Boynton House, Rochester

I attended the Kim Bixler talk at the Darwin Martin House today ,7/8/13.  She was interesting; her multi media show was interesting, and yes I got suckered in and bought her book,  Growing Up In a Frank Lloyd Wright House.  If anyone wants to borrow it, they are welcome to as soon as I finish reading it.  The Boynton House was built in 1908 and is the only FLW designed house in the Rochester, NY area.  It has also been in the hands of private owners its entire history.  Kim and her family lived in it for about 17 years, moving out in the mid 90's. The current owners undertook a restoration/rehabilitation of the house and the local public broadcasting station did a documentary on the project in 2012.  The video ran on local WXXI station that produced it and for awhile was available to be purchased through the station.  However, Ms. Bixler commented that it is not publicly available and that  she wished she could have a copy and that it be made available for others to view.

When I got home today, I did a little sleuthing and found a complete copy of the video and am providing a link to it here for your viewing pleasure.  It is about an hour long but very interesting and worth the investment of time to view.

WXXI Boytnon House Restoration

RENOVATION UPDATE

The current outside renovation is pretty near complete.  I visited the estate this past weekend to see what has been going on and took my trusty digital camera so that I could show those of you, who like myself might not have been to the property for awhile, what the situation looks like now.

The driveway is complete.  All lawn areas restored and either reseeded or sodded.  Most landscaping is done.  The pond was half full of water and needed more plantings and a few more rocks to finish it out.  That should all be done by the end of the week.  And of course, any sign of the bridge that connected to the beach tower is gone.  We need to stay off the new grass for awhile yet, but otherwise we are pretty much set to go.  I hope the following photos are useful.

Front of the house showing pond

                                          
                                                               From the front stoop

                                          The Foster House from the front stoop of house

                                            The pond from second floor window in hallway.

                                               Foster House from window in upstairs hallway.

                                                Pond and circle drive from front terrace.

                                     Stairway minus bridge looking towards Buffalo skyline.

FLW Suggested Self Tour for Midwest

Diane Schrenk forwarded  this clipping from the Chicago Tribune suggesting a summer outing of FLW sites in the Midwest.  It shows the constantly growing significance of FLW and his architectural concepts to the American public.  Although I don't know how many of us are going to drive to the Midwest to tour the locations, some sound very interesting, especially the display of his Usonian designs.  Please check out the article.

I also wanted to note that this blog has just recently surpassed the 5000 hit mark and I want to thank all volunteers and followers who have been reading this blog.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/special/adsections/aranet/chi-ara-8078660101-20130626%2c0%2c7468524.story

New Magazine in Gift Shop

                                                    
The above new magazine is totally focused on Wright landscaping and is currently available in the gift shop for $7.   It is titled Save Wright.  It includes an article by our own FLW guru, Pat Mahoney titled, "Graycliff: Landscape for the Lakefront Estate."

It includes other articles such as "Landscape at Talisen: Carrying on the Legacy" by Keiran Murphy, who not so coincidently will be lecturing at Graycliff in the Fall

"Recapturing the Landscape of the Dawin D. Martin House" by Jack Quinan

Other articles involve landscaping of the Weltzheimer-Johson House, the Coonley House, and the Westscott House.

You may want to stop and purchase a copy while they are still available.

GRAYCLIFF IN CBS BOSTON

Graycliff got a mention on the website for CBS Boston this week.  If you want to check and see the article, click on the link below.  Good press is always great, especially when it is free!


hCBS Boston

Kim Bixler , Another Opportunity

                                                                   

If you have not yet caught Kim Bixler's multimedia presentation about growing up in a Frank Lloyd Wright House  and cannot make the already posted presentation on Monday evening.  July 8 at the Guaranty Building, you might be interested in this one.  It is also scheduled on Monday July 8, but from 1-2 pm at the Darwin Martin Complex and it is free. 

Although not the original owner family, Kim grew up in the 1908 Boynton House in nearby Rochester and she is full of stories which is why she has written the above book on the subject.  Her talk will be presented in the basement of the house, but I would suspect you need to check in at the Pavilion to attend.  It may be easier to get to than the evening presentation and a more convenient time for many people.  So you have two choices.  I think I might try for the afternoon one myself if I am up to it (still recovering from what should have been a minor surgery, but they tell me the lobotomy was a success,)  The link below connects to her website and has some interesting photos of the house.



Kim Bixler Photos. 

HOW TO BECOME A MASTER DOCENT

For those docents wondering what it takes to become a Master Docent, the following guidelines have recently been offered. If you have any questions or comments, if you are on the blog click on comments and add your thoughts/questions. If you are reading this on email, I don't believe you can do a comment there, you will need to go to the article in the actual blog.

HOW TO BECOME A GRAYCLIFF MASTER DOCENT
For those who have already been certified (or are in training) to become a Graycliff Docent, the next question is usually: How Do I Become a Master Docent?

First, what is a Graycliff Master Docent?
  A Graycliff Master Docent demonstrates an in-depth knowledge of the career of Frank Lloyd Wright, Graycliff as an example of Organic Architecture, the Martin Family and the Graycliff Conservancy's restoration endeavors. Graycliff Master Docents are expected to show a commitment to Graycliff, to focus on visitors interests and needs (including the ability to meet time constraints of tours,) encourage membership and volunteerism among visitors, and to take the initiative to learn more related to Wright's work and life, his relationship to the Martins, the Martins’ life and times and to Graycliff’s restoration endeavors.

   Docents are invited to become a Master Docent, based on the following minimum requirements:

1) Service for a minimum of two years as a Graycliff Docent

2) Giving a minimum of nine tours per year

3) Taking a refresher Master Architectural Tour
                  a.  Next year, a special lecture or tour relating to the historic landscape may also be required.

4) Joining the Graycliff Volunteer Blog

5) Having no complaints from visitors, to be able to meet tour time constraints, reliability, and willingness to encourage membership and volunteerism among visitors.



  Additionally, Graycliff expects that Master Docents will undertake on-going self-study, which includes such things as:

     1) Attending the annual Graycliff lecture series

     2) Attending lectures related to architecture and landscape architecture offered elsewhere

     3) Visits to other architectural sites, both local and national
                     a. Especially those by Wright
                     b. Or with landscapes by Ellen Biddle Shipman

     4) Attending Graycliff restoration updates
                      a. Usually given at Spring Clean Up, Annual Meeting and Volunteer Dinner and other times

      5) Attending other Graycliff talks and lectures
                    a. Additional talks and lectures are often given during the off season
                    b. Sometimes feature experts in the field, such as authors of reports, etc.

     6) Additional readings about Wright and related subjects

     7) Researching and giving talks and lectures themselves about a related topic, to Graycliff volunteers

Naturally, not everyone can do all of the self-study things listed above, based on their availability here in WNY, and their commitments to family, friends, work and the like. However, it’s expected that Master Docents will do at least some of these things each year.

ONCE YOU BECOME A GRAYCLIFF MASTER DOCENT

To maintain your status as a Graycliff Master Docent, you must do the following:

     1) Give a minimum of nine tours per year (unless excused due to illness or other acceptable extenuating circumstance)

     2) Give Basic as well as In-Depth tours

     3) Be current on Graycliff restoration and research, as reported in talks and printed materials for this purpose

     4) Read the Graycliff Volunteer Blog
             a. Contribute to the Graycliff Volunteer Blog, with info and photos on other Wright sites, interesting info you read about Wright, etc etc. and comments

     5) Have no complaints from visitors

     6) Be able to meet tour time constraints

    7) Be reliable for tours

    8) Encourage membership and volunteerism among visitors

    9) Continuing self-study as noted above.