martinhouseclr

78 DARWIN D. MARTIN HOUSE // CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT The postscript reveals important ideas about the Griffin-designed shrub border; first, that the border was commissioned in response to Isabelle’s desires and her feelings toward the openness and “publistic” nature of the Summit Avenue frontage; second, that Frank Lloyd Wright intended to accommodate these desires through the design of a wall, enclosing that side of the property in a similar fashion that he had in many of his houses which featured extensive “privacy walls” as a key element. Nevertheless, a sensible understanding of the Martin House’s parcel boundaries and street frontages would pick up on the hint that Martin is referring to when he terms the wall idea as “unwise.” Indeed, Wright’s earliest letter and rudimentary sketch of the site composition established the very rule that a wall along the Summit Avenue sidewalk would break – that being that all structures were to be square to the Barton House and have orthogonal consistency among themselves, irrespective of the curving and obtuse angle of the streets. In response, Wright replies: Mrs. Martin is dead right about that wall. It is better than adding to the brush pile. It should be, first, parallel to the building, neglecting the line of the walk. An offset might be made in its length, maybe but there would be something left on the street side of your ground in any case, which should be filled with some kind of planting. 180 180 FLW-DDM, 31 October 1910, Trans. Zakery Steele 2014, WMP-UB. Wright’s letter also includes heart-felt appreciation toward Martin’s guidance and friendship, ultimately claiming “I think you are a better friend than I.” Martin seems less concerned about the Wright-promised privacy wall or the Griffin planting design in-hand. He does pursue the topic in correspondence with Wright, but always as an aside, and among more substantial and emotional matters concerning the ongoing spectacle surrounding Wright’s personal life and Martin’s criticism of how he has handled things. In a 4 November reply to Wright, Martin seemed partially soothed by Wright’s appreciation. He concludes that there may be a viable wall solution yet: There are a lot of points in your letter that need attending to, but I couldn’t do them justice and to attempt it would delay this letter another day. Anyway, your [sic] really good letter has sort of taken the desire to scold away. Trot along the wall plan. Let’s see what you and Mrs. Martin would do. 181 By January of 1911, no plan for the wall has arrived; however, on 13 January in a letter that, among other things, attempts to convince Martin that he would be wise in purchasing some of Wright’s Japanese prints and personal furniture, Wright casually tells Martin that he will “design a new dining table for you and send you the 181 DDM-FLW, 4 November 1910, Trans. Zakery Steele 2014, WMP-UB. wall on Summit Av.” 182 The letter ends with a note about being busy with a new commission in Glencoe, Illinois. 183 By July it is evident that a plan for the wall has still not arrived as Martin requests the promised designs for the wall, the dining table, and glass for the houses hallway skylight. 184 This is the last reference to the wall in the correspondence, and no drawing is known to exist of the feature. Martin held off on installing the 1910 Griffin- designed shrub border prior to hearing final word from Wright about the privacy wall he had promised to Isabelle. However, as the wall drops out of reference in the historic materials by mid- 1911, and the shrubs appear in photographs after this date, it suggests that the shrub border was installed in fall of 1911 or after. 185 [Fig. 56] Associated with this work on the Summit Avenue frontage is a moderately vague reference in Martin’s personal diary to work being done in 1911 on the Summit Avenue landscape. The 12 May 1911 diary entry reads, “Took up sod from Sum. Ave. lawn. Regraded and reseeded it. Very 182 FLW-DDM, 13 January 1911, Trans. Zakery Steele 2014, WMP-UB. 183 Wright is likely referring to what would ultimately become the Ravine Bluff’s development (1915), a small collection of Wright-designed houses in naturalistic development setting, commissioned by his attorney, Sherman Booth Jr. 184 DDM-FLW, 20 July 1911, WMP-UB. 185 The photographic record shows that the shrub border was installed well prior to Dorothy Martin Foster’s 14 June 1923 wedding, as it is very evident and mature in the wedding photographs. Isabelle Martin’s desire for the feature would have likely put the installation much closer to fall of 1911.