Frank Lloyd Wright's Fontana Boathouse
Frank Lloyd Wright's Fontana Boathouse
Frank Lloyd Wright's Fontana Boathouse
4
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Monday
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Tuesday
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Wednesday
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Thursday
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Friday
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
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Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.
Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as wait time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.
Popular mentions
4.0
63 reviews
Excellent
36
Very good
11
Average
9
Poor
3
Terrible
4
DukeretxaB
Buffalo, NY64 contributions
Aug 2013
When touring the Buffalo area for wedding ceremony spots, we knew it would be perfect for us for many reasons.
- It had a spledid view of the Peace Bridge and the Niagara River connecting to Lake Erie.
- The building is a recently resurrected/built design of locally revered architect, Frank Lloyd Wright. His showcasing of nature and the angles in his designs just wowed us.
- Anne, the director of the building, was extremely kind, informative, and helpful with every question and concern. When we went to the initial meeting to check this place out, we were nervous about them allowing our dog in the building. Anne made us feel at ease immediately when she came downstairs to greet us with a rambunctious family dog leading the way. Everything about our interaction with her was easy-going and stress-free, unlike most places we visited.
- We could easily see this place driving by on the interstate 190, so we could always be reminded of our wedding day when passing.
Our wedding ceremony was yesterday, and went off without a single problem. Hats off to Anne for helping us organize our ceremony and make sure that it was above and beyond what we wanted. You could tell she really cared about us and put in lots of extra work to make us happy. I would HIGHLY suggest this place for your wedding if you are looking for a Buffalo-centric outdoor ceremony. I would also recommend just checking the place out as a FLW or architecture fanatic.
Our day was amazing, as I knew it would be.
- It had a spledid view of the Peace Bridge and the Niagara River connecting to Lake Erie.
- The building is a recently resurrected/built design of locally revered architect, Frank Lloyd Wright. His showcasing of nature and the angles in his designs just wowed us.
- Anne, the director of the building, was extremely kind, informative, and helpful with every question and concern. When we went to the initial meeting to check this place out, we were nervous about them allowing our dog in the building. Anne made us feel at ease immediately when she came downstairs to greet us with a rambunctious family dog leading the way. Everything about our interaction with her was easy-going and stress-free, unlike most places we visited.
- We could easily see this place driving by on the interstate 190, so we could always be reminded of our wedding day when passing.
Our wedding ceremony was yesterday, and went off without a single problem. Hats off to Anne for helping us organize our ceremony and make sure that it was above and beyond what we wanted. You could tell she really cared about us and put in lots of extra work to make us happy. I would HIGHLY suggest this place for your wedding if you are looking for a Buffalo-centric outdoor ceremony. I would also recommend just checking the place out as a FLW or architecture fanatic.
Our day was amazing, as I knew it would be.
Written September 1, 2013
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Mike A
Baldwinsville, NY439 contributions
Feb 2017 • Family
Visit the Onky boathouse in the US designed and built exactly to the plans. This location is a gem and if in area should be seen
Written February 25, 2017
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Amy C
Huntington Beach, CA28 contributions
Nov 2016 • Family
This is a wonderful tour of Frank Lloyd Wright's early architecture. Wonderful tour! Worth every penny!
Written February 2, 2017
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Brendan S
Arlington, VA2,152 contributions
Sep 2021
The Fontana Boathouse is a functional building - storage for crew row boats - that is notable as designed by Frank Lloyd Wright (though not actually built until 40 years after his death). The building has the hallmarks of the FLW style and is interesting because it is different than the other more familiar FLW buildings - houses and the Guggenheim Museum. But there's no information about it on site and little to see except the building itself, which seems to be a popular event venue with views of the river and Canada.
Written September 18, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Mandy H
1 contribution
Aug 2018 • Family
This past August I attended an event at the boathouse and it was awful. My friend was getting married and being a part of her wedding my job is to make sure things go smoothly...the event coordinator, Martha, made sure everything went wrong. She screamed at the bride and her whole bridal party about walking on the floor with our shoes and demanded we take them off!!! She did not set up anything, our family and friends got stuck setting up and she also made them clean the floors. She screamed at another guest who was helping out that we are lucky she doesn’t make us clean the bathroom!!! One word, PSYCHOPATH!!!! Isn’t that your job? Set up, breakdown and clean it for the next event? Pretty sure that’s how it works. It was extremely humid that day and she did not turn the ac on and told us there was no ac. I thought someone was going to end up passing out.
I went with the bride to every meeting ( which getting Martha there is like pulling teeth because she makes up her own schedule which changes by the second) and she acted like it was the first time she met us even though we’ve been there 5 other times and rather recently. This woman was such a problem we had to keep going back for meetings and she would agree to what we said and then a week later say it can’t happen and call us a liar. Who the in their right mind does that? Only conclusion, she has some sort of short term memory loss.
She forgot to submit the insurance form on time ( which was a whole other nightmare) to her crazy insurance lady who called two days before and said my best friend wasnt allowed to have the wedding because it wasn’t filled out correctly. No one was ever notified about any of this.
Moments before my best friend walked down the aisle, you can her her screaming at someone on the phone and during the ceremony!!!! The way she was talking to this person was unacceptable. It was insane to say the least. I would think twice about hosting an event there due to the lack of professionalism and horrible way she treats people.
I went with the bride to every meeting ( which getting Martha there is like pulling teeth because she makes up her own schedule which changes by the second) and she acted like it was the first time she met us even though we’ve been there 5 other times and rather recently. This woman was such a problem we had to keep going back for meetings and she would agree to what we said and then a week later say it can’t happen and call us a liar. Who the in their right mind does that? Only conclusion, she has some sort of short term memory loss.
She forgot to submit the insurance form on time ( which was a whole other nightmare) to her crazy insurance lady who called two days before and said my best friend wasnt allowed to have the wedding because it wasn’t filled out correctly. No one was ever notified about any of this.
Moments before my best friend walked down the aisle, you can her her screaming at someone on the phone and during the ceremony!!!! The way she was talking to this person was unacceptable. It was insane to say the least. I would think twice about hosting an event there due to the lack of professionalism and horrible way she treats people.
Written September 21, 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Jocelyn A
2 contributions
Jul 2018 • Couples
If I could give this review a -5, I would in a heartbeat. The boathouse coordinator – Martha made me regret choosing this location to host my wedding ceremony. To summarize - Martha was absolute hell to work with; she was terrible with communication- returning my calls, and texts throughout the 5 months we were in contact. She attacked me my wedding day stating I did not pay her for the event and made it seem as though I couldn’t host it. When in fact, I paid her in person the day before. I had several witnesses and a checkbook to prove it. She continued to attack me to the point I cried before walking down the aisle. My father in law spoke up stating we have money and can pay her. After the ceremony she must have found her check and told my in-laws that she found it. SHE DIDN’T EVEN HAVE THE NERVE TO APOLOGIZE TO ME FOR HER ACCUSATION- NEVERTHELESS MAKING ME CRY BEFORE WALKING DONE THE AISLE.
Now here is every reason why I shouldn’t have gone through with the boathouse.
Before booking the location – Martha was a little odd in not meeting up with me to show the location and sign the contract. Stating she had personal matters to handle and driving out to FLWFB is more of a hassle during the winter months – despite my interest in having that done. I liked the location so I still booked it.
From the beginning I told her I wanted to hold my rehearsal ceremony at the location and she told me she couldn’t give me an accurate date or time until 2 weeks before my wedding in case some other event that would give her more money wanted it but she would work with me. I told her I would give her some time and called 2 months prior- we confirmed over the phone the date and time for the rehearsal. I contacted her a week before the wedding to confirm everything was set and she had the audacity to tell me she had an event the day before my wedding and we could not do our rehearsal. She had forgotten completely over our conversation and just booked someone else and didn’t care to fix the issue in the beginning. When I had told her I was upset and unhappy she was very rude and rather attacked me. We eventually came to an agreement but I was not pleased at all with how she handled this.
Another conflict was when Martha failed to give me instructions properly in getting the event insurance. She stated several times that I had to go through my home-owners and upon dealing with her insurance agent that was incorrect. I dealt with Dawn Martin who was also a witch over the phone. She was very nasty with me and very inpatient- yet I had all the wrong Information from her staff- Martha!
Then came the day of the wedding - where Martha felt the need to attack me moments before I said I do- when she had my husband and both my parents that were lingering around for at least an hour before I arrived. Yet she waited to be the evil witch she is, until I arrived.
Martha and her staff made me regret choosing this location. Be warned that if you plan to have your outdoor event here it can be super windy especially being so close to the water and highway.
Now here is every reason why I shouldn’t have gone through with the boathouse.
Before booking the location – Martha was a little odd in not meeting up with me to show the location and sign the contract. Stating she had personal matters to handle and driving out to FLWFB is more of a hassle during the winter months – despite my interest in having that done. I liked the location so I still booked it.
From the beginning I told her I wanted to hold my rehearsal ceremony at the location and she told me she couldn’t give me an accurate date or time until 2 weeks before my wedding in case some other event that would give her more money wanted it but she would work with me. I told her I would give her some time and called 2 months prior- we confirmed over the phone the date and time for the rehearsal. I contacted her a week before the wedding to confirm everything was set and she had the audacity to tell me she had an event the day before my wedding and we could not do our rehearsal. She had forgotten completely over our conversation and just booked someone else and didn’t care to fix the issue in the beginning. When I had told her I was upset and unhappy she was very rude and rather attacked me. We eventually came to an agreement but I was not pleased at all with how she handled this.
Another conflict was when Martha failed to give me instructions properly in getting the event insurance. She stated several times that I had to go through my home-owners and upon dealing with her insurance agent that was incorrect. I dealt with Dawn Martin who was also a witch over the phone. She was very nasty with me and very inpatient- yet I had all the wrong Information from her staff- Martha!
Then came the day of the wedding - where Martha felt the need to attack me moments before I said I do- when she had my husband and both my parents that were lingering around for at least an hour before I arrived. Yet she waited to be the evil witch she is, until I arrived.
Martha and her staff made me regret choosing this location. Be warned that if you plan to have your outdoor event here it can be super windy especially being so close to the water and highway.
Written August 16, 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
zandrew26
Albuquerque, NM102 contributions
Dec 2016 • Family
The boat house was closed the day we went by but was amazing to look at from the outside and the view is incredible, the window alone are works of art
Written December 29, 2016
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
MariMac72
WNY22 contributions
Nov 2016 • Friends
Anyone who enjoys water sports, beautiful views, or Frank Lloyd Wright architecture will love touring this most interesting treasure.
Written November 14, 2016
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
llovestotravel
Gradyville, PA456 contributions
Aug 2016 • Couples
It looks exactly as you would expect. We could only see it from the outside since, unfortunately for us, there was a private party going on inside. We were still able, though, to walk the docks.
Written August 16, 2016
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Carole S
Tonawanda, NY184 contributions
Jul 2016 • Friends
Took a day trip with Know How Tours and one of the places we visited was the boathouse. The boathouse is an original design by Frank Lloyd Wright and it has been retired. The boathouse can not be built anyplace else. It is on the Niagara River within the break wall and is affiliated with the West Side Rowing Club. The design has been kept to the original with a few modern and required changes. The building houses 8 person boats and smaller. The upstairs has facilities for meeting, banquets etc and furnishings are true Wright designs. The view is wonderful you can see Canada and the Peace bridge. The docents were from explore@explorebuffalo,org and so knowledgeable and thorough. A must see.
Written August 3, 2016
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
is there a fee to get inside?
Written September 24, 2016
I don't know the answer. If you book through Explore Buffalo there is a $10 fee. I went on a day tour that included several locations and if there were fees it was in the cost. The website doesn't have any info but here is the phone number
716-362-3140.
Written September 25, 2016
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