Copper Beech Tree

This stately copper beech tree has graced the front lawn of the Martin House for more than 100 years. It has withstood ice storms, winter winds, and the heat of summer. The copper beech is an ornamental cultivar of European beech, native to most of Europe and related to the American beech. This tree was planted circa 1905, as evidenced in a letter from Darwin Martin to Frank Lloyd Wright:

“…Your kind prompt attention will oblige. I have a purple [copper] beech __[?] ft. high and a Japanese Ginko Tree, small; please indicate on planting plan where to put them. Could you please send us a planting plan sooner if you write thereon only numbers, and give the corresponding numbers to the items in the shrubbery list?”