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| A view from the south/southwest. The original entry drive would have been to the left of the terrace in this photo. The cantilevered "finger" at the right is a narrow walkway that leads nowhere but to a perch above the landscape. This photo clearly depicts Wright's approach that the building should be of the hill, not on the hill. Private Comment
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| An aerial view from the southeast shows how the home starts at the brow of the hill. In fact, Taliesin is Welsh for "shining brow," a fact that mattered to Wright when both naming and laying out the estate. The original entry drive to the estate led up the hill to the left of the trees at the center of the photo. Private Comment
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| The approach road today leads past this stream-fed lake on the northeast side of the estate. A dam with a small hydroelectric plant at this lake provided the estate with some electric power as early as 1920. Private Comment
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| The entry road climbs the hill, ending in a small car park on the northerly side of the estate. From the car park a flight of steps leads to a covered passage. Straight through the passage is the courtyard, where Wright's office is on the right and the main living quarters are on the left. There are always views of the nearby Wisconsin hills. Private Comment
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| Here's a view of the sun-drenched courtyard from near the covered passageway. In typical Wright fashion, the entry sequence is tightly controlled. Steps from the darker, north side of the estate lead to a low-ceilinged and confining passageway only to burst out to a space that is open and bright. Private Comment
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| Again in typical Wright fashion, the building entrances aren't readily apparent. The passageway that connects the office with living quarters is between the two legs of the L and is well hidden in shadow. Private Comment
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| Wright made sure that beauty was found everywhere in the landscape, the buildings, flower gardens, sculpture and more. Private Comment
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| Taliesin was, and continues to be, a place where students and architects went to learn and practice their craft. These people lived and continue to live on site in what can only be considered wonderfully designed, small scale, prairie homes. Private Comment
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| Wright's office and work room is one of the larger spaces at Taliesin. Wright's desk is illuminated by the large, north-facing windows on the right and abuts the stone vault. This vault, like the vault at his Oak Park home, was where Wright kept his original drawings as well as his extensive collection of Japanese paintings. In fact, Wright started collecting Japanese art early in his career and became quite an expert on it, often acting as an agent for others wishing to collect these paintings. Private Comment
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| Here's another view of the office space with the stone vault to the right and the meeting area to the left. It was here that Wright often reviewed a project's design with his client. Private Comment
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| The main living room at Taliesin is where Wright and the Fellowship entertained visitors. The room is both large and small. Views of the surrounding hills and a layering of spaces give the room an expansive quality while the furniture, alcoves and details provide an intimacy that's comfortable. This is a feature of Wright's spaces that I truly admire. His ability to create a space that can accommodate a crowd or just two people is truly wonderful. Private Comment
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| Even the bedroom spaces are thoughtfully designed and richly detailed. These rooms have access to an outdoor space and receive generous light. And, though it's not readily apparent in this photo, the bedrooms have low ceilings. Private Comment
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| From 1911 to his death in 1959, Wright used Taliesin as a living laboratory to explore architectural ideas. These archival photos of Taliesin show how the home grew, changed and was altered, especially after the 1914 and 1925 fires, over the years. Private Comment
This view of the courtyard is at about the same vantage point as the next photo. The two photos show just how much the main living quarters grew. |
| Comparing this photo to the one above reveals just how much Taliesin changed, grew and was altered over the years. Private Comment
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| Here's another view of the courtyard area taken from about the same vantage point as the sixth photo. Private Comment
This home was the setting for tragedy in 1914, when a mentally-ill servant started a fire in the portion of the house at the right of the photo. While serving lunch to Mamah Cheney and her two children who were visiting from Oak Park, the servant locked the room and set fire to the area. He then used an axe to murder seven people, including Mamah and her two children. Wright, in Chicago working on Midway Gardens at the time, returned to Taliesin as quickly as possible. In what must have been one of the most bizarre travel experiences ever, Mr. Cheney, husband of Mamah and father of the two slain children, accompanied Wright on the trip from Chicago to Wisconsin. In the end, Wright rebuilt Taliesin and continued on with his career. Upon his death, Wright was buried next to Mamah in the small Lloyd-Jones family cemetery nearby. However, story has it that Olgivanna Wright, jealous of Mamah, exhumed Wright's body and took it to Taliesin West in Arizona. But that's a story for a different building. More: Happy Birthday, Fallingwater |
