On Dec 2nd, Monday, after a great Thanksgiving weekend with Kevin and Ericka, we drove to Scottsdale to view Taliesin West, the architect Frank Lloyd Wright’s winter home and school in the desert from 1937 until his death in 1959 at the age of 91. Taliesin means “a shining brow” alluding to the scenic location and vista. Wright’s house was built in the beautiful Sonoran Desert nestled in the foothills of the McDowell Mountains with vast views of the surrounding desert. The buildings and landscape complement each other, they co-exist in harmony. Taliesin West was planned and built by the master and his disciples in 1937 at the age of 70, indigenous materials were used throughout and his students built it basically by hand. Even the furniture was designed and built by Wright and his students. Wright loved the movies and thus built a theater, a music pavilion and a Cabernet theater where he entertained many Hollywood stars. Many of Wright’s most famous buildings were designed in the drafting room at Taliesin West, including the Guggenheim Museum in New York City. Taliesin West continues as the headquarters of the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation and as the winter home for the School of Architecture.
