Tour #3 – The Wright Stuff
Saturday, May 16
8:30am to 4:45pm
Registration Fee:  $115 before April 1, $125 after April 1, $135 on-site
Registration includes lunch, snacks, admission fees and transportation
     This tour will feature two of Frank Lloyd Wright’s masterpieces. Darwin Martin was one of Wright’s biggest patrons who saw Wright through many hard times. For over 20 years Buffalo was second only to the Chicago area for having a critical mass of Wright’s structures.
     Your tour will begin with the Darwin D. Martin House Complex, a national historic site and Frank Lloyd Wright’s 1904 masterwork. The restoration includes a  geo-thermal heating/cooling system. This in-depth tour includes spaces not seen on the basic public tour, including the Barton House (1903) and the Gardner’s Cottage (1909). The new Visitors Center  was designed by internationally recognized architect Toshiko Mori. In just under 2 hours the tour is unhurried so you can absorb the ambience of the house and take the time to appreciate the details. Considerable walking and stairs are involved; good walking shoes are strongly advised. Only exterior photographs are permitted. The interior of the Martin house will not be accessible as it is undergoing renovation.
     Your next stop will be at the Buffalo Yacht Club for lunch. Followed by Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fontana Boathouse, built from Wright’s original design for the University of Wisconsin, which was not built. The Prairie-style boathouse features panoramic views of Buffalo’s waterfront, Lake Erie and the Canadian shoreline across the Niagara River.
     The final stop on the tour is the newly restored Erie Canal Terminus. Construction of the Erie Canal in 1824 transformed Buffalo from a frontier village into a thriving commercial and industrial metropolis. It established an all-water route from the western Great Lakes, through Buffalo, to the port of New York City and the world. A prototype of an electric boat which could be used as a water ‘taxi’ designed and developed by volunteers of the Maritime Center. The electric boat could ultimately be powered by solar or wind.