, based outside Rochester, was commissioned to carry out the restoration of the Wright-designed landscape which includes:
· Restoration of the visual and spatial relationships between the site's architectural and landscape features.
· Recreation of the floricycle, the most intricately designed element of Wright's landscape plan.
· Replacement of vegetative screening elements; naturalistic shrub massings; selected ornamental flowering shrub focal points; vine trellises; urn, fountain, and box plantings; and perennial gardens.
· Reinstallation of the English border gardens that flank the pergola, contrasting the more naturalistic plantings that define the boundaries of the historic property.
· Redefinition of the outdoor "rooms" and architectonic garden elements conceived by Wright.
· Preservation of the mature century-old Copper Beech tree—one of only two remaining vegetative features from the historic period.
· Replacement of trees at historic locations on the property, as well as the return of street trees along the borders of Jewett Parkway and Summit Avenue in conjunction with the City of Buffalo.
The Martin House is open year-round and offers a wide range of tour, educational, special event and rental programs, and operates a museum store and café on site.
