Following my son’s wedding, I took a short trip to upstate New York and visited Frank Lloyd Wright’s Darwin D. Martin House in Buffalo. Built between 1903 and 1905 for Larkin Soap executive Darwin Martin, the home is considered one of Wright’s greatest Prairie School designs. The complex includes the main house, a pergola, conservatory, and carriage house, all unified by low horizontal lines, Roman brick, and Wright’s luminous art glass windows.
After years of decline, the property underwent an extraordinary restoration. More than $50 million was invested to reconstruct missing structures and return the home to Wright’s original vision. Walking through the rooms, you feel how architecture, light, and landscape were meant to flow together.
This massive preservation effort was the subject of the Joanne and Alan Kohn Lecture at the Saint Louis Art Museum. The late Joanne and Alan Kohn helped share the story of how determination and philanthropy saved the house. Having heard about the project in St. Louis and then seeing the Martin House in person made me even more appreciative of the achievement. It is truly a work of art.
