It is pretty insane. I much prefer Taliesin West actually. That compound feels much more holistic, like it was all conceived at the same time. I appreciate the original Taliesin. The original building was actually built for his Aunts who ran a super progressive school called the Hill Side School. When they retired he took that over and made it the Taliesin School. His house (also called Taliesin) was built up the hill and partially burned down twice and both facilities where expanded countless times as the school grew. He also let the students design and build all kinds of experimental additions and renovations… they built them themselves and they weren’t exactly craftsman. The result is a bit schizophrenic, but also kind of awesome. Like an outsider artist architectural explosion. So it was great to finally see it.
I was there on what would have been Frank Lloyd Wright’s 150th birthday. I was pretty disappointed they didn’t do anything… not a balloon or a cupcake or a teeshirt that said 150… nothing. Seemed like a missed opportunity. Whomever is doing their social media is much more on it with FLW150 hash tags and liking and commenting on people who post about Wright, so I was a bit surprised there was nothing at the actually place, but I’m knit picking, it was great to be there. It was also my birthday so it felt like a nice place to spend the day and think about what I am doing with this new chapter of my life.