The Barton house, the first of Frank Lloyd Wright's Buffalo buildings to be completed, was built for Darwin Martin's sister, Delta Martin Barton, whose husband, George, worked for the Larkin Company. The floor plan is based upon Wright's 1902 Walser house in Chicago.

Its low profile reflects the expansiveness of the American prairie. Wright's use of unadorned natural materials -- brick, concrete, and oak -- reflected an organic approach.

Wright wrapped a continuous band of windows across the front (and rear) of the house and around the corners of these bedrooms to create an illusion of expansiveness.

The subordinate axis of the house consists of an open porch on the south with an abbreviated kitchen projecting to the north. Although this section contains very little usable living space, its function as a counterpart to the height and mass of the two-story part of the house should not be underestimated. Wright repeatedly experimented with cross-axial plans in order to lower the of his houses and extend them farther into the surrounding landscape.

The room dimensions of the house are small, but the effects of space are maximized throughout the design. The principal living spaces are concentrated in the two-story portion of the house, where the living, dining, and reception areas open freely in to one another as discrete subdivisions of a continuous space. In contrast, the two major bedrooms on the second story are located at the opposite ends of a narrow corridor.

Sources:

• "Buffalo Architecture: A Guide." Cambridge: MIT Press, 1981
  
  
• Classic Buffalo: A Heritage of Distinguished Architecture, by Richard O. Reisem

• Official Martin Complex Home Page

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Special thanks to Margie Stehlik, Director of Volunteers for the Martin Complex, for her cooperation and patience.

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Photos and their arrangement © 2002 Chuck LaChiusa
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