Opportunities From: VolunteerWNY

Enjoy nature and help restore a historic landmark--all at the same time! Join Graycliff's Green Team of volunteer gardeners and grounds keepers to help keep our 8.5 acres of grounds and gardens accessible to visitors from around the world. Graycliff is located on a bluff high above Lake Erie in a country-like setting, yet only 30 minutes from downtown Buffalo! Experience in gardening appreciated, but not necessary. There are many different tasks to be done in maintaining our extensive grounds such as equipment repair, digging, weeding, and planting. Whatever your interests or skills, if you enjoy the outdoors and fresh air, come join our Green Team!

If you would enjoy some quiet time in a historic lakefront property, you might be interested in helping to keep Frank Lloyd Wright's Graycliff looking its best. Our historic buildings need tender loving care, and your assistance in light dusting, vacuuming, and upkeep projects contributes greatly to preserving Graycliff. Join our team of Historic House helpers with a friend as a great way to spend time together while helping out in the community. The Clean Team at Graycliff meets on Monday mornings from 9:30 - 11:30 am.

Interested in learning more about architecture, history, and Frank Lloyd Wright?

Graycliff offers tour assistant training for those interested in providing assistance to the docent as they lead a tour of Graycliff. Tour assistants will develop a basic knowledge of the site, architecture, and history. The primary duties of the tour assistant include closing doors, making sure tour groups stay together, and assisting any guests with accessibility requests. 

If you are fluent in a language in addition to English, we would particularly appreciate your help!

Interested in learning more about architecture, history, and Frank Lloyd Wright? Would you like to share the knowledge you gain with visitors from around the globe?

Graycliff’s guided tour program is led by a group of enthusiastic volunteer docents who uniquely interpret our historic site. Our docents lead both scheduled publicly available tours, as well as group, school, and specialty tours. Graycliff docents present our lakeside property to visitors, animating the many stories of this very special place. Volunteering in this capacity is an excellent opportunity to learn all about Frank Lloyd Wright, Ellen Biddle Shipman, the Martin family, and the specific context of Graycliff. You’ll perfect skills you already have, while developing new ones, and join a community of talented and passionate individuals. We are confident you will be inspired and enchanted by Graycliff and have a lot of fun along the way!

Graycliff offers in-person docent training classes that will instill confidence in you to lead a tour at Graycliff with knowledge of the architecture and history. In addition, you will learn skills on how to give a great tour and provide an exceptional guest experience. Docent training takes place annually each spring, but we encourage you to let us know of your interest no matter the time of year.