Friday, February 22, 2013

FLW Where He Worked and Lived




There was a great video produced about 17 years ago by A&E for the Castles of America series. It was titled, "The Homes of Frank Lloyd Wright."  It featured the three residences he called both home and his work location.  It also includes a lot of period video of the man himself and interesting pieces of information.   Click here to watch it on YouTube or you can buy it in the Graycliff Gift Shop.

   

You may notice a couple of other interesting FLW clips listed on the left of the youtube site.

Thursday, February 21, 2013

Darwin Martin Photo Collection

Diane Schrenk was kind enough to forward a site where there is a collection of photos of the Martin family.  You can go to the link  www.NewYorkHeritage.org .  Type Darwin Martin or Graycliff or whatever Martin related subject you wish into the box in the upper right corner and the photo collection will open to you.  There are a number of interesting pics of Graycliff being built, also of the children's playhouse that was somewhere on the property.  There are lots of great family pics as well.  Have fun exploring the collection; I know I did.

Diane also referenced a new book that is out ;"New York Times, 36 Hours, 150 weekends in USA and Canada."  She states there is a very nice reference in it to Graycliff and the Darwin Martin House. (Sounds as though it could be an interesting book even if they weren't mentioned.)  It will be carried in the Graycliff Pavilion Shop soon.

Friday, February 15, 2013

Sleep In a Wright House






Our president, Diane Schrenk, was kind enough to forward a link she thought would be of interest to those of us who have always dreamed of sleeping in a Wright house.

Overnight Stays in FLW Homes

This is a list of FLW homes that can be rented or are beds and breakfast type facilities.  She mentioned three that are a relatively doable drive from our area.  Penfield is in Lake County, OH.  The Duncan House is a Usonian in Polymath Park Resort PA   The Palmer House is in Ann Arbor MI and is shown in the photo above.  Diane mentioned she had stayed at this last location some time ago and found it to be an enjoyable experience.  Prices for staying at any of the sites are not for the faint of heart, but how many people can say they have slept in an FLW designed house?  At the very least, go check out the site and fuel your fantasies.  Thank you to Diane for the link to the site.

Thursday, February 14, 2013

HELP THE BLOG!




     It is time to stop and take a breath and introduce myself.  I am George Struebel.  I started as a docent this past year at Graycliff after retiring and sought a bit more involvement than just leading tours.  I felt more communication was necessary for volunteers; others agreed and as a result, this blog was created.

      Since I was bold enough to open my mouth, I was asked to manage the blog.  Since I normally don't run from a challenge, I agreed and now here we are.  However, to make this blog work for us all I need your help.  I need you to send me ideas, information, tidbits of info happening on your tours, things people might comment to you while on tours, in short anything that other volunteers might be interested in knowing about.  Send me questions you want answers to, issues that you feel may need to be addressed, whatever strikes your fancy!  It's a blog and it is for us, the volunteers who breathe life into Graycliff. So, if you have anything that you think other volunteers could benefit from, send it to me and I will try to either respond or work it into the blog, or both.  It can be links to other sites, articles, videos, or suggestions for changes or improvements, or anything else that is a topic related to Graycliff, or culture or education in general.  HELP!!  I'll take whatever you want to send!  The more variety, the more interesting the blog can be.

     You can send anything you have to me on my email.  I have posted it as a link below and you can save it to your favorites or make me one of your email contacts so that you have it on your computer

                                                    gds2146@hotmail.com.

The idea behind establishing this blog was that volunteers do not normally have a venue to coomunicate and share with each other.  The people I have met to date are a great bunch of dedicated souls.  Help me make this blog a way to better connect us all.  At the very least let me know what you think of the blog or how it should be changed or what it should include.
    

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Spring Clean Up Day

Here are some details for the Graycliff Spring Clean Up.  It will be on Saturday April 6 from 9 am to 1 pm.  It will start with a light breakfast, move into cleaning (and if weather permits, grounds clean up.)  Spring Clean up will conclude with a pizza lunch and an update on Graycliff as we roll into the start of a new season.  There will be a lot to report, especially about exciting  restoration work that will be taking place this  season. Come to work; come to socialize, come to share; come just to celebrate Spring!  Looking forward to seeing you all there to bring in the opening of our season.

Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Taliesen West





A coincidence of sorts sent two of our number out West to Scottsdale Arizona to visit Taliesen West, the winter home and studio of FLW in his last decades and the current home of the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation.  Volunteer Coordinator Phyllis Spears and myself took separate trips to that area within a couple weeks of each other to visit the location.  I was making a trip to the Phoenix area to visit with my stepdaughters and Phyllis is just plain dedicated to FLW and planned a weekend trip out West for just that purpose.  I personally got tired of doing tours at Graycliff and having guests ask if I have ever visited Taliesen West.  I had to hang my head and say with extreme guilt and shame that I had not, so I was not going to pass up the opportunity to correct that situation. 

I did the basic tour which was $30.  (Yes, we are a bargain at Graycliff.)  It lasted about an hour and a half and was more of an outside tour of the buildings with several come in and sit down stops to see interiors of larger rooms which also afforded get out of the sun and sit down time. However, a lot of that is because that is how the compound is designed with rooms being more like separate buildings opening to connected outdoor walkways, bringing the outside inside. The guide was excellent and even my stepdaughter who has no interest in FLW or architecture admitted she enjoyed the tour.

Phyllis did the Behind-the-Scenes  tour which was $60., gets into significantly more areas, allows guests to meet and speak with some of the principals of the working establishment and includes refreshments.  It is also twice as long of a tour.  She was very pleased with it.

The place is natural organic architecture at its zenith.  The place was built with rock found at the site and utilizes various natural elevations to produce the levels of the buildings.  Ponds and trellis covered outdoor walkways are used to counter the desert heat to good effect.  Rooms are more accessible from the outside walkways than from any connected interior passages.  To say the buildings are perfectly designed and suited to the site would be an understatement.  They blend completely into each other.

When FLW bought the property he purchased 600 acres in the middle of an empty desert.  He wanted the beauty and solitude that the isolated location provided him and his apprentices to work without intrusion.  However, the City of Scottsdale now completely surrounds the parcel.  Satellite photos of a 600 acre tract of mostly undeveloped desert sitting in the middle of a thriving upscale city seem very strange.  FLW waged a war in his lifetime to protect the site from encroaching development without success.  When power poles and lines appeared on the road to the site he instructed his apprentices to tear them down as he felt it all should have been buried underground.  Fortunately cooler heads prevailed and kept FLW from a significant altercation with authorities.  But it is an example of how he valued and guarded the privacy of the site.  Even now one can drive right by the heavily fenced compound and not know it is there.  The GPS I was using to route to the site kept insisting I turn right where there was nothing but fence guarded desert, no access point.  We had to search around for it and eventually found just a small sign on a driveway.

As to the photos above; the first is of the entrance walkway into the compound after leaving the gift shop  (much bigger than ours, but if you visited, you would really appreciate the design and items Ryan has crammed into our small shop.)  The second photo is of the common living room of the compound where everyone could and does congregate in the evening.  The next photo is FLW's bedroom and work area.  The wall to the left, right where the camera shot is taken from, is actually movable screens that completely open the wall up to an open courtyard outside.  The guide indicated that FLW did not sleep at night, but chose to work instead and often just took short catnaps during the day on the bed to the rear of the photo behind the screen.  The last photo is the one almost everyone visiting the site snaps as it shows part of the work area of the compound as well as the the area that was the original dining room and portico between them.  It is probably the most photogenic spot of the compound as behind the cameraman is also the most glorious view over the desert from a raised patio area.

The place still trains architects as it did when FLW was alive.  Originally he charged apprentices $600. a year to train there.  Now the cost is $30,000. a year.  These facts are courtesy of our guide.  Of course, now the school is accredited so that makes the sticker price sting more manageable.  Anyone want to go sign up?

In a summary I bet you thought I would never get to; the place is great and certainly well worth the visit if you are ever in Arizona.  Phyllis and I both enjoyed our tours and being there definitely supplied me with more insight and understanding of America's Greatest Architect and therefore more about Graycliff itself.  And the next time a tour guest asks me if I have ever been to Taliesen West I will be able to smile and say "Well, yes, of course I have."    George Struebel

Monday, February 11, 2013

Spring Clean Up Reminder

Just a reminder for all volunteers to mark the date of  Saturday April 6 as Spring Clean Up at Graycliff.  All help will be appreciated and further details will be forthcoming as the date approaches.

Sunday, February 10, 2013

Tour of Hotel Lafayette


Tour of the Hotel Lafayette



The Docent 2 Docent group recently arranged a tour of the Hotel Lafayette and I was fortunate enough to be able to attend.  It was an amazing place and has been restored to the way it looked in the early 1900's when it was completed.  It was originally planned for the crowds of the 1901 Pan American Exposition, but problems kept it from being completed in time for that event.  This hotel was spectacularly magnificent in its day and has been restored by Rocco Termini to shine yet again.  The architect was Louise Bethune, the first American woman officially recognized as an architect.  If you missed that tour, you have another opportunity coming soon.

These tours will run on March 2 and April 6. at noon, both dates are Saturdays.  They are sponsored by the Buffalo History Museum and guided by Tara Lyons, the museum's program manager.  The tour will start in the lobby of the hotel at 391 Washington St. The tour will be followed by a discussion  over lunch in the American Grill And Brewery inside the Hotel.  (Having also gone back since my original tour to try out this restaurant I would make several suggestions.  If you like darker beer, try the Roosevelt Red, brewed on premises.  If you like spicy Jambalaya, theirs is the best I have ever had, spicy, flavorful, and full of chicken, sausage, various seafood and a large serving.)

The cost of the tour is $35. and you need to call for reservations at 873-9644, Ext. 301.   Group size is limited and as always first come/first served. Since these tours were also advertised in Friday's Buffalo News, if interested, I would call right away.

The Hotel has been one of Buffalo's unknown hidden jewels which has now been brought back into the light.  You will not be disappointed if you decide to attend either of these tours and you will see a little bit more of the world in which Darwin and Isabelle lived  i would heartily recommend it   George Struebel.

Thursday, February 7, 2013




DOCENT 2 DOCENT; A GREAT AND FUN OPPORTUNITY


For those of you not yet familiar with it, there is a group of docents for  various cultural entities in WNY known as Docent 2 Docent,  They offer various social and cultural opportunities for docents in the area.  In the past 6 months since I have been associated with them I have enjoyed a walking tour of Lincoln Parkway mansions to include Larkland, the Larklin family compound, a tour of the Lafayette Hotel led my Rocco Termini himself, a tour of all the hidden nooks and crannies of the Electric Building by the building superintendent, an evening presentation about the history of Forest Lawn and the archaeological  preservation of human remains found on the South UB campus from the old Buffalo Poor house.  They also host a monthly book club and host a website.  The link to that is:     http://docent2docent.wordpress.com/   I am sure you will find their site informative.

If you wish to join the group; no cost, no obligation, only benefit and companionship of individuals of similar interest, you can email them and ask to added to their email list at;

  docent2docent@gmail.com  

The mainstays of this group are Paul and Cindy Gorski who docent with Buffalo Tours.  They are great folks and the group comprises a mix of docents from various sites around the WNY area.  I have definitely enjoyed my involvement with this group and I am sure you will too.    George Struebel

Wednesday, February 6, 2013

The link below connects to a youtube link of a great promotional video of Buffalo and its cultural attractions.  Since Graycliff is not in Buffalo, it is not referenced, but  FLW and the Darwin Martin House is featured.  It is a great piece; I hope you find it enjoyable.  It is the kind of promotion both the area and Graycliff can benefit from.  Feel free to share it.