martinhouseclr

58 DARWIN D. MARTIN HOUSE // CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT hollow; - the proper scheme at last! 139 There is no other reference to a “circular hollow” within any of the known Martin House records, but it can be understood with some degree of probability that Wright was referencing the hemi-cycle. It seems that no other feature on the property could be accurately described as such. Whether Martin hired J.W. Elliot to design his planting arrangements before or after Wright makes this declaration is unclear. In any case, by October 1905, Martin directly asks Wright to redesign the planting arrangement provided by Elliot, setting the stage for the Floricycle and the alteration of plant material around the Martin House verandah in 1906. Martin’s 28 October letter also confirms two other points concerning the landscape: first, Martin is increasingly committed to the establishment and maintenance of the house’s landscape, requesting plans for a “gardener’s cottage” from Wright, to be constructed along with his family structures on the property; second, plants for the house’s various planting urns and boxes have not been installed yet as Martin requests a list for them “for growing purposes.” 140 Though never realized, Wright’s proposed “lily pond” intervention for the “circular hollow” seems to be represented in the drawing previously noted and titled Water Basin, held at the Deutsches Architekturmuseum, Frankfurt. The drawing 139 FLW-DDM, 28 July 1905, Trans. Zakery Steele 2014, WMP- UB. 140 DDM-FLW, 28 October 1905, WMP-UB. is undated and an examination suggests it is related to Wright’s 28 July 1905 letter. 141 [Fig. 39] A further substantiation of this effort may also be partially revealed in the aforementioned O.S. Lang site survey dated 18 April 1905. The pen on linen survey, an as-built record of the site at that date, includes pencil sketching marking features similar to those shown in the water basin drawing. It also appears to include potential modification of the steps leading down from either side of the verandah. It should be noted that the Water Basin drawing as proposed would not have actually altered the hemi-cycle plantings themselves – it was not a replacement for the hemi-cycle. The lily pool feature shown in the drawing would have fit fully inscribed within the hemi-cycle interior, only replacing the sunken lawn. Indeed, it is apparent that it was the depths of the sunken lawn interior (and not the arc of plantings) that originally vexed Martin as the grade was developed around the verandah. Despite this, Martin does appear to want a more holistic treatment for the dealing with the hemi-cycle, including replacement of the plant material installed mere months ago in May 1905. The Floricycle (The Plan of Floral Arrangement) With the house interior, furnishings and numerous 141 Christopher Vernon, e-mail message to author, 29 May 2014. Fig. 38, top ‘Details of Plantings for D.D.Martin,’ J. Wilkinson Elliot, c. July 1905. Fig. 39, bottom Water Basin, unrealized lily pond for hemi-cycle area, Frank Lloyd Wright, c. July 1905.