Martin House, Buffalo, New York

When I googled the top things to do in Buffalo, New York The Martin House, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright keep appearing as a must-see place. As neither Don nor I had ever been inside a Frank Lloyd Wright house, but have wanted to, we decided to book a tour. Though normally closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays in the off-season, they decided to be open to catch the extra tourists flooding to Buffalo for the eclipse.

We booked the first tour on Wednesday knowing after the tour we still had a six-hour drive home and at least one more stop to make (popping in the local LEGO store so Don could add a stamp to his LEGO passport). 

Much of the introduction talked about the friendship between Buffalo executive Dwight Martin and architect Frank Lloyd Wright. Wright saw a chance to fulfill his dreams designed a Prairie-style house for Martin and his deep pockets. Though the finished product barely seems livable, Martin was proud of the home.

We were not allowed to take pictures inside the home (there are some on the website), but what stood out to me was that Wright also designed the furniture and dictated what went on the walls (and where), including artwork Wright picked up while traveling in Japan and sent to the Martins (along with instructions on how to frame them, and a bill). He designed the bed shorter than typical beds because he felt it looked better in the master bedroom (Mrs. Martin did not care for it).

After Dwight Martin's death, and after his widow moved out of the home, it had a sad life. Though located next to an Olmstead park, it was much more expensive than anything else in the neighborhood, and expensive to maintain. In 1946 it went to the City of Buffalo in lieu of paying the property taxes owed on it. Later an architect bought it with hopes of restoring it to its FLW glory. Another point it was owned by a local university, used to woo a their future president who always wanted to live in a FLW home (he left three years later, the house wasn't enough to keep him). It sat vacant longer than it was lived in. Just before it was to be subdivided into apartments, locals joined together to form a non-profit to save it. What we see now is the result of many years of fundraising and restoration. They are still working on replacing some of the windows -- over the years some were given away, and others were broken. The price tag to replace the windows alone is staggering.

Though this was our first FLW home tour, I suspect it won't be our last.