Evans

See Graycliff

Derby, the hamlet in the Town of Evans where this lovely historic home is located, is located on the shore of Lake Erie 30 minutes south of Buffalo. Of the six Frank Lloyd Wright-designed buildings and structures that remain standing in the Buffalo area today, Graycliff is one of two that is open to public tours. Graycliff was the summer home of Darwin D. Martin, president of the Larkin Soap Company and a friend and benefactor of Wright, and his wife Isabella. The Graycliff Conservancy acquired the property in 1999; unlike the Darwin D. Martin Estate in the city, the rehabilitation of Graycliff is still an ongoing process, with much of the interior yet to be attended to. Nonetheless, architecture buffs will be enraptured once again by Wright's creativity. The guided tours offered by the Graycliff Conservancy include a basic 90-minute tour, a more extensive In-Depth Tour two hours in length led by a Master Docent, and a Master Architectural Tour personally conducted by Patrick Mahoney, a Frank Lloyd Wright expert and President of the Graycliff Conservancy. Private and group tours are also available.