I don’t like Frank Lloyd Wright. Don’t tell Brian, okay? I just cannot stand the man…. and I’m not entirely sure why…. No, no…. I know why I wouldn’t like to be friends with him… He sounds like an overbearing ass. Three wives, at least one long term mistress… pushy, and arrogant…. and his stupid houses leaked!
So, sure…. We wouldn’t have been pals. But he’s dead… so It’s not like we were gonna hang out anyway…. So why do I want to punch this guy in the face every time we walk into one of his houses? Maybe it has something to do with the way people talk about him. The guides at the FLW houses sound like cult members…. they’re all gleeful and awed and speak in hushed tone that should be reserved for the tombs of pharaohs… Okay, so I want to punch them too….. I don’t know why this guy provokes me so much! Brian keeps trying to remind me that what he was doing was so impressive and unique for the time period. It’s not the architecture so much…. I think it’s just the man himself that makes me angry, but I’m not sure why…… why it matters…. why he bothers me so much…. Maybe he really pissed me off in a past life and I’m still holding a grudge? Geeze, Stephanie! Let it go, huh?
Brian and I visited another one of the Frank Lloyd Wright houses during our Fall Colors Tour of Wisconsin. Since FLW houses are not pup friendly (or kid friendly… hell, even people friendly!) and the house was two hours away from where we were staying, we left Mom and Boo at the RV and Brian and I went to visit Taliesin on our own.
While I’m not a huge fan of FLW’s architecture, I do like certain elements of his designs. I like what he did with windows, especially at the Taliesin house. I loved the huge windows and the little wooden details that he would add to the corners. I like the mix of stone and glass. I like his taste in art too. Taliesin was filled with art works that he brought back from Japan. And FLW thought that you should ‘live’ with the art, not hide it behind glass. So there are numerous sculptures scattered throughout the house and gardens.
Apparently I also like FLW’s gardening style. Brian took a bunch of pictures of the house… I maybe took one or two, but mostly because I knew I was going to blog about our visit and figured I needed a photo of the place. When I went back through my photos I apparently just took photos of the gardens. (Oh! Oh!!! That’s another thing! Some of the FLW houses they won’t let you take photos inside the house… Why!?)
Of the FLW houses that we have seen, and admittedly, it’s only been three so far.. I liked Taliesen the best. This house felt far more ‘livable’ and inviting…. and I just adored the gardens.
Phoenix Rize Blog 