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Inniskillin Winery and Frank Lloyd Wright - the
Wright legend and inspired decor
The staff at
Inniskillin spoke to the connection between the
winery and Frank Lloyd Wright. The legend of
Wright and Inniskillin is that the
property was owned by the Larkin family during
the period when they commissioned Wright to
design the Larkin Corporation headquarters
building in Buffalo. The current winery
visitors' center is situated in a barn that was
built at that time. The recent owners of the
winery decorated the buildings and grounds whth
Frank Lloyd Wright inspired decor such as light
fixtures, ironwork and windows. One window
(below) is a reproduction or knock-off of the
famous 'ballon' design windows from the
Avery Coonley kindergarten in Riverside,
Illinois. An original of these
windows is displayed in the
Art Institute of
Chicago and they are the basis for many popular
designs. |
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Ironically, the dual purpose of our to Niagara
region was to visit Inniskillin and to tour the
Darwin
Darwin Martin House and Complex
in Buffalo, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright
around the turn of the last century during his
golden era of the Prairie Style of architecture.
As a docent interpreter for the
Wright Home and Studio in Oak Park,
Illinois for the Frank Lloyd Wright
Preservation Trust, I was also the research
captain for Wright Plus 2012 for the
William Martin House in Oak Park.
William Martin commissioned Wright to design his
home in Oak Park in 1903. During this time, he
introduced his younger brother Darwin Martin to
Wright. This lead to the commission for Wright
to develop the
Martin House and related
buildings, and eventually the Larkin Building.
Darwin Martin was the financial officer for the
Larkin family and their soap and home products
company.
Speaking with Don Zainaldo, former principle of
Inniskillin. I intimated that I didn't buy into
any theory of a connection between Wright and
the winery property. He acknowledged that while
this was a popular legend, there is no hard
evidence of such a connection.
Some of the Wright inspired decor is shown
below. |
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