Taliesin- Mama.

While we were in Wisconsin, Papa and Juner gave me the day off, so I headed west to Spring
Green to visit Taliesin, Frank Lloyd Wright's home. It was very cool to visit and I wish I could have seen more of the grounds.

None of the pictures I took actually do the buildings justice, because Wright designed everything with the landscape in mind. There were even sets of windows set low on the wall because they were meant to be viewed from sitting areas across the room. Every single detail was painstakingly planned.

This building was the school that FLW built for his aunts in the early 1900s. The school's motto was "Learn by doing." Sounds like they were Montessori before Montessori was cool. Apparently, half of the parents pulled their kids out of the school when they arrived because it was so modern looking (it was 1905 after all).

This is what I mean by integrating nature and architecture. Instead of chopping down a tree, he built the roof into the tree. Again, impressive because that was over 100 years ago.

This is the 3rd family home at Taliesin, as the first two burned down. And there are many places where you can still see visible fire damage. Wright was so anxious to rebuild each time that he literally rebuilt in the houses in the ashes of the previous houses. I always have a hard time with FLW because so many of his buildings don't withstand the test of time. But the tour guide put it, you need to look him as an artist, not an architect.

This red tile is FLW's signature that meant he designed everything in the home, down to the furnishings, curtains, bedding, and dishes. Apparently, if you had one of his houses and moved the furniture from how he placed it., he'd move it all back and lecture you not to move it again.

All in all, it was a very great experience. Papa visted last fall and we both agreed that we could be very comfortable living in the house. Papa also loved Wrght's studio and swears he could have finished his PhD in 3 years if he had a workplace like that.
When I got back to the hotel room, I found June and papa really enjoying themselves. They holed up in the hotel room all day just hanging out and watching the Olympics.