Looks pretty good, actually. Here at Bloomberg.com is news of the Darwin D. Martin House restoration project. And you have to love the following lead sentence: Along a curving street lined with handsome Queen Annes and well-tended Tudors, the Darwin D. Martin House in Buffalo, New York, shatters the genteel calm with its muscular power.
Shattering the genteel calm with muscular power. Well, yes, Frank Lloyd Wright designs have muscle, but the 12-year $50 million remake, in my humble opinion, has a lot to say about the strength of the people in this community who made this happen. Money, sure--a project like this doesn't get done without plenty of it--but it's a passionate lot who put in the time and effort toward this restoration effort. And what we all end up with is an architect's monument to his own extraordinary vision along with a source of pride for Buffalo itself. Then there's Darwin Martin to thank, and John Larkin, too.
This is one of those knee-jerk Buffalo associations we can live with. Beyond a certain crystalline form of precipitation and parts of foul (fowl) previously deemed scraps, we have--say it with me--extraordinary architecture. And extraordinary people who help to preserve it.
So, to the Martin House Restoration Corporation's key players and everyone who helped to make this happen, thank you. A thousand times, thank you. You're looking good.
Photo courtesy of Chuck LaChiusa at http://www.buffaloah.com/