Graycliff Construction photographs
Scope and Contents
Graycliff was the summer home of the Darwin D. Martin family designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. Photographs of the Graycliff construction and interior were made from 47 negatives donated by Darwin R. Martin as well as originals owned by Darwin R. Martin and from other sources.
I. to IV. contain 46 prints from original negatives: 1.1-14, 2.1-13, 3.1-7, 4.1-7, 5.1-5. [Negative 5.7 was not printed]
Note: Photo 5.6 is missing. A note in the legacy finding aid referred to study prints from originals owned by the Martin Family numbered "5.6, 6.10-12" but were missing from the collection.
V. contains copies of originals owned by Darwin R. Martin, 6.1 to 6.9, and originals owned by the Martin Family, 6.10-20.
Note: Items 6.10-6.12 were left blank in the legacy finding aid and were not in the box. An older note in the legacy finding aid referred to copies of original photographs owned by Margaret Foster Holcombe made by Jack Quinan, professor of Art History at the State University of New York at Buffalo, donated by him to the University Archives on July 14, 1980, and numbered 6.13, 6.14, and 6.15. These are presumed, because of similar numbering, to be the oversized study prints in MS 22.3 Box 3+ found in the Frank Lloyd Wright Resource Room by the processor. These oversize study prints were added to the collection and renumbered 6.10, 6.11, and 6.12 on February 11, 2010.
VI. contains photographs of construction and completed exterior, grounds, and interior obtained from unknown sources.
VII. contains a duplicate set of study prints of photographs 1.1 through 6.9.
Dates
- circa 1926-1938
Creator
- Martin, Darwin R. (Darwin Reidpath) (Person)
Language of Materials
Collection material in English.
Terms of Access
Graycliff Construction Photos are open for research.
Copyright
Copyright of photographs in the collection may be held by their authors, or the authors' heirs or assigns. Researchers must obtain the written permission of the holder(s) of copyright and the University Archives before publishing from materials in the collection. Please see the Archives staff for information on copies of photographs.
Chronology
- 1865
- Darwin D. Martin born - Boucville, Madison Co., New York
- 1867
- Frank Lloyd Wright born - Richland Center, Wisconsin
- 1869
- Isabelle Reidpath, the future Mrs. Martin, born - Buffalo, New York
- 1878
- Brothers Darwin D. Martin and Louis Frank Martin selling soap for Larkin Company in New York City
- 1879
- Darwin D. Martin, aged thirteen, begins work at Larkin Company in Buffalo
- 1885
- Darwin D. Martin invents cardex
- 1887
- Frank Lloyd Wright begins studies at the University of Wisconsin
- 1888
- Darwin D. Martin begins building house on Summit Avenue in Buffalo
- 1889
- Darwin D. Martin marries Isabelle Reidpath
- Frank Lloyd Wright builds Home and Studio in Oak Park
- 1890
- Frank Lloyd Wright joins Alder and Sullivan
- Darwin D. Martin replaces Elbert Hubbard as Secretary of Larkin Soap Company
- 1893
- Frank Lloyd Wright starts his own practice
- 1902
- October 29 -- Darwin D. Martin meets Frank Lloyd Wright
- Darwin D. Martin purchases site for Martin House Complex, Jewett Parkway
- 1903
- October 11 - Construction begins on Barton House
- 1904
- July 20 - Construction begins on Martin House
- October - Barton House occupied
- 1905
- Martin House Complex completed
- 1910
- Frank Lloyd Wright designs Bar Beach Cottage (Bay Beach, Ontario, Canada) for Darwin D. Martin (unexecuted)
- 1923
- Darwin D. Martin commissions Frank Lloyd Wright to design a home for James and Dorothy Martin Foster, daughter of Darwin D. Martin (unexecuted)
- 1925
- Martin retires from the Larkin Company
- 1926
- Construction begins on Graycliff
- 1928
- June 20 - Graycliff occupied
- Frank Lloyd Wright designs the Blue Sky Mausoleum for Darwin D. Martin's ploy in Buffalo's Forest Lawn Cemetery (unexecuted)
- 1935
- Darwin D. Martin dies in Buffalo
- 1936
- Fallingwater (Bear Run, Pennsylvania), designed by Frank Lloyd Wright for the Kaufmanns
- 1945
- Isabelle R. Martin dies in Buffalo
- 1959
- Frank Lloyd Wright dies
Chronology: Graycliff, 1926-1997
- 1926
- April 5 - Darwin D. Martin writes to Frank Lloyd Wright requesting 1910 Bay Beach Cottage design; Darwin D. Martin is considering building on shores of Lake Erie
- April 18 - Darwin D. Martin looks at site in Derby, New York
- April 19 - Darwin D. Martin purchases 250-foot front on Lake Erie, with 60-foot cliff
- April 21 - Darwin D. Martin informs Frank Lloyd Wright that he's not interested in 1910 cottage design, but a two-story stone house designed by Frank E. Newman for E.W. Russell of Greenwich, Connecticut
- May 3 - Frank Lloyd Wright sends Darwin D. Martin preliminary drawings
- May 5 - Darwin D. Martin informs Frank Lloyd Wright that Isabelle R. Martin is Frank Lloyd Wright's client
- August 19-20 - Frank Lloyd Wright in Buffalo to see site
- August 27 - Isabelle R. Martin sees the site for first time
- September - Construction on garage begun.
- September - Due to marital problems, Frank Lloyd Wright asks his son John Lloyd Wright to take over the project; the Martins did not approve the change
- November - Frank Lloyd Wright resumes his service to the Martins; construction continues on the site
- 1927
- April 5-6 - Frank Lloyd Wright visits site
- June 4 - Darwin D. Martin writes to Frank Lloyd Wright of the completion of the foundation of the main house
- June 15-16 - Frank Lloyd Wright visits site
- August 31-September 2 - Chimney and masonry of main house completed
- September - Frank Lloyd Wright finalizes designs for landscape, tennis court, circle, and guest house; the guest house was not executed
- September - Furniture designs by Frank Lloyd Wright are executed
- 1928
- March 10, 12 - Furniture bought for main house
- June 20 - Martins "open" house
- September 20 - Paul A. Harsh, a house guest at Graycliff, suggests the name "Graycliff"
- 1929
- April - Isabelle R. martin asks Frank Lloyd Wright to design a screened walk to cross the esplanade behind the stone bench for servants
- June 15 - Frank Lloyd Wright visits site
- July - Martins request Frank Lloyd Wright to design a "concrete tent house" for the Foster family (unexecuted)
- July - Martins request Frank Lloyd Wright to design a third-floor to main house (unexecuted)
- July 29 - Construction on evergreen garden, stone seat begun; Frank Lloyd Wright selects and ships furnishings for the main house from Marshall Fields in Chicago; Frank Lloyd Wright suggests wicker and overstuffed chairs fo the main house
- 1935
- Darwin D. Martin passes away
- Isabelle R. Martin continues to summer at the site, and winters with the Foster family
- 1938
- November - Engineering report on site compiled by G.E. Seitzmiller for insurance purposes
- 1941
- Isabelle R. Martin continues to summer at the site, but moves into garage apartment
- 1942
- Isabelle R. Martin spends her last summer at the site; she moves permanently to Buffalo to live with the Foster family
- 1945
- IRM passes away
- Stewardship of the site falls to a holding company belonging to Darwin R. Martin, son of Darwin D. Martin
- 1950
- Piarist Fathers, a Hungarian order, purchases site from Darwin R. Martin
- Mid-1950s
- Chapel addition constructed over south terrace of main house
- Garage addition and a storage building constructed
- Circa 1956
- School building/dormitory constructed to house Hungarian refugees
- 1958
- August - Frank Lloyd Wright visits the site
- 1996
- Piarist Father's place property for sale
- Graycliff Conservancy is formed to acquire and restore the site
- 1997
- October - Graycliff Conservancy signs a contract to purchase the site
Extent
3 Linear Feet (4 flat boxes, 1 oversize flat box)
Abstract
Construction photographs for Graycliff, the summer home of the Darwin D. Martin family which was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.
Arrangement
Collection is arranged in seven series:
- North Elevation
- South Elevation
- East Elevation
- West Elevation
- Photographs from originals owned by Darwin R. Martin
- Photographs from other sources
- Study Prints
Acquisition Information
Construction photographs: Set of forty-seven negatives donated by Darwin R. Martin, son of Darwin D. Martin: 1.1-14, 2.1-13, 3.1-7, 4.1-7, 5.1-5. Copy prints were made from these negatives (except 5.7).
Study prints of Graycliff, including Engineering Report, 1938, made from originals owned by Darwin R. Martin: 6.1-9. Originals were loaned to John D. Randall, University Facilities; study prints were placed in the University Archives by John D. Randall.
Study prints of Graycliff, from originals owned by the Martin Family: 6.13-20.
Study prints of Graycliff, 6.10-6.12 are presumed to be copies of originals owned by Margaret Holcombe made by Jack Quinan, professor of Art History at the State University of New York at Buffalo, donated by him to the University Archives on July 14, 1980.
Study prints of 39 construction photographs: 7.1-8.17, source unknown.
Accruals and Additions
No further accruals are expected to this collection.
Alternate Form
Digital versions of the Darwin D. Martin Photographs are available here:
- Collection digitized and available in UBdigit.
- Digital photographs of the Darwin D. Martin Photographs are also stored on 61 cd-rom discs in MS 22.92, Darwin D. Martin Digital Images, circa 1860s-1970s.
- Darwin D. Martin Photograph Collection, WNY Legacy, Western New York Library Resources Council (incomplete)
Negatives of photographs are shelved in MS 22.5 Box 25.
Processing Information
Processed by University Archives staff.
Items 6.10-6.12 placed with this collection on 11 February 2010 when found in the University Archives' Frank Lloyd Wright Resource Room.
- Black-and-white photographs
- Graycliff (Derby, N.Y.)
- Martin, D.D. (Darwin D.) -- Archives
- Wright, Frank Lloyd, 1867-1959 -- Archives
- Title
- Finding Aid for the Graycliff Construction photographs
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Finding aid prepared by University Archives staff.
- Date
- 2010
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- Undetermined
- Script of description
- Code for undetermined script
- Language of description note
- No textual materials are included in the collection.
Repository Details
Part of the University Archives Repository
420 Capen Hall
Buffalo New York 14260-1674 US
716-645-2916
716-645-3714 (Fax)
lib-archives@buffalo.edu