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Charles & Marie Fontana Boathouse Tour

Buffalo, United States of America

Charles & Marie Fontana Boathouse Tour

The only boathouse ever designed by the eminent Frank Lloyd Wright, the Charles and Marie Fontana Boathouse has perhaps the most unusual history of any of Buffalo's Wright buildings. Designed in 1905 (contemporaneously with Wright's most famous Buffalo commissions, the lost '''Larkin Administration

Building''' and the very-much-alive '''Darwin D. Martin House'''), it was intended to be built for the University of Wisconsin Boat Club in Madison, but was instead built in Buffalo — in 2007, over a century after Wright's design was finalized — and only thanks to the dogged efforts of a local group of Wright aficionados financed largely by Buffalo-born screenwriter Tom Fontana. The only alteration to the original design was the replacement of the stucco on the exterior walls with concrete. The Fontana Boathouse does double duty today as both the working boathouse of the '''West Side Rowing Club''' and a destination for the growing legion of architectural tourists who come to Buffalo to see the works of Wright and other greats. It's also available to rent for private events.

Listen to the audio guide for Charles & Marie Fontana Boathouse Tour Free on WIP — starts by itself when you arrive, even with the screen off

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