Graycliff, the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed summer home overlooking Lake Erie in Derby, has been designated a state landmark.

The distinction "underscores Graycliff's significance in the body of work by Frank Lloyd Wright" and, in particular, the great architect's collaboration with the Buffalo industrialist Darwin D. Martin, noted the Graycliff Conservancy, which seeks to purchase and fix up the Old Lake Shore Road property.

State preservation officials will now seek national landmark status for the cottage, which Wright created for Martin's wife, and which is now officially called the Isabelle R. Martin House at Graycliff.

Should conservancy efforts fall short, landmark designations alone will not save the 1927 building, warned Carol Bronnenkant, president of the volunteer group.

"It elevates the status - gives the property a certain distinction. But that would not prevent it from being torn down," she said.

The conservancy began raising money last year to buy the 9-acre parcel from the Piarist Fathers, a Catholic brotherhood that has occupied Graycliff since the 1950's. A $20,000 down payment was delivered last December, and in February state leaders committed $176,200.

But the total raised so far stands at just over half of the $420,000 purchase price, Ms. Bronnenkant said. The deadline to complete the deal has been moved back from June 1 to January, at a cost to the conservancy of $1,700 a month in extension fees. Nevertheless, the organization remains upbeat, Ms. Bronnenkant said.

Since April, weekend tours have attracted more than 1,600 visitors from all over the United States and many foreign lands.

The hour-long guided sessions cover the house and grounds and include an exhibit of historic photographs co-sponsored by the University at Buffalo Archives. The Albright-Knox Art Gallery also has a small shop there offering Wright-related books and gifts.

"The tours have been a very good way to build support," Ms. Bronnenkant said. "It shows there is broad interest in Frank Lloyd Wright and heritage tourism as well. It also demonstrates that we're not just sitting back and waiting for someone to save us."

As Graycliff receives greater exposure, along with the other Buffalo works of Frank Lloyd Wright and fellow architects Louis Sullivan, Stanford White, H.H. Richardson and E.B. Greene, more contributions will flow in, she believes.

The group continues to recruit new volunteers and has hired Berow Associates of Rochester to prepare a historic-property survey that will pinpoint neede repairs and lay out a restoration blueprint, including possible new uses for the property. The report is due at year's end.

Tours continue "at least into the fall" from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturdays and 2 to 4 p.m. Sundays, Ms. Bronnenkant said. Groups are limited to 25 people, and a $10 per-person donation is requested. Appointments can be made by calling 614-6195.
 

Buffalo News
August 6, 1998

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