martinhouseclr

166 DARWIN D. MARTIN HOUSE // CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT the designer’s envisioned landscape, will typically extend beyond dates of construction or installation. Indeed, in most cases, an immature landscape has not yet attained the significance for which it meets the NR criteria. Proposed Period of Significance The proposed Period of Significance for the designed landscape of the Darwin Martin House extends from 1903 through 1929. The period is comprised of the span of time in which the landscape was constructed (beginning with the Barton House landscape), the point at which it attained its significant design characteristics, and continues through Martin’s close stewardship of the landscape. The period closes at the point at which Martin’s immense loss of wealth during the stock market crash of 1929, combined with his failing health, ultimately results in the decline of the landscape and the loss of its features. These features remained fundamentally intact and as-designed from the time of construction completion, including early removals and alterations such as the hemi-cycle/Floricycle change, to the end of the proposed Period of Significance. The most dramatic visual changes documented in the historic research were related to the maturation of original plant materials. Ongoing stewardship and plant replacements by the Martin family throughout the years, particularly within the vast perennial borders, did not appear to alter the garden’s recognizable characteristics. Even the few comparatively substantial alterations implemented during the Martin’s tenure, being the addition of the Griffin-designed shrub border circa 1912 and the alterations to the western boundary in the late 1920s, do not modify the overall garden characteristics enough to warrant special separation within the Period of Significance. Indeed, Wright’s own documented influence on the house and garden continued well past the NR and NHL Period of Significance dates through correspondence, site visits, and promises for new drawings. Continued use by an owner doesn’t necessarily cause the Period of Significance to extend to the point at which it is no longer used. Nor does the presence of characteristic features alone imply a continued state of significance. However, though the landscape materials would have largely attained their significant characteristics sometime prior to 1929, it is the proposed application of additional significance criteria that extends the Period of Significance past the point in which it first exhibited important design characteristics. 8 The proposed additional significance criteria includes Criterion B, through Martin’s stewardship, as the landscape is associated with the lives of persons significant in our past. These additional significance criteria are detailed in the next sections: Statement of Significance and 8 Given the substantial vegetative material used to define the Martin landscape, and taking into account their individual characteristics of trees and shrubs utilized, it is estimated that the landscape may have matured enough to attain intended design characteristics by 1920. National Register Recommendations. It should also be understood that even if no additional significance criteria were applied to the Martin House, and the only criteria associated with its significance is that as described in the National Historic Landmark nomination, the Period of Significance should likely be extended to truly meet the NPS definition. If one were to take the position that the landscape was a critical contributing feature of Wright’s design, recognizing the most important feature as “compatibility of the structure with its surroundings” as the NHL nomination does, then the Period of Significance should extend to at least a point at which the landscape design expresses itself as part of the overall design composition. As written in the NHL nomination, the existing Period of Significance of 1904 only assumes the building design as significant, despite the narrative stating otherwise. MHRC “Year of Significance” The Martin House Restoration Corporation has also independently established a “year of significance” that was identified early on in the building restoration and reconstruction process through a dialog with restoration architects, preservationists, stakeholders, and Wright scholars. The year of significance was established as 1907, representing a date two years after the Martins moved into the house and well prior to a series of architectural modifications