Graycliff - Table of Contents

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Graycliff Conservancy donates Frank Lloyd Wright material to UB, University Archives

Buffalo Rising, December 15, 2023

Graycliff - Official Website


A major donation of historic objects by the Graycliff Conservancy Board of Directors to the University at Buffalo Libraries will add to the university’s already extensive Frank Lloyd Wright collection, further establishing UB as the most comprehensive source in Western New York for research materials related to the celebrated architect and his creative process.

Over 370 objects originally owned by Darwin D. and Isabelle Martin, who commissioned Wright to build Graycliff, their summer home in Derby, New York, will be housed in the University Archives. 


The Martins’ granddaughter, Margaret Foster, gifted the artifacts to the conservancy over many years. Margaret’s daughter, Betsy Mudra, made additional donations following her mother’s death.

Collectively, the historical materials, some of which had been deposited with the University Archives since 1999, consist of textiles, such as the family’s quilts, napkins and table coverings, with additional materials that include blueprints, sketches, manuscripts, photographs, diaries, memorandum books, business and family correspondence, and genealogical records concerning the Martins and their children, Dorothy and Darwin R. Martin.

Designed in 1926 and built over four years beginning in 1927, Graycliff consists of three Wright-designed structures and gardens spread over roughly 8 acres of land above a cliff on the Lake Erie shore, 17 miles southwest of Buffalo, New York. A Roman Catholic teaching order purchased the property in 1951 and modified the buildings and grounds to accommodate a boarding school. Falling enrollment led to the school’s closing in 1997. Local preservationists formed the nonprofit, volunteer Graycliff Conservancy that same year to purchase the complex and begin the process of restoring Wright’s original design. Today, Graycliff serves as a cultural education center and public museum.

All of the Wright-related material in University Archives is accessible to the public. But as with all the archives’ collections, guests are strongly encouraged to make an appointment prior to their visit. 

More information on the collections is available at: research.lib.buffalo.edu/martin-wright.


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