martinhouseclr

88 DARWIN D. MARTIN HOUSE // CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT Though the site and house interventions proposed by both Martin’s requests to Skinner and the 1916 Wright plans never came to realization, there were amendments to the landscape that would likely change the character of some location-specific plant material over time. 208 One ultimately significant addition to the front yard was a relatively young ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba) tree planted on the east side of the driveway, more or less mirroring the previously planted ginkgo on the west side. 209 The tree was planted just northwest of an existing Scotch or Austrian Pine tree, which had, by this time, attained a height of nearly 12 feet. [Fig. 64] The exact planting date is unknown, but photographic records put the planting of this ginkgo tree somewhere between 1912 and 1914. The Martin- owned blueprint copy of the original February 1905 planting plan has a pen mark noting the planting of a ginkgo in this location. Though not all known shade trees were marked on this blueprint plan, this ginkgo annotation reveals that the 1905 blueprint was used for several years after the original planting as an direct access from the street frontage, it is Wright’s famously indirect approaches that set the tone to become a predominant feature of the post-Victorian house. 208 The addition of shade would, over time, have required changes to the perennial or woody shrubs in proximity as sunlight availability would have been drastically altered. 209 Nearly all the deciduous shade trees planted to-date were transplanted as large-caliper specimens. In the case of the elm trees near the garage and west of the driveway, upwards of 10 to 12” dbh (diameter at breast height). Based on the photographic record, the ginkgo planted on the east side of the driveway ca. 1912-14 appears to be more than 2-3” dbh in the earliest known photograph. ongoing record of changes that were made to the landscape materials. The complete extent and use-timeline of this previously discussed blueprint record is unknown. However, there are surprisingly few annotations for the 30- year history of the Martin’s tenure, suggesting that major changes to the landscape were not initiated during their ownership – a point further corroborated by the photographic record. One of the tree additions not noted on the 1905 blueprint was an additional large American elm tree planted at the very south end of the raised Summit terrace area. [Fig. 65] This elm, thought to be planted circa 1914 at approximately 8” diameter (based on photographs), was more characteristic in size to the extant elms on the property than the small diameter ginkgo. The location choice is seemingly unusual, however, as the trunk of the tree would have partially blocked the potentially pleasing perennial garden views from the Unit Room northward up the long axis of the terrace. Alternatively, at least as a younger and smaller tree, the elm could have served to frame views from the larger central window to the garden, as it was not positioned on the main window axis. In time, however, the size of the elm would have disrupted this visual relationship between the “unit room” and the long garden terrace running the entire length of the pergola. Also around 1914 is the introduction of a flagpole visible from the Jewett Parkway frontage, located in the lawn, more or less at the outside edge of the Floricycle’s southern terminus. The earliest photograph of the flagpole can be dated by Fig. 63, top Alterations of residence, detail of plan, 1916, Frank Lloyd Wright. Not implemented at this time. Fig. 64, bottom Jewett frontage showing young ginkgo on east side of driveway, annotated, c. 1912.