In Part 1 of this blog, I recalled the great lodging I experienced at the Arizona Biltmore on a whirlwind work/pleasure weekend. The series continues…
- Taliesin West, Frank Lloyd Wright’s home, school and office in Scottsdale, Arizona. All photos by CDM Communications.
Part 2 – A WORLD UNTO ITS OWN
Although it felt like all we needed in life was contained within the grounds of the Arizona Biltmore, we did venture out. The first is a tour you might want to leave the kids back at the hotel for (enjoying their time in the Imagination Emporium) unless they are older and interested in architecture.
When you tour Taliesin West in Scottsdale, you get the feeling that Frank Lloyd Wright, famous architect, is just out for a bit and will return momentarily. That’s not the case, unfortunately, but the caretakers have made every effort to maintain the structures, lifestyle and philosophy of Taliesin, just as Wright left it.
Whether you are a fan of Frank Lloyd Wright’s or just curious, a tour of Taliesin West is worth an hour or hour and a half of your time, depending on which length of tour you take.
- Our gracious guide was Arnold Roy, who came to Taliesin West right out of high school to be an apprentice and has never left.
We had the amazing opportunity to be led on our tour by Arnold Roy , who came to Taliesin, fresh out of high school, anxious to become one of Wright’s apprentices. He had amazing insights and stories to tell, recalling them like they were yesterday, even though they were more than fifty years ago. Roy still lives and works at Taliesin West as an architect. Even without such a personalized tour, Taliesin West is an oasis in the desert and testament to creativity, strong beliefs and a need to be as one with nature.
The saying “everything old is new again” rings true at every turn throughout the tour. What was so “out there” when Wright was designing it, went through a time when it was perceived as out-dated, only to come around again today to be edgy, contemporary and fresh. Would the opinionated Wright be happy that we’ve all come around again or frustrated and annoyed that we ever doubted his brilliance? Probably the latter.
Coming up in Part 3, a universal experience to share with the kids.
- Mrs. Wright’s quarters.
- Mr. Wright’s quarters.
- The Wrights’ livingroom. They would change the upholstery with their mood, including different colors and animal prints.
- The bell tower, still used to call the apprentices to meal time.
- The courtyard at Taliesin West.
- A water feature at Taliesin West.
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[…] In Part 2 of this blog, I recalled my tour of architect Frank Lloyd Wright’s Taliesin West, on a whirlwind work/pleasure weekend. The series continues… […]
[…] Read Part 2 here. […]