Taliesin Celebrates 100 Decades

Taliesin Celebrates 100 Decades

In 1909, Frank Lloyd Wright and Mamah Cheney”eloped” into Europe. In Europe, Wright assembled the Wasmuth portfolio (arguably the most influential set of architectural drawings of its time), and Cheney analyzed the writings of Swedish feminist Ellen Key. The Europe trip was scandalous (Cheney was wed to one of Wright’s Oak Park clients, and Wright was also married), prompting Chicago newspapers and preachers to railing against the couple’s immorality. Therefore it was from the question to come back to their hometown of Oak Park, or even Chicago, to repay.

Which brought themand us, to Taliesin, the house they began building in 1911 in the hills of south-central Wisconsin. Wright knew the area well (in fact the area was referred to as the Valley of the Lloyd Jones, Wright’s maternal relatives) and he labored on his uncles’ farms there once he was a boy. So Wright managed to convince his aunts, who owned and worked the nearby Hillside School, to sell him the property for Taliesin. With Chicago nearby and new architectural commissions in hand, Wright set about building his new residence.

What led is more than a house. Part living quarters and part architectural workplace, Taliesin can be a working farm and school. In fact, it is here that Wright began the Taliesin Fellowship, which continues today within an architectural practice. And it is here that a number of the most iconic 20th century buildings, such as Fallingwater, the New York Guggenheim and the Johnson Wax building, were designed. Taliesin was also the place where Wright received a few of the 20th century’s great artists, writers, actors and architects. People as diverse as Georgia O’Keeffe, Ayn Rand and Paul Robeson made their way to invest some time in Wright’s country house.

I invite anyone who would like to know more about Wright, Cheney and this remarkable residence to see Loving Frank, Death at a Prairie House, The Women and The Fellowship. And then see Taliesin to see for yourself where Wright and Kaufmann sat down to review the design of Fallingwater, and to find out more about one of the greatest architects of all time.

Bud Dietrich, AIA

A view from the south/southwest. The original entry drive could have been to the left of the patio in this picture. The cantilevered”finger” at the right is a narrow walkway which leads nowhere but into a perch above the landscape. This photo clearly defines Wright’s approach the construction should be of the hill, not on the hill.

Taliesin Preservation, Inc..

An aerial view from the southeast shows how the house starts at the brow of the hill. In fact, Taliesin is Welsh for”shining brow,” a proven fact that dared into Wright when both naming and putting outside the estate. The original entry drive into the estate led up the hill to the remaining trees at the middle of the photo.

Taliesin Preservation, Inc..

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 a few electric power as early as 1920.

Bud Dietrich, AIA

The entry road climbs the hill, finishing in a little car park on the northerly side of the estate. From the car park a flight of steps results in a covered passage. Straight through the passage is your courtyard, where Wright’s workplace is on the right and the main living quarters are on the left. There are constantly views of the nearby Wisconsin hills.

Bud Dietrich, AIA

Here’s a view of the sun-drenched courtyard from around the covered passageway. In typical Wright fashion, the entry sequence is closely controlled. Steps from the darker, north of the estate result in a low-ceilinged and limiting passageway only to burst out to a space that’s open and bright.

Taliesin Preservation, Inc..

Again in typical Wright fashion, the construction entrances are not readily apparent. The passageway that connects the workplace with living quarters is located between the two legs of the L and can be nicely hidden in shadow.

Taliesin Preservation, Inc..

Wright made sure that beauty was found anywhere in the landscape, the buildings, flower gardens, sculpture and much more.

Bud Dietrich, AIA

Taliesin was, and continues to be, a place where architects and pupils proceeded to find out and practice their craft. These individuals lived and continue to reside on website in what could only be considered wonderfully designed, small scale, prairie homes.

Taliesin Preservation, Inc..

Wright’s workplace and work room is just one of the bigger spaces at Taliesin. Wright’s desk is illuminated by the big, north-facing windows to the right and abuts the stone vault. This vault, like the vault at his Oak Park house, was where Wright maintained his original drawings as well as his extensive collection of Japanese paintings. In fact, Wright began collecting Japanese art early in his career and became a expert on it, often acting as a broker for others wanting to accumulate these paintings.

Taliesin Preservation, Inc..

Here’s another view of the office space with the stone vault into the right and the meeting area to the left. It was here that Wright often reviewed a project’s design with his customer.

Taliesin Preservation, Inc..

The main living area at Taliesin is where Wright as well as the Fellowship entertained visitors. The room is equally big and small. Views of the surrounding hills and a layering of spaces give the room a grand quality while the furniture, alcoves and particulars provide an intimacy that’s comfy. This is a characteristic of Wright’s spaces I truly admire. His ability to create an area that could accommodate a crowd or just two individuals is truly wonderful.

Before Photo

Taliesin Preservation, Inc..

This archival photo of the main living room shows a very different ceiling compared to what exists today (photo above).

Taliesin Preservation, Inc..

The bedroom spaces are designed and richly detailed. These chambers have access to an outside area and get generous light. And, even though it’s not readily apparent in this photo, the bedrooms also have low ceilings.

Before Photo

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By 1911 to his death in 1959, Wright utilized Taliesin as a living laboratory to research architectural ideas. These archival photographs of Taliesin reveal how the house grew, changed and has been changed, especially following the 1914 and 1925 fires, over recent years.

This opinion of the courtyard is at about the exact same vantage point as another picture. Both photos show just how much the main living quarters climbed.

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Comparing this picture to the one above reveals just how much Taliesin changed, climbed and has been changed through time.

Before Photo

Taliesin Preservation, Inc..

Here’s another view of the courtyard area taken from about the exact same vantage point as the sixth photo.

This house has been the setting for tragedy in 1914, when a mentally-ill servant began a fire at the section of the house at the right of the photo. While serving dinner to Mamah Cheney and her two kids who were visiting from Oak Park, the slave locked the area and set fire into the area. Then he used an axe to murder seven people, such as Mamah and her two kids. Wright, in Chicago working on Midway Gardens at the time, returned to Taliesin as quickly as possible. What must have been among the most bizarre travel experiences ever, Mr. Cheney, husband of Mamah and dad of the two murdered children, accompanied Wright on the trip from Chicago to Wisconsin.

In the long run, Wright rebuilt Taliesin and continued on with his career. Upon his passing, Wright was buried next to Mamah at the little Lloyd-Jones family cemetery nearby. However, story has it Olgivanna Wright, envious of Mamah, exhumed Wright’s body and took it into Taliesin West in Arizona. But that’s a story for another construction.

More: Happy Birthday, Fallingwater

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