Blue-Sky Mausoleum, Buffalo

"...a burial facing the open sky ... The whole could not fail of noble effect...".

These words, by Frank Lloyd Wright, are inscribed on the headstone of the Blue-Sky Mausoleum at the Forest Lawn Cemetery in Buffalo.

Wright designed the mausoleum in 1928 at the request of Darwin D Martin, secretary of the Larkin Soap Company. He had previously designed his residential complex in suburban Buffalo, a summer residence, Greycliff, in nearby Derby and the Larkin Company Headquarters (demolished).

At the time, the mausoleum was not constructed however in 2004, the Forest Lawn cemetery faithfully realised the project.

The mausoleum consists of 24 crypts, aligned in pairs stepping up a grassy slope overlooking a small lake and if you feel the need to be buried in an architectural masterpiece, the crypts are available for purchase.