Fallingwater by Frank Lloyd Wright is just one of the amazing works you'll see on the Wright Road ... [+]
Looking for a road trip that has it all: romance, awe, stunning natural landscapes and extraordinary architecture? Well, then pack a bag and head out on a Frank Lloyd Wright-inspired road trip where you’ll explore nine masterpieces from one of America’s most celebrated architects.
On this one-of-a-kind Wright Road Trip that will take you from beautiful Buffalo, New York to the Laurel Highlands of Western Pennsylvania, you’ll experience firsthand the career-spanning breadth of Wright’s genius. You’ll get to know the largest Prairie Style house Wright ever designed at the Darwin D. Martin House, to the epic grandeur of his mid-career masterpiece at Fallingwater, to the burst of brilliance found at Kentuck Knob that was a highlight of Wright’s final years.
Highlights of the Wright Road Trip can be done in as little as 2-3 days, but if you choose to explore the highways and byways, cities and small towns that lie between and within the two regions, you can easily spend 5-6 days experiencing the work of this American master and the region’s distinctive American heritage. Here’s just a taste of what you’ll discover on this unforgettable road trip.
The Martin House, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, in Buffalo.
Day one begins in the lovely Parkside neighborhood of Buffalo, site of the Martin House. Built between 1903-1906, the 1.5-acre residential estate features six distinct but interconnected structures: the main Martin House, the Barton House, a conservatory, carriage house, gardener’s cottage, and a 100-foot-long pergola. Wright referred to the Martin House as a “domestic symphony” and a “well-nigh perfect composition.” Plan extra time to explore the grounds and experience the recently-restored historic landscape.
The Filling Station at the Pierce-Arrow Museum
In 1927, the Filling Station was intended for a site just blocks from where it now stands. But it wasn’t until 2014 that Wright’s “ornament to the pavement” was constructed as an exhibit at the Buffalo Transportation Pierce-Arrow Museum. The station’s most striking features are an extensive copper roof and two 45-foot poles that Wright called “totems.” The museum’s collection is highlighted by the magnificent Pierce-Arrow motor cars that were manufactured in Buffalo until the company’s demise in 1938.
Located in the leafy confines of Forest Lawn Cemetery, Blue Sky Mausoleum was commissioned in 1928 by the Martin Family but left on the drawing board when their fortune was lost during the Great Depression. Posthumously constructed in 2004, the mausoleum’s tiered steps provide a modernist counterpoint to the grand Victorian-style monuments that dot the grounds of this historic cemetery.
Designed in 1905 for a site at the University of Wisconsin but never built, this working boathouse ultimately found a companionable home in 2007 at Buffalo’s West Side Rowing Club overlooking the Black Rock Canal and Niagara River. Open by appointment.
Graycliff sits on a gorgeous piece of property overlooking Lake Erie
Graycliff was built between 1926-31 for Isabelle R. Martin, wife of Darwin Martin, the Buffalo businessman who was one of Wright’s greatest patrons. The house was built as a summer home for the family. Located a short 30-minute drive from Buffalo, Graycliff sits on a gorgeous piece of property overlooking Lake Erie. Located a short 25-minute drive from downtown Buffalo, Graycliff sits on a gorgeous piece of property overlooking Lake Erie. Graycliff was one of the few commissions Wright received in the 1920s and its design contains elements that would be given fuller expression a few years later at Fallingwater.
Experience Frank Lloyd Wright’s original San Francisco office at the Erie County Historical Society-Hagen History Center. This exhibit was reconstructed in a building specifically designed to house the iconic office. When visitors enter, they feel they have walked into the office after the staff stepped out for lunch. Tall windows, in what was a second-floor office, look out on a scene that replicates what clients and Wright himself would have seen. Wright’s 1930 Cord L-29 Cabriolet is also on display.
Falling Water, Frank Lloyd Wright masterpiece
Fallingwater, now on the UNESCO World Heritage List, is hailed internationally as a masterpiece of 20th century architecture. Fallingwater was also named the “best all-time work of American architecture” in a poll of American Institute of Architects members. Designed in 1935, Fallingwater is one of Wright’s most widely acclaimed works and best exemplifies his philosophy of organic architecture: the harmonious union of art and nature. Since 1963, the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy has owned and preserved Fallingwater so the public can tour, experience and be inspired by this example of American architecture and history.
Frank Lloyd Wright's House on Kentuck Knob
Kentuck Knob, completed in 1956, is an extraordinary example of Wright’s “Usonian” style, a group of approximately 60 homes he designed from the mid-1930s onward characterized by native materials, flat roofs and large cantilevered overhangs. Situated just below the crest of a hill, Kentuck Knob’s construction materials of native sandstone and tidewater red cypress blend naturally with the surroundings. Stretching to the east, just beyond the back terrace, is a breathtaking panorama of the Youghiogheny River Gorge and the beautiful Laurel Highlands mountains.
Polymath Park has been described as a “Frank Lloyd Wright oasis” for good reason. On this 125-acre park-like setting, you can find two Wright-designed homes as well as two designed by Wright apprentice Peter Berndtson. Berndtson’s Balter House and Blum House are original to the location while Wright’s Duncan House and Mantyla House were moved from other locations and reconstructed on site.
