June 29: Buffalo, NY

Dear Friends and Relatives,

Greetings to all of you from Buffalo, NY, about 3 hours away from Cleveland, and, like Cleveland, on Lake Erie.  We had breakfast this morning at home on Alexandra's balcony (she had lox and bagels, which were scrumptious).  By about 9:00 we were on our way to Buffalo, a city which saw its zenith in the 19th and 20th c. as a result of the Erie Canal, railroads and Lake Erie, providing an abundance of fresh water and an ample trade route to the Midwestern US, while grooming its economy for the grain, steel, and automobile industries during the 20th c.  After an economic downturn in the latter half of the 19th c., Buffalo's economy has transitioned to sectors that include financial services, technology, biomedical engineering, and education.  

Our first stop was lunch at a pub called the Pierce Arrow.  Across the street from the pub was an elaborate building listed as the Pierce-Arrow manufactory.  Early in the 20th c., Buffalo, through this company, became a leader in the introduction of the automobile in American life.  

From there, we drove to the little town of East Aurora and to the art reformist community  of Roycroft, supporting about 500 men and women working in the Arts and Crafts movement in the US.  Elbert Hubbard founded the community in 1895, and its participants were called Roycrofters.  The philosophy and work of the group had a strong influence on the development of American architecture and design in the early 20th c.  Nine of the original 14 buildings are located in the town of East Aurora, and although the movement has died out, craftsmen of the area are still producing replicas of some of the hand-produced, beloved objects of those who began this movement.   I bought Alexandra a Roycrofter mug (just before she had a chance to buy one, unbeknownst to hme); and I bought myself a dark umber t-shirt exhibiting the beautiful trademark of the Roycrofters.  

After East Aurora, we drove back to Buffalo and found the Delavan Hotel, where we are staying for two nights.  Lovely place, and we took all our paraphernalia to our room on 4th floor before taking a small nap prior to our twilight tour of the Martin House and complex, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and built between 1903-1905.  It is considered to be one of the most important projects from Wright's Prairie School era, and ranks with the Guggenheim in NYC and Fallingwater in Pennsylvania among his greatest work.  The home belonged to Darwin Martin, a businessman, and his wife and family.  Wright designed the complex as an integrated composition of connecting buildings, consisting of the primary building, the Martin House, a long pergola connecting with a conservatory, a carriage house-stable, and a smaller residence, the Barton House, built for the sister of Dawson Martin.  

Our tour guide was excellent, and one of the most incredible factoids gathered on the tour is the fact that there are 15 patterns of 394 art glass windows which Wright designed for the entire complex, some of which contain over 750 individual pieces of jewel-like iridescent glass that act as "light screens" to visually connect exterior views with the spaces within!  Genius!

Once the tour was at an end, it was about 9:00 p.m., and we quickly drove by a market to buy some cheese, crackers, raspberries, and cherries, and Pom juice, since we were not exactly ravenous.  And now we are back here, reading, blogging, etc. before calling it a night.  A splendid day!  As ever, Sylvia