A DAY AT ROYCROFT AND ENVIRONS

Today we had a walking tour of the Roycroft inn with Dan Brunson, who's one of the docents. We started with a tour of the campus (which basically means the hotel). The buildings have been built over a number of years and have been connected by a long porch going around the front. The main lobby is a big, flat-roofed building with no pillars or anything. And this building was built when there were no I-beams available, so the ceiling is held up like a bridge, with cables. The main room is a very Frank Lloyd Wright type room, with murals all around by Alex Fournier. The other buildings, all of which have housed the printing shops at various times, are built in the William Morris-championed English gothic style, with trusses all through the ceiling.
Dard Hunter was one of the most talented people who ever came through here. He arrived as a young man, even though he had been invited NOT to come because Hubbard preferred to hire locally. However, once he got here, he was wonderful and recommended by his teachers in every class he took. Many of his designs are rather iconic Arts and Crafts designs. Here he designed lamps, windows, signs, and made a representation of the north wind on top of the chapel.

Then we had a tour of the campus with Kitty Turgeon. Then we had a tour of the campus – all the buildings that have been associated with Roycroft over the years – by Kitty Turgeon, who is a walking repository of information about A&C both here and worldwide. She does tend to drift from what she’s saying, but it’s simply because she knows so much. It’s like when you do an internet search for something and you find all these other things you never knew existed. At one time, Kitty owned this place. Dorothy and Ellen, our other two Elderhostel "guides," own other historic places in East Aurora. In the course of our stay, we apparently go to practically everybody's house in town for wine and cheese at some point or other.


We also visted the Elbert Hubbard Museum which is a house that was built for one of his craftsmen, and when the craftsman's widow was 100 years old, she donated it to the city or to the historical society in return for their paying for her care -- and she lived another 6 years.
Following that visit, we had wine and cheese at Kitty’s house, which is a museum itself. She has tons of Roycroft furniture, and just a bunch of stuff. The effect is terribly cluttered, but very interesting. This is a house that Alex Fournier (the painter of the murals in the lobby) lived in – or at least half of it is. At some point two different buildings were combined into one house. So her bedroom upstairs is the former studio and has a giant skylight (about 6 ft. square) and a high ceiling. Plus, she has a huge walk in closet/slash dressing room.

Dinner tonight was supposed to be slow food grown locally. Apparently the meat loaf and eggs were fresh local products, but I seriously doubt that the tomatoes, zucchini, string beans, potatoes, or berries were. It’s too early for that stuff at home,and definitely too early here. Tasted good though.

Tonight we had a preview of the Darwin Martin house, a Frank Lloyd Wright design, which we’ll see on Wednesday.