Article: Darwin Martin House completes $52M renovations

DavidC · Post by **DavidC** » Mon Jul 22, 2019 3:15 pm

$52 million later, Darwin Martin complex restoration is complete

David

Meisolus · Post by **Meisolus** » Tue Jul 23, 2019 7:02 am

Does this mean all the windows have been restored? I though that it was going to take longer to reproduce all of the art glass as it was so complex and expensive.

SDR · Post by **SDR** » Tue Jul 23, 2019 9:46 am

http://www.oakbrookesser.com/pages/news ... tin_a.html

http://www.oakbrookesser.com/pages/rest ... n_hse.html

http://doclibrary.com/MSC146/DOC/Martin ... ss1828.pdf

http://www.martinhouse.org/capital_campaign.cfm

https://news.wbfo.org/post/frank-lloyd- ... rtin-house

S

Meisolus · Post by **Meisolus** » Tue Jul 23, 2019 10:01 am

Thanks SDR, very interesting. It appears there is still some furniture and many windows missing, but I get that these things are expensive and take time.

The Martin House website says that the 394 windows were the "single largest collection of Wright's career". I disagree. Surely the Imperial Hotel had more? Granted, the IH's windows were not terribly elaborate, but I'm 99.9% sure Midway Gardens had more than 394 windows and some of those patterns were extremely complex.

Craig · Post by **Craig** » Wed Jul 24, 2019 12:22 pm

Perhaps they mean individual window designs? I'm wondering if in both the Imperial Hotel and Midway Gardens (while larger and thus having more windows), Wright may have used the same design on multiple windows? Experts?

Roderick Grant · Post by **Roderick Grant** » Wed Jul 24, 2019 12:55 pm

Midway: There is not enough photographic evidence to determine the variety of art glass designs.

Imperial: Most of the windows and glass doors are mullioned, some with a narrow horizontal strip of a simple band of square glass pieces, 2 or 3 units high, cutting across near the top. I would hesitate to include the hotel in any list of buildings that include art glass; it's just not extensive enough.

JimM · Post by **JimM** » Fri Jul 26, 2019 11:18 am

I don't really see a correlation between the number of windows one can expect to find in a commercial building versus residential work... although 400 windows in just about any house would usually best both. Martin had I believe 16 unique designs (first floor different than second, one for conservatory, garage, Barton, etc, and the number of lay-lights alone must be a record). Martin having the most windows in number alone should not be a surprise, but wouldn't only Dana possibly come close? Little 2?

Tom · Post by **Tom** » Fri Jul 26, 2019 5:59 pm

How long until the landscaping reaches maturity rewarding a visit?

Tom · Post by **Tom** » Sat Jul 27, 2019 2:02 pm

Knowing nothing about plants myself IÃ¢â‚¬â„¢d say 5 years.

lastchancesugarco · Post by **lastchancesugarco** » Mon Jul 29, 2019 9:13 pm

Tom,

I'll wait for the day the Martin House landscaping looks like this again!

I doubt they'd let the vines grow up the brick and on the roof though. I think its always a rewarding visit at the Martin Complex. Wonderful people and always something new to see. If I get the chance, I'd like to visit again before fall.

SDR · Post by **SDR** » Mon Jul 29, 2019 9:22 pm

There's the upstairs window bank in its expanded condition, before restoration ? Lovely photo, in any event.

An excellent question, and one I've not seen addressed; one wonders what the landscapers among us would say. That is, how far should opportunistic
greenery be allowed to take over a building exterior---and what are the remedies, if any, short of complete removal ? Do gardeners prune climbing ivy ?

S

lastchancesugarco · Post by **lastchancesugarco** » Mon Jul 29, 2019 9:42 pm

SDR,

I had no idea there was an upstairs addition. Do you have any more info on that? Wikipedia says that image is circa 1904.

As far as the landscaping goes, I'm no landscape professional. But at home, I like to let the plants do as they wish, with a little help of course. I call it "English Gardening."

SDR · Post by **SDR** » Mon Jul 29, 2019 10:39 pm

http://www.martinhouse.org/restoration.cfm

FOCUS ON PHASE IV
Phase IV (2007) includes restoration of various masonry elements on the exterior envelope of the Martin House itself, as well as reversal of changes to
exterior walls made by the Martins in 1920. Most notably, the second floor south elevation wall was moved back to its location of 1907, and the trunk room
added by filling-in a cantilevered corner on the northwest of the house was removed. This phase also included completion of masonry, tile and other elements
on the Martin House veranda.

____________________________________________________________

I've read that Mrs Martin thought the front bedrooms were too dark, so ordered the windows moved nearer the eaves of the roof overhead.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/ ... use_OG.png

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/cc/a5/66 ... 25420c.jpg

Perhaps another reader will have more authoritative plans of this modification ...

S

Tom · Post by **Tom** » Tue Jul 30, 2019 7:25 am

I had not realized either that the Martins altered the building.
Looks like the HABS B&W shot posted by lastchancesugarco is of original condition prior to Martin alteration.
I'm not sure we've seen a shot of the Martin alteration.
Hard to understand from the Martin House Website description too.

SDR · Post by **SDR** » Tue Jul 30, 2019 10:10 am

Wikipedia gave the wrong date to the photo above; this should have been immediately obvious to us, as in 1904 the house was brand new and thus
couldn't have years' worth of beard on its face ... !

The bedroom windows, facing the camera, have already been moved forward in that photo. The tell is that the wall to the left of the window band steps
back from the plane of fenestration. Compare to the colored plan I linked above, where the wall and windows make a single plane from end to end.

Of interest would be the means by which the brick wall below the windows was supported in its new and unplanned-for location.

Here's the original condition, in a photo published in Manson, "FLLW to 1910."

photo c. 1910 by Henry Feurmann