The most significant milestone yet in the campaign to save Graycliff, the lakeshore summer home Frank Lloyd Wright designed 75 years ago, will be reached April 5.  That's the day ownership of the eight-acre property will shift to the Graycliff Conservancy from a Catholic brotherhood that has occupied it since the 1950s.

Meanwhile, the volunteer preservation group faces a new challenge: finding $10,000 to buy some of the original furniture - including pieces Wright is believed to have designed - from the departing Piarist Fathers.

"It's a small price, but it's money we don't have," said Carol Bronnenkant, conservancy president. Contributions are being solicited, she said. Other original furnishings have been donated by Deacon Margaret Foster, granddaughter of Darwin D. Martin and Isabelle Martin, for whom Wright drew up the airy villa in 1926.

The deed will clear the way for the first phase of restoration - reconstruction of the boiler house and garden wall next to the landmark cottage overlooking Lake Erie on Old Lake Shore Road in Derby. Designs will be ready in mid-April and contracts will be awarded around May 1. The first phase is due to be finished by summer's end at a cost of about $81,000.

Buffalo architect Theodore Lownie will oversee the first phase which, in addition to preserving the boiler house, will serve as a test for restoration of the main building.

"It's very advantageous to start there," Ms. Bronnenkant said, "because all of the design elements of the main house are in the boiler house. As we go forward, we will have a much greater understanding of things like the mortar and stucco mixes which were used in both structures."

The conservancy's purchase of Graycliff was assured last November when the Baird Foundation agreed to guarantee a $450,000 mortgage loan. The foundation also awareded $200,000 toward the restoration.  The conservancy believes the property can be returned to its original architectural state for about $2 million, including the purchase cost. The group aims to restore Graycliff to an inn, museum or some other self-sustaining enterprise.

A historic structures report, including a master plan, has been submitted by the Rochester architectural firm of Bero Associates, and is under study by conservancy leaders, Ms. Bronnenkant said.  At the moment the organization is focused on recovering the remaining original furniture, including several hexagonal tables, a radiator cover, a Jewett refrigerator, cement urns, and a fireplace screen and irons. Some of these are believed to be Wright creations, although no design drawings have been found.

"They are certainly very Wrightian. We're quite anxious to save them," Ms. Bronnenkant said.

Ms. Foster donated an original set from the Graycliff guest room where she stayed as a child during the summer with her grandparents, among other items. Most of the original furniture was sold off by the Martins, who abandoned Graycliff after losing their fortune in the Great Depression. Other items were discarded by the Piarists after they moved in during the 1950s.