The Wright House for the Right Architect

by Jan DeGrass
(Coast Reporter, Feb. 23, 2007)


Frank Lloyd Wright, the iconic American architect, is a guy I might have liked. He designed his home near Scottsdale, Arizona, to be in harmony with the desert landscape. Also, much of his best work in a prolific career was done when he was nudging 80 years old. His dream home, Taliesin West, sprawls on a hillside on the edge of the desert and is open to visitors for guided tours.


The courtyard at Taliesein West, near Phoenix, Arizona.
Construction began in the 1930s with a simple, low, tent-like structure. Canvas was used in place of windows until it was replaced with glass at the suggestion of Mrs. Wright, who appeared to have nudged Frank frequently in bringing her own ideas to the home. He seemed to care little for basic creature comforts: his bed, the family dining room, his sun chairs (he liked to sit in the sun) are all simple. But he did care when it came to building the special things: a water feature that doubled as a wading pool for the kids and a reservoir in case of fire, Asian ceramic sculptures (scrounged from an import company basement in San Francisco) built into the landscaping, and even a cabaret theatre for evening entertainment.

Over the years, the canvas structures turned into something grand that has endured into this century, in an eye-pleasing design with a surprise at every turn. For example, you round a corner and almost step into a shallow, rectangular pool in the middle of an outdoor walkway. In that desert heat, it has a soothing influence. You look up from the garden and see an unusual bell tower. You sit in Wright's vast living room with its low slanting ceilings on one of the famous Wright designed origami chairs, cushioned wooden frames pleated into intriguing angular folds, and think about all the famous people who visited him there in his lifetime. Form and function are in harmony in the living room with padded, fixed seating around the walls and modular tables that could be taken apart and used for ottomans. But the room has a fly-stuck-in-amber feel to it; one can imagine the photo spreads in Life magazine and the post war interior decorators copying the avant garde designs.

Wright died in 1959 but his house and his Foundation still provides a learning environment for architects. In the early days, young students came to learn and one of the first things they had to do was build their own tent shelter under the searing Arizona sun. Often they learned by doing the grunt work, putting up hand-made, rough cement walls. The public can take a guided tour of the home and gardens at specified times. Because architects live and study there now, visitors cannot just wander about. The $25 tour is worth it, especially to see Wright's office where his most creative work was born and to enjoy the superb view from the grounds over Scottsdale and Phoenix.