Yesterday the fam and I visited
Taliesin West, a
Frank Lloyd Wright teaching facility in Scottsdale.
The architect apprentices live here during the six months of winter, and spend the rest of the year at
Taliesin in Wisconsin. The apprentices have to construct their own dwellings in the desert and they cook, work and live together during their apprenticeship.
From the 1930s until he died in the 60s, Wright and his wife lived at Taliesin West during the winter and hosted artists, movie stars, and filmmakers. He constructed three screening rooms and two theaters on the property. The buildings and the rooms are not kept in pristine condition - the buildings are kept open (somewhat) to the elements and the rooms had dust, cobwebs, etc. According to our tour guide, that is how Wright would have wanted it.
When Wright first built the facility the buildings had no glass and no roofs - the only coverage was canvas that they strung over the top of the building. When they were in Wisconsin during the summer, they would leave the buildings open and susceptible to the elements. I didn't know this, but apparently Wright was really into nature and natural settings and wanted the elements of the desert to be in the buildings - dust, bugs and all.
This laid-back approach carries over to today. On the tour, you walk through various parts of the buildings (including the bedrooms) and can sit on all of the furniture that he and his apprentices built when they lived there. It was very cool to sit in his "garden room," a large living room he used for entertaining guests:
This was Wright and his wife's bedroom - notice how they had separate beds:
To the left of the photo, there were sliding doors that opened up to a lovely garden. More photos
here and
here.
We hope to go back after the new year to catch an evening tour. Something tells me this place would be even more magical at night:
