Frank Lloyd Wright’s Graycliff

A Buffalo bonus! This rustic summer «cottage» is nowhere near as special a property as the nearby Darwin Martin House; however, there are still lots of fascinating Frank Lloyd Wright touches throughout. The house is in the early stages of restoration, so it takes a lot of imagination to picture what it looked like in its heyday, but we found the one-​hour basic tour to be interesting and informative.

Paid for the basic tour but our docent didn’t show up so we got the extended tour for no additional charge. Our docent for the extended tour was Maureen Meyer — she was fantastic! Very informative and enjoyable. She has a lot of folklore and tales about the house and its residents. I’m not much of a history buff (my husband wanted to see it) but I really enjoyed the tour.

This was one of the houses wifey and I visited while on our vacation to NE, NY, PA this year. Unfortunately, Greycliff has not been restored to any great degree yet. This house had to be absolutely gorgeous when in its prime.
Sitting right on the cliffs, overlooking the lake… beautiful views from all the rooms! Open the doors/​windows and have natural air conditioning off the lake… wow…I really wanted to like this house a lot… and…after it is restored more, I am sure I would edge this up to 5 stars.
If in the Buffalo area… and into Frank Lloyd Wright… check it out… it is quite a bit different from the Martin house in Buffalo proper… and adds to the list of FLW houses to visit!

It’s always been cool to think that I grew up about 5 miles from this place & never knew it existed until a friend told me about it when I was about 21. Then I took a tour of this place on 7÷7÷11 & it was amazing. Not quite as stunning as the Darwin Martin Complex in the city of Buffalo, but this house is really incredible. The tour guide we had was very good, very knowledgeable & a volunteer. Quite a lot of restoration is going on there but there’s still a lot to see. Be sure to see the «Fern Room», the light pouring in the windows is quite spectacular. I’d love the chance to go there & sit in that room & read for hours on end!
Tours are available for this place and the Darwin Martin house in the city of Buffalo & the price is well worth it, $ 26 for the basic tours of both & there are other options above those. You can conceivably do both in one day but it’s probably better to plan for 2 days.

Took the combination Graycliff/​Martin House tour. Check the websites-(you might have to dig a bit or call) — We saved $ 11 for the two adults by doing this. And the wonderful folks at Graycliff pointed out that the kids are really students so they got a deal too.
The same clients, the same architect, two different sites and two solutions that are unique and worth the trip.
Wright gets (and cultivated) the credit for his genius, but maybe the Martins should gets some props for going through the design-​bid-​build process with Wright twice. It could not have been easy. It seems that maybe Mr. Martin had a bit of a man crush on Wright and let him go nuts in Buffalo (he wanted a house and got a COMPLEX for crying out loud), but Mrs Martin was having none of it at Graycliff. Come to Derby and see what the architect could do with a more demanding client. The results are no less amazing than in in Buffalo. Stripped of the art glass, the roman brick, over studied trim detailed, Wright had to rely on his ability to work with space, siting and light to embody this place with a bit of magic. As someone whose been to a number of Wright buildings, this one reminds me most of Wright own house, Tailesin in Spring Green, Wisconsin.
The way the tours are handled are as unique as the houses. The Graycliff folks are looking for $ 5m and the Martin House folks need $ 50. The Graycliff guides seem to be geniunely interested in the history of the place and the relation between the Martins and Wright. The Martin house folks, while absolutely professional, seem slightly more proud of the effort that went into the restoration effort.
Come on Buffalo, take the drive to Derby and see this. We included in as part of our trip to Niagara Falls. Reservations are required and they keep the tours small so you really get an fantastic experience.
Now can someone explain why the Larkin Building was demolished? Why Buffalo, why!

I was just here this summer and this place is breathtaking. The renovations are not yet complete but this place still is amazing. The tour guide we had was completely awesome and had tons of knowledge about Mr Wright. I am a fan of his work at Falling water and the Westcott house. This house in Particular was the prelude to Falling water and if not for the Martin’s refusal of a water fall here would have BEEN Falling Water. The view here is awesome the house is awesome, so why don’t you be awesome and go there and learn something about one of the greatest architects of all times.

Graycliff is a work in progress. The Graycliff Conservancy is doing the «Wright Thing» and slowly attempting a restoration. Although not restored (yet? ever?) to its original glory, this is a house of significant local importance and beauty. It was the summer house of the Martin family whose Buffalo house Wright also designed. And, because Mrs. Martin bemoaned the lack of light in her Buffalo home, this one in Derby is practically all windows. From standing outside the foyer, one can see all the way past the house to the cliffs overlooking Lake Erie and the seventy foot drop to Erie’s shore.
It is laudable that a group of dedicated volunteers is undertaking to preserve this bit of Wright’s legacy. Don’t go expecting a polished historical landmark. Rather, go with an open mind, heart, and imagination. Most of the place is «original» for prior to being owned by the Conservancy, and after being turned over by the Martins, this was a Piarist Monks’ monastery and school. As the tour guide said, although the monks didn’t have the money to maintain the house, they also didn’t have the money to muck it up. So, expect a bit of shamble and embrace it.
The volunteer docents give basic level tours, making the atmosphere quite homey and cozy. For an extra homey touch, they offered complimentary-​tour umbrellas as it had started to rain. Aw. Although the interior is a bit shoddy (they are working on it!), my first thought upon walking in was that this was a place that I could live. It was quite simple for it’s day, coming in under a modest 3000 square feet — much smaller than the average summer home in the area. I could definitely live there, although the ambient temperature would necessitate a slanket most of the time. Unfortunately, I could not afford to re-​furb it – from the pace of the current restoration it must be quite an expensive undertaking.
If you are a big Wright fan, consider taking the master architectural tour, led by one of the board’s chairpersons. On this tour, you get to see the basement which houses an impressive wine collection (thanks to the Piarist monks who knew their grapes) and the recently redone carriage house. Next time that I’m in the area, I will definitely spring for it, come armed with my slanket, and see if perhaps I can get «lost» on the grounds.

Graycliff was the summer estate for the Darwin B. Martin family designed by Frank Lloyd Wright with construction beginning in 1926 and ending in 1929. The estate was actually designed for Martin’s wife, Isabelle, and it is well-​known that she had the most «influence» on the design of the structure (as much «influence» as Frank would allow– he was notorious for being very controlling of his work, and for good reason!).
We visited Graycliff in November of 2008, on a sunny but cold afternoon. The house immediately stood out as a a well-​preserved example of Wright’s work, and it is a beauty. Unfortunately, the interior didn’t fare as well, and is still undergoing quite a bit of reconstruction.
Unlike the main Darwin Martin house built for the Martin family in Buffalo, this tour actually allows you to see the entire house; inside and out, upstairs and down. They even allow you to walk out on the porch built off the Martins’ upstairs bedroom. It overlooks the water and the courtyard designed at breathtaking angles to promote a serene and harmonious view from the porch above.
Isabelle’s sight was beginning to fail her, so at her request Frank made the house to conduct copious amounts of light throughout; when you walk through the hallways you are surrounded by rows of windows, and the sitting room and living room are also encapsulated by large windows that allow for maximum light exposure. The house really is stunning, and is also worth the trip for any Wright fan. In fact, I recommend this estate more than the main Darwin house (for the time being, while the Martin house is undergoing major restoration and much of it is blocked off to tours), because of the fact that you get to see nearly all of it. Furthermore, the structure of the house is mostly original (unlike the Martin house in Buffalo which is ²⁄₃ newly reconstructed).