Agency Details:

Martin House Restoration Corporation

The Martin House Restoration Corporation (MHRC) was formed in 1992 with a mandate to restore Frank LLoyd Wright's 1903-05 masterpiece Darwin D. Martin House complex and open it as a historic house museum.

Description:
The MHRC is a not-for-profit organization with a clearly focused mandate to raise the funds necessary to restore this major architectural masterpiece by America's most famous architect, Frank Lloyd Wright, located in Buffalo, New York, to interpret its genius through tours and educational programs, and to promote it to the world as a historic house museum. The Martin House is a designated National Historic Landmark.

The MHRC operates docent-guided public tours and presents educational programs for Martin House volunteers and the general public. With the Martin House complex reinvented as a house museum, the MHRC expects that it will take its rightful place as the centerpiece for architectural tourism in Western New York that will effect a significant economic impact and benefit for the region.

History:
The MHRC was formed in 1992 when a group of community leaders organized to undertake fundraising and to oversee preservation and restoration of the Martin House which had been owned by the University at Buffalo since 1967. Over the next years, the MHRC reassembled all the parcels of land that once comprised the grounds of the historic estate, thus allowing the corporation to move forward with a plan to restore the entire Martin House complex, portions of which were demolished in the 1960's. The community-wide fundraising campaign has to date, raised more than $25 million for this project. Legal title to the property transferred from the University to the MHRC in 2002 and active restoration commenced in 2003. The MHRC will also build a new Visitors' Center by architect Toshiko Mori on land adjacent to the Martin House. Substantial completion of the reconstructed Martin House buildings, as well as the Visitors' Center, is planned for 2006.

Contact people:

Angela Laviano Hamister, Assistant Director, (phone), (email) Margaret Stehlik, Director Of Operations, (phone), (email)

Office fax number: (716) 856-4009

Address:

617 Main Street Buffalo, NY 14203 (See a map)

Web Site: http://www.darwinmartinhouse.org

Directions:

The MHRC offices are located in the Market Arcade building at 617 Main Street. Exit route 33 at Goodell. Make a left hand turn on Washington Street. The Market Arcade Building is on the right hand side diagonally across the. . . (more)   Nearest Metro/Subway Stop: Theater Station,   Walk distance (in minutes): 3 minutes

Last updated on October 15, 2009