The Edward E. Boynton House (1908) was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in Rochester, New York. This privately owned prairie-style home was commissioned by widower Edward Everett Boynton and his teenage daughter Beulah Boynton. According to Beulah Boynton (recounted to Times Union reporter William Ringle in 1955) it cost her father between $45,000 – $50,000 for the house, the lot and the contents – a staggering sum in 1908 (adjusted for inflation, approx. $10 million in 2021). This two-story, approximately 5,500 square foot home, was originally situated on an acre lot in the city of Rochester. Seventeen pieces of original Frank Lloyd Wright furniture remain in the house.
History Home ownership timeline 1908 – 1919 Edward and Beulah Boynton 1919 – 1921 J. Oswald Dailey (June 1, 1919 – April 18, 1921) 1921 – 1925 Title transferred to Florence C. Dailey who defaulted loan and the Rochester Trust and Safe Deposit Company took control during this period 1925 – 1942 Elizabeth J. Burns (October 19, 1925). Listed for sale in 1940. Bank took control by 1942. 1943 – 1968 Arlene E. Howard (October 7, 1943 – June 27, 1968) 1968 – 1974 Dr. David and Carolyn Tinling (June 27, 1968 – June 27, 1974) 1974 – 1977 Louis (Louie) and Joan Clark (June 27, 1974 – June 29, 1977) 1977 – 1994 J. Burton (Burt) and Karen Brown (June 29, 1977 – January 10, 1994) 1994 – 1996 Gordon (Gordie) Nye (January 10, 1994 – November 1, 1996) 1996 – 2009 Scott and Kathryn McDonald (November 1, 1996 – November 30, 2009) 2009 – Fran Cosentino and Jane Parker (November 30, 2009 – present)
Edward Everett Boynton
Edward Everett Boynton was a successful lantern salesman and partner in the C. T. Ham Manufacturing Co. of Rochester. Despite his financial success, Boynton's personal life was marked by tragedy. Three of his four children died at a young age, including his daughter Beulah's twin sister Bessie. On April 13, 1900 (Friday the 13th) his wife died. Beulah told Times Union Reporter William Ringle, "My father had no hobbies but me." When Boynton decided to move out of his home at 44 Vick Park B in Rochester, New York he commissioned Frank Lloyd Wright to design what would become Rochester's only Wright-designed home. Beulah Boynton recalled, "I wanted Claude Bragdon to build our house. My father was quite taken with Wright." Edward Boynton learned of Frank Lloyd Wright through a business partner, Warren McArthur. Wright designed the Warren McArthur House in the Kenwood District of Chicago in 1892. In 1906, Boynton commissioned the architect to design a home on an expansive piece of property on East Boulevard. Construction started in 1907 and the house was completed in 1908. Beulah Boynton was a teenager when she met Frank Lloyd Wright. She became very interested and involved in the design and construction of house. "I learned to read specs. I spotted an error in the masons laying the fireplace."
The original deed to the property was recorded on May 13, 1907 and the building permit (certificate of occupancy) was granted on May 15, 1908. "The building permit, #10988, lists a two story frame and plaster dwelling, 5h'~ x 115', valuation, $10,000."Historic American Buildings Survey, E.E. Boynton House. Prepared by Kevin Patrick Harrington, Society for the Preservation of Landmarks in Western New York, December 6, 1966. Boynton was listed as "builder-owner" on the building permit, Frank Lloyd Wright as architect, and the contractors were Gorsline and Swan." George T. Swan, son of the late George L. Swan, recalled his father saying, "The contractors expected trouble with Wright but discovered to their surprise and delight that reasonably amicable relations with him were possible so long as they adhered exactly to his specifications and instructions." He continued, "He made no great trial for contractors," said Swan, "but he gave the workmen fits." I was too young to have known Mr. Wright but I heard a great deal about him from my father.
Originally the Edward E. Boynton house occupied an approximately one acre lot. In addition to the 5,450 square foot residence, the property was home to a 30-foot by 60-foot reflecting pool, a tennis court, magnificent gardens and 28 American elm trees. The driveway stretched the length of a city block – from East Boulevard to Hawthorn Street. 1908–1919: Boynton House
Beulah and Edward Boynton lived at 16 East Boulevard for ten years. During that period, the Boyntons (one of the early automobile owners in the area) erected a garage on the property. Edward Boynton employed a cook, two maids (one for upstairs, one for downstairs), and two gardeners (one doubled as the chauffeur) during their stay. After Beulah Boynton married Ransom Noble Kalbfleisch, he moved into the Boynton house joining his bride and her father. A daughter, Jean, was born in 1914. In 1919 Beulah and Jean moved to New York City with Kalbfleisch so he could work at the stock exchange. Edward Boynton joined them in New York and lived with them until his death on December 27, 1938.
The house sat vacant for a year until June 1, 1919 until J. Oswald Dailey purchased it. 1919–1940: Upheaval
The 1920s were a tumultuous time for both the country and the Boynton house. According to family members, Dailey lost all of his money and his wife's money speculating in commodity futures. In a financial bind, Dailey subdivided the property into two building lots that he sold for $22,000. The tennis court, formal gardens, pool, and fountain were removed. Two additional homes were built on the original Boynton plot, "one on Hawthorn Street, at the back of the property, and the other on East Boulevard. (Beulah recalled during an interview with William Ringle in 1955, "There are now three other houses on what was the original lot. The porch was originally open, now it's glassed in.")Rochester Times Union, April 1955. Article by William Ringle. On April 18, 1921, the title to Wright's Boynton house was transferred to Florence C. Dailey. She failed make the loan payments and the bank took control. On October 19, 1925, Elizabeth J. Burns assumed the $18,000 mortgage held by the Rochester Trust and Safe Deposit Company.
1932: Frank Lloyd Wright returns to Rochester
When he was 65 years old Frank Lloyd Wright returned to Rochester after an invitation to speak to a sold out crowd at the Memorial Art Gallery. On November 14, 1932, accompanied by Memorial Art Gallery Director Gertrude Moore, Mr. Wright drove by the Edward E. Boynton House and was enraged by the sight of the current diminished lot and external drainage pipes originating from the roof. Decades later Democrat & Chronicle reporter Katharine Seelye interviewed Gertrude Moore. Ms. Moore recounted, Wright literally "rose in his wrath before her eyes...and in his distress banged his head on the ceiling of the cab. The driver was ordered on." "They've wrapped conductor pipes around my plane spaces!" he shrieked. "They have destroyed my house!" Still reeling from the sight of his house, Frank Lloyd Wright ranted throughout his evening lecture at the Memorial Art Gallery. "Mr. Wright came to the platform (at the gallery) under a cloud of pessimism," the Democrat and Chronicle reported the next day. "He expressed himself as well convinced that no words of his could awaken the modern individual to the degradation of (contemporary) architecture (which was) 'pseudo this and pseudo that and never expressive of himself or his surroundings.'" Ms. Moore reimbursed the architect for his hotel bill and railroad fare but requested a downward adjustment to his speaking fee. Frank Lloyd Wright never returned to Rochester again. 1940–1968: The Boynton House's longest resident
In 1940, the house was listed for $16,500, but languished on the market. By 1942, the bank assumed the mortgage once again.
Arlene E. Howard purchased the house on October 7, 1943 for $8,000. She owned the house for almost 25 years. Ms. Howard painted several rooms and some of the original Wright-designed furniture, throughout the house. Toward the end of her tenure, Ms. Howard rarely visited the house and spent the majority of her time with her brother on her boat in Florida. When her housekeeper died, the house remained empty and neglected. The roof was repaired in 1967, but continued to cause problems. 1968–1974: Boynton House
Dr. David Tinling, his wife Carolyn, and their four young children moved into the house on June 27, 1968. They purchased the Boynton House for $57,000.Interview with David Tinling, June 17, 2011 by Kim Bixler (Growing Up in a Frank Lloyd Wright House, p. 68). Dr. Tinling thought the house looked perfect. His wife Carolyn remembered the house in need of serious repairs. Incredibly, the carpets were still original and seventeen pieces of the original Frank Lloyd Wright-designed furniture remained in the house. The Tinlings pursued landmark status for the house and created legal covenants for the home's structure. In 1969, the City of Rochester passes a preservation ordinance, designating the Frank Lloyd Wright's Boynton House an official Rochester landmark. The original furniture was omitted from the protective covenants. In March 1973, University of Toronto professor H. Allen Brooks wrote to the Landmark Society of Western New York pointing out the importance of preserving the provenance of the furniture. At the same time, the Tinlings' marriage was unraveling forcing the sale of the Boynton House.
Frank Lloyd Wright's Edward E. Boynton House was officially listed for sale, in 1973, for $82,500. 1974–1977: The public sees the Boynton House
The house was enshrouded in bushes when it went on the market. Greenery flanked either side of the house above the second story roof. Louis and Joan Clark offered the Tinlings $55,000 which was rejected. Their second offer for $68,000 was accepted. The Clarks ripped out and thinned most of the trees and bushes surrounding the house, removed the old, dirty carpets, updated the heating system, repaired the plumbing, fixed some electrical issues and started stripping the paint from the woodwork throughout the house. They also opened up the house for fee-based tours. Over 2,000 people toured the Boynton House during the first two years the Clarks owned the house.Seelye, Katharine (October 31, 1976). "The House That Frank Built". Democrat & Chronicle's Upstate Magazine, p. 10. Interested in obtaining museum status and continuing their tours, the Clarks reached out to the City of Rochester Zoning Board. The president of the neighborhood association, Dr. R. Paul Miller, wrote an opinion piece for the Rochester Times Union opposing the idea. As a result of the neighborhood backlash, the constant repairs and several burglaries to the Boynton House, the Clarks decided they had enough. They alerted Rochester Times Union columnist Peter Taub that they are considering putting the house on the market. On April 29, 1977 his column appeared in the paper – Wright House Up for Sale.
1977–1994: Protective covenants and complete roof replacement