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SCVNGR Frank Lloyd Wright Trek
smartphone tour / game
Preservation Buffalo-Niagara’s Frank Lloyd Wright Trek includes structures designed by this architect located in and around the City of Buffalo. These structures range from original Frank Lloyd Wright structures built at the turn of the century, to projects planned for members of Buffalo’s community, but never realized, to new Frank Lloyd Wright structures, built from original plans by the architect. A list of SCVNGR Frank Lloyd Wright sites (along with brief descriptions) is provided below; once you’ve downloaded the SCVNGR app, you can also view this and other Treks on your smartphone, visit associated sites, complete SCVNGR Challenges and earn points towards badges and rewards.
Each site is also marked by a small sign, indicating that the site is an official part of Preservation Buffalo-Niagara’s SCVNGR initiative, and containing a QR code. This QR code will bring you back to PBN’s website, where you can find more information about the building, its history and its importance for Buffalo’s culture. If you do not have a QR code reader on your smartphone, or you don’t know what this is, search “QR code” using your search engine of choice.
Tour Locations
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Blue Sky Mausoleum (2004)Frank Lloyd Wright
Originally designed for Darwin Martin between 1925 and 1928, the Blue Sky Mausoleum was built on the site for which it was originally intended in 2004. Its construction was based on the drawings prepared by Wright for Mr. Martin before his death in 1935. It is one of three designs planned for construction in Buffalo in the 21stcentury, and is the fourth design prepared by the architect for Darwin Martin, including Greycliff, the Darwin Martin Complex and the Larkin Administrative Building, which was tragically demolished in 1950.
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Darwin Martin Complex (including the Darwin Martin House, the Barton House and the Gardener's Cottage) (1906)Frank Lloyd Wright
Commissioned by one of the most successful executives in the Larkin Company, The Darwin D. Martin House is exemplary among Wright’s prairie houses for its size. Wright was given an almost limitless budget, and the richness of materials, and the attention to detail attest to the largess of the client. The spatial organization of the house reveals Wright’s interest in open plans, and in challenging the forms of traditional domestic architecture.
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Davidson House (1908)Frank Lloyd Wright
Designed for Walter Davidson, who, like Darwin Martin, was an executive at the Larkin Company, the Davidson house reveals prairie style principles similar to those seen in the Darwin D. Martin House. However, budgetary limitations resulted in a material vocabulary that is significantly more subdued than that seen at the Martin House. This is perhaps most noticeable in Wright’s use of clear glass, instead of his famous “light screen” designs, as the primary form of fenestration.
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Fontana Boathouse (2007)Frank Lloyd Wright
Originally commissioned in 1905 for the University of Wisconsin’s crew team (but never built), this is the only boathouse designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. It was constructed in 2007, and is the second of three planned projects by Frank Lloyd Wright to be built in Buffalo in the 21st century. The Fontana Boathouse is a welcome addition to Buffalo’s waterfront, and is part of the city’s strategy to reinvigorate its waterfront district and make Buffalo an architectural tourist destination.
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Graycliff (1926-1931)Frank Lloyd Wright
It has been argued that the Darwin Martin House was designed singularly for Mr. Martin, and that, as such, it can be described as a portrait of the client himself. While Mr. Martin may have luxuriated in the environment carefully crafted for him by the architect, Mrs. Martin, who has significant troubles with her sight, found the building dark and difficult to navigate. Graycliff was commissioned by Darwin Martin specifically for his wife, and the differences between the two buildings could not be more stark.
