Restoration
The Martin House Restoration Corporation (MHRC), founded in 1992, is a non-profit organization with a mandate to restore the complex and to open it as a public house museum in its 1907 condition. The Barton House was purchased on behalf of the MHRC in 1994 and the title to the Martin House was transferred from the University at Buffalo to the MHRC in 2002. The restoration began with Buffalo architects Hamilton Houston Lownie Architects (HHL) hired to restore the roof of the Martin House. The Gardener's Cottage was purchased in 2006, and the demolished carriage house, conservatory, and pergola were reconstructed and completed in 2007. The entire restoration is planned to be completed in 2009 or 2010. HHL continue to lead the restoration effort, with the final stages to include the return of or recreation of the art glass windows and furniture that Wright originally designed for the complex.
This is the first time that a demolished Wright structure has been rebuilt in the United States.
One of Richard Bock's sculptures, Spring, now located in the Bock Museum at Greenville College, was copied in 2008.
Currently the MHRC operate guided public tours and present educational programs for volunteers and the general public. In 2008, the Gardener's Cottage was finally included on the tours of the complex.
The Eleanor & Wilson Greatbatch Pavilion Visitor Center, designed by Toshiko Mori, opened March 12, 2009.
Read more about this topic: Darwin D. Martin House
Famous quotes containing the word restoration:
“The 1990s, after the reign of terror of academic vandalism, will be a decade of restoration: restoration of meaning, value, beauty, pleasure, and emotion to art and restoration of art to its audience.”
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