The George F. Barton House was designed by

Frank Lloyd Wright Frank Lloyd Wright (June 8, 1867 – April 9, 1959) was an American architect, designer, writer, and educator. He designed more than 1,000 structures over a creative period of 70 years. Wright played a key role in the architectural movements o ...

, built 1903–1904, and is located at 118 Summit Avenue in

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from South ...

. The Barton House is part of the larger Darwin D. Martin House Complex, considered to be one of the most important projects from Wright's

Prairie School Prairie School is a late 19th- and early 20th-century architectural style, most common in the Midwestern United States. The style is usually marked by horizontal lines, flat or hipped roofs with broad overhanging eaves, windows grouped in ...

era.

History

The complex was commissioned by Darwin D. Martin, an entrepreneur who worked at the

Larkin Soap Company The Larkin Building was an early 20th century building. It was designed in 1903 by Frank Lloyd Wright and built in 1904-1906 for the Larkin Soap Company of Buffalo, New York. The five story dark red brick building used pink tinted mortar and u ...

. The site was purchased by Martin in 1902 as a location where he planned to build two houses: one for himself, and one for his sister, Delta Martin Barton, and her husband, George F. Barton. Martin and Barton were colleagues at the Larkin Company, and Wright also designed houses for other Larkin employees William R. Heath and Walter V. Davidson, as well as the Larkin Company's administration building. Of the Martin Complex's six buildings construction on the Barton House began firstDarwin Martin House Complex: Reference Sheet
and not only was it the first building of the complex to be completed but also the first of Wright's in Buffalo. The Barton House is on the north east corner of the complex.Complex Model a
www.buffaloah.com
/ref> The basic floor plan is

cruciform Cruciform is a term for physical manifestations resembling a common cross or Christian cross. The label can be extended to architectural shapes, biology, art, and design. Cruciform architectural plan Christian churches are commonly described ...

, with the principal living spaces concentrated in the center two-story portion of the house where the reception, living and dining areas open into each other. The two main bedrooms are on the second story, at either end of a narrow hall. The kitchen is at the north end, behind the main stairway, while an open porch is to the south. Wright's K. C. DeRhodes House in

South Bend, Indiana South Bend is a city in and the county seat of St. Joseph County, Indiana, St. Joseph County, Indiana, on the St. Joseph River (Lake Michigan), St. Joseph River near its southernmost bend, from which it derives its name. As of the 2020 United S ...

, has a nearly identical floor plan to the Barton House—although on a 90-degree axis in relation to the front veranda. The F.B. Henderson House in

Elmhurst, Illinois Elmhurst is a city mostly in DuPage County and overlapping into Cook County in the U.S. state of Illinois, and a western suburb of Chicago. As of 2021, the city has an estimated population of 47,260. History Members of the Potawatomi Native A ...

is also similar in plan. The Martin House Restoration Corporation operates guided public tours and presents educational programs for both volunteers and the general public.

References

*William Allin Storrer, ''The Frank Lloyd Wright Companion''. University of Chicago Press, 2006, , (S.303)

External links

* *
Graycliff Official Site
member of the Great Lakes Seaway Trail {{DEFAULTSORT:Barton, George, House Houses completed in 1904 Martin House Historic house museums in New York (state) Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in New York (state) National Historic Landmarks in New York (state) Historic American Buildings Survey in New York (state) New York (state) historic sites Museums in Buffalo, New York Houses in Buffalo, New York Buildings and structures in Buffalo, New York National Register of Historic Places in Buffalo, New York

History

See also

References

External links