I’ve been fascinated by the architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright for quite some time. So much so that I have taken several trips to visit his creations, including a trip to the Laurel Highlands in PA to see Fallingwater and Polymath Park and another to Bloomfield, Michigan to visit the Frank Lloyd Wright Smith house. There is even a FLW home not to far from me in Springfield, Ohio– the Westcott House- that I’ve had the pleasure of visiting. So when visiting Phoenix- like I do most Decembers to spend the holidays with my family- I was very excited to take a tour of Taliesin West.
Taliesin West was the winter home of Frank Lloyd Wright, but this is also where FLW’s apprentices lived and studied and advanced architecture. Today, it is a UNESCO site, one of only two that are in Arizona. Can you guess what the other one is?
If you guessed the other Arizona UNESCO site as the Grand Canyon, you’re right! Now, more about visiting Taliesin West in Phoenix.
Visiting Taliesin West
Taliesin West is open from 10am to 5pm every single day except Christmas, Thanksgiving and Easter. Getting reservations in advance through the website is strongly recommended. Visitors must take a tour to see Taliesin West, but there are several tour options.
- The guided tour lasts 90 minutes where the tour guide goes in-depth about the history of Taliesin West. This is the only tour which allows people to see the private living spaces. The last guided tour departs at 1:40pm. Tickets for adults cost $49-$54, for students $35-38, and children age 6-12 $24-27.
- The highlights audio tour is a 60-minute walking tour, where you explore the campus using your own smartphone and headphones. It includes music and some narration from Frank Lloyd Wright himself. The cost is $39-$44 for students, $27-$31 for students and $19-$22 for youth. The last tour departs at 4pm. Both the highlights audio tour and the guided tour take place inside and outdoors.
- For visitors who have visited Taliesin West and want something different, there is a newer seasonal offering- the Shelters in the Desert Guided Tour. This tour, which is completely outside, has visitors hiking on desert trails (just 3/4 of a mile) and exploring the shelters FLW’s apprentices stayed in, which are beyond the “Historic Core”. The tour lasts 90 minutes, as is only available at 10am on Sundays and Mondays January 14- February 12, and 10 and 10:30am Sundays and Mondays February 18-April 8. Tickets cost $49-$54 for adults, $35-$38 for students, and $24-$27 for youth.
History of Taliesin West
Frank Lloyd Wright, who opened his architecture practice in 1893, first came to the Phoenix area in 1927 to consult on Biltmore Hotel. He loved the desert, and 10 years later he saw the site where Taliesin West is now located. FLW acquired the land that winter and set up camp with his team. He lived here, with his apprentices, every winter from 1938 until his death in 1959. Originally, it had no heating or running water. The land of Taliesin West makes up 500 acres total, though just 10 acres make up the “historic core”. When Wright bought the land, there was nothing around it, just views of the mountains. And, though there are housing developments and roads now where there were none before, visitors can still get an idea of what appealed to FLW when he first bought the land.
Taliesin & the landscape
FLW is known for blending his homes with the nature and Taliesin West is no different. In fact, Taliesin is Welsh for ‘radiant brow’, showing his ideal that buildings be a part of landscape, not above or below. Showing the inspiration he gleaned from his surroundings, the entrance signs are inspired by the petroglyphs found in the area. In fact, there are some on the property. From the square outside of Wright’s office, the attention he paid to space is apparent, highlighting the foreground, middle ground (the fountain) and background (the McDowell mountains). Frank Lloyd Wright was truly a designer of spaces, not just buildings.
In fact, some of the outside spaces further demonstrate his admiration of the surrounding nature. The shape of the pool is triangular, mimicking the shapes of the mountains. The triangles also appear on the roofline and the steps. Additionally, the name he gave the outside space is “the prow”, because of the undulating shapes of the desert and mountains reminded of the waves one sees while looking out of a boat. The plants in the desert are said to have reminded him of coral.
Another outside space- the sunset terrace where Wright served tea every day. As visitors go from one space to another on the property, they may notice some Chinese vignettes. These vignettes- of which there are 12 on the property- indicate there will be a shift in space. The shift from the terrace- working space to living space. The vignette below is next to the red tile that FLW had installed at some of his homes, featuring his signature.
Touring Taliesin West
When I was visiting Phoenix and came to Taliesin West with my mother and boyfriend, we opted for the Audio Tour. Again, I recommend getting tickets in advance, we couldn’t get tickets for the guided tour because we waited too long- though we really enjoyed the audio tour. It was nice to go at our own pace, and there were lots of volunteers around to answer questions if you need more information about what you’re seeing. Just remember to bring your own headsets and you’ll need to access their app for the tour audio. The tour was really informational, and beyond seeing the outside highlights of Taliesin West, we were able to go into several buildings in the “historic core”.
The Office
The first place visitors are directing into is Wrights office. As you enter you sense the “compression & release” FLW is known for. Compression and release is the practice of utilizing lower ceilings and close walls in one area (the compression) in order to create a feeling of open space (the release) when you enter further into the room with higher ceilings.
Speaking of ceilings, the office has canvas canopy ceilings to diffuse the harsh desert light. On display is his low desk for overlooking his designs from above. And of course, no FLW home would be complete without his signature color- Cherokee Red.
The Garden Room
My favorite room was the Garden Room, with his signature red tile by the door. Guests are welcome to sit and relax in FLW designed Taliesin chairs by the fireplace. Also in the room, a large fireplace and a piano that Wright’s wife would play on to entertain the apprentices and guests. I loved sitting and taking in the surroundings, like the huge windows and the bench seats lining the walls.
This room also had canvas ceilings, and the windows originally didn’t have glass. In fact, when the glass was added, a hole was cut into one of the panels to fit the shape of a vase, because Wright didn’t want to change anything from his original aesthetic plans.
Other rooms at Taliesin West
The “Kiva” was used for meetings, but also was used for watching movies with the “fellowship” who came with Wright to Taliesin West every winter. It would be used as storage in the summer, as it protected from elements and the windows in this room had shutters. Remember there was no a/c or heating at Taliesin West, and in fact hot water not added until 1941. Today the room has blueprints of the house and photos from when it was being built as well as Wright and his apprentices.
Other rooms at Taliesin West
The drafting room is where the apprentices worked. Some of the drafting tables are original!
Outside the dining room near the breezeway- which is gorgeous and has a water feature- is a dragon that was added as gift to Mrs. Wright after FLW died. She continued coming to Phoenix, and by the way, the dragon does breathe fire! The dining room, where the fellowship would dine together, currently has an exhibit about Wright & and Georgia O’Keefe. Featuring photos of both of these amazing artists, who were born in Wisconsin, and moved to the Southwest where they were inspired by the natural surroundings. This special exhibit is going on through June ’24. I thought it was fun seeing photos of these two, because I was just in New Mexico recently, and visited Georgia O’Keefe’s museum.
The Cabaret
The last room we toured on the audio tour was the Cabaret. Here the fellowship would gather and enjoy performances. Wright believed the arts were essential, so members of the fellowship would put on the performances. There is seating for 50, and the sloped room gives a great vantage to the stage. The room can be rented out for private events today.
After the tour we visited the gift shop, which had lots of souvenirs, books about Frank Lloyd Wright, decoration and lights inspired by his designs. Make sure to check that out too.
I loved visiting Taliesin West with my mom and boyfriend while I was in Phoenix. And the audio tour was really great! It tells visitors so much about Frank Lloyd Wright’s ideals of organic architecture- using space, sight, material (not disguising them as something they’re not) & democracy (supporting ideals of the community, evident through his ‘fellowship’). It gave me a further appreciation of FLW and I am excited to see more of his designs in the future.
When you are visiting Phoenix make sure to check out Taliesin West. And my next post will be all my suggestions for the best things to do while in Phoenix! Stay tuned! Until then, I’d love to hear what you thought about Taliesin West, or to get suggestions for future travels. Catch you soon!
-Catching Katie
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