martinhouseclr

129 2 // SITE HISTORY & EVOLUTION devoid of any intentional landscape design. The only prior photograph of the Gardener’s Cottage known to exist is from circa 1916, an image of Isabelle Martin and Cora Herrick picking flowers or berries along the south side of the greenhouse – which also shows the back of the Cottage. 267 Though part of the property’s historic core, the historic landscape narrative of the Gardener’s Cottage has been underrepresented due to lack of any sort of record – be it photograph, planting plan, or written materials. Preservation Efforts Begin Though the property had been severely compromised, architectural preservation efforts began in earnest beginning with the 1975 nomination and listing on the National Register of Historic Places. Despite the missing structures, the National Register nomination boundary included all the historic core lands owned by Darwin Martin. It did not include the narrow parcel west of the original boundary, the original 53-foot wide garden lot (147 Jewett, a private residence by 1935), or the vegetable garden area at the northern boundary of 147 and 143 Jewett Parkway. The nomination also did not mention the landscape. In 1986, the Martin House was nominated and 267 The photograph shows the rear façade of the Gardener’s Cottage fully enveloped in vine cover. Incidentally, what is likely a young fruit tree can also be seen in what would be the very back end of the ‘garden lot’ that fronted Jewett Parkway. listed as a National Historic Landmark. The nomination briefly mentions the era’s growing momentum to restore the house to “its former beauty as a study-center and museum of Frank Lloyd Wright’s work.” 268 The NHL nomination does note that Wright designed the gardens, and although it is appears to be somewhat inaccurate based on additional research, it adds the following description of the landscape at the time of nomination: Some original plants remain – two Ginkgo trees and several poplars. According to the original plan, only yellow and gold flowers (Autumn) were to be put into the sidewalk beds and the large shallow urns on the porch were to be filled with lantana. 269 Buffalo-based restoration efforts to restore the Martin House continued into the 1990s. In 1987, private owners purchased the Gardener’s Cottage renovating the interior and expanding 268 National Historic Landmarks Program, Inventory Nomination Form: Darwin D. Martin House, Continuation Sheet, 2. Note that the property’s NHL nomination was completed on a National Register (NR) form. The accepted NHL nomination has “NHL” written in marker at the top of the first page. 269 National Historic Landmarks Program, Inventory Nomination Form: Darwin D. Martin House, Significance, 1. Further research shows that this description of landscape elements was actually first recorded in the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) data sheet, authored in September 1973 by Susan R. Slade, and reproduced within the NHL nomination. The two ginkgo were in existence and the urns may have been filled with lantana (there is no known primary documentation of what Wright specified), but the CLR authors have found no record of the requirement for “yellow and gold” flowers. Fig. 126, bottom The Barton House, looking southwest, c. 1981. Fig. 125, top Jewett frontage, without street trees, c. 1969.