Graycliff is the one place on earth where the designs of Frank Lloyd Wright and Ellen Shipman come together in a cohesive whole. 

One of America’s preeminent landscape architects, Ellen Shipman (1869-1950) began as a gardener, and later collaborated with notable architects and designers such as Charles Platt and  Warren Manning. In more than 600 gardens across the United States—including Longue Vue in New Orleans, The Cummer Museum in Florida, and The Ladies Border at The New York Botanical Garden, and here at Graycliff—Shipman developed a distinctive American style, often incorporating native plants arranged in painterly successions of color and texture, within lush beds and borders. While few of her gardens remain intact, Western New York contains several rare examples of Shipman’s work that have been revitalized or restored in recent years. We are fortunate at Graycliff to have gardens and landscape elements designed by Shipman. She was hired by the Martin family in 1929 to design detailed planting plans to augment Frank Lloyd Wright’s initial landscape layout. 

The gardens at Graycliff reflect the client (Isabelle Martin’s) deep love of flowers. Isabelle was known throughout Buffalo for her floral arranging skills and the gardens at Graycliff were designed by Shipman to support her passion. An interior sink included in the main house exists for the sole purpose of arranging the flowers from the grounds which gave her so much pleasure.         

In a project made possible with support from the Stenclik Family Charitable Fund, here you are able to explore Shipman’s contributions at Graycliff. Travel virtually through the seasons to see how the landscape progresses and changes, and click on the detail photographs for information on specific plantlife.