Eight Bedroom House, Furnished

Lest you think the Weekly Wright-up has been shut down by the FCC, here's a late post to say that our editorial staff has been distracted by the exciting work of preparing the Martin House for this week's visit by more than 2,000 preservationists attending the National Trust's annual Preservation conference.
 
Each day of the past week has brought transformative additions to the Martin House, as we roll-out elements of the interior furnishings plan:

On Thursday, we installed the golden-green carpets, according to Wright's carpeting plan for the first floor of the house.  Later that day, the Martin family's custom, oak-veneered Steinway grand piano returned from its vacation across Jewett Parkway at the Wicks house (thank you Donna DeCarolis and Henrik Borgstrom).

On Friday, assisted by two of our outstanding conservators the New York State Bureau of Historic Sites, we took delivery of some thirty-five pieces of historic furniture (much of it Wright-designed) and decorative objects.  Each of these pieces, to varying degrees, has enjoyed conservation treatment over the past sixteen years at the Bureau of Historic sites' Peeble's Island collections center.

Today (Monday), we added accents of silk flowers and ferns, based on arrangements seen in the 1907 Fuermann photos of the Martin House interior.

The cumulative effect is nothing short of breathtaking.  But don't take my word for it--visit the Martin House and see for yourself!

Furniture conservator David Bayne and Furnituremaker Tim Coleman assembling the library table