taliesin house visit

Taliesin and Frank Lloyd Wright Visitor Center | Frank Lloyd Wright Trail

Taliesin and

Frank lloyd wright visitor center, spring green, wi.

Explore Taliesin, the extraordinary home, studio, and 800-acre property of American architect Frank Lloyd Wright. Taliesin is located in the Driftless Region of southwestern Wisconsin and includes buildings from nearly every decade of his career from the 1890s to the 1950s.

Wright appropriately named his Wisconsin residence Taliesin, which means “shining brow,” in honor of his Welsh heritage. He built his home on the side or “brow” of the hill because he said if you built on top of the hill, you’d lose the hill.

Taking inspiration from the surrounding hills and valley of his boyhood, he constructed a “living laboratory” in harmony with nature. Multiple wings and terraces frame the landscape to embrace the site from which Taliesin stands. Today, Taliesin is a National Historic Landmark (1976) and is one of eight historic buildings inscribed on to the UNESCO World Heritage List for The 20th Century Architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright (2019).

In addition to a variety of tours, guests have the opportunity to experience Taliesin on a more immersive level through adult workshops, speaker salons, summer camps, business retreats, and more. Adult workshops invite visionaries in the fields of architecture, nature, culture, painting, photography, culinary arts, agriculture, and more to engage in shared learning and meaningful exchanges. Dynamic youth summer camps empower the next generation of changemakers by providing skills to reimagine the future.

Tour of Hillside Drafting Studio

Frank Lloyd Wright Visitor Center at Riverview Terrace

All tours and programming begin at the Frank Lloyd Wright Visitor Center at Riverview Terrace, open daily from May through October, and on weekends in April and November. Inside, guests can browse the Gift Shop and enjoy locally sourced food and beverage options while admiring the water views at Riverview Terrace.

608-588-7900 [email protected] taliesinpreservation.org

Traveler Info

Spring Green Area Chamber of Commerce 608-588-2054 [email protected] springgreen.com

Frank Lloyd Wright House, Studio, and Farm, “Taliesin”

Date: 1911     City: Spring Green, Wisconsin Accessibility: Public Category: Residential Links: http://www.taliesinpreservation.org/

After their extended tryst in Europe, Wright and Mamah Borthwick returned to Chicago where Wright had plans to build a townhouse in the city’s Gold Coast neighborhood. The project proved too costly, so the couple relocated to Wright’s family lands in Spring Green, Wisconsin. In the spirit of Wright’s Oak Park Home and Studio, Wright would again create a complex of buildings that united his home and work life.

The project, known as Taliesin—Welsh for “shining brow”—consisted of a house with a living room, kitchen, three bedrooms, two bathrooms, sitting room, and garden; studio with a workroom and small apartment; and service wing with stalls for horses, a garage, space designated for carriages and cows, and a milk room. It was located close to other projects Wright designed for members of his family, including the Romeo and Juliet tower (1897); Hillside Home School (1902); and Tan-y-deri (1907), the house Wright built for his sister, Jane Porter.

Like the suburban Prairie style residences of his early career, Taliesin featured hipped roofs, overhanging eaves, broad chimneys, an open floor plan, and bands of casement windows. The rolling topography of Southern Wisconsin allowed Wright to expand upon his earlier experiments linking site and structure. Here Wright responded to the natural landscape by building Taliesin around a hill top. The architect wrote, “I knew well that no house should ever be on a hill or on anything. It should be of the hill. Belonging to it. Hill and home should live together each the happier for the other.” Indeed, Taliesin was situated to create picturesque views of distant hills and valleys, as well as nearby landscaped gardens. The multiple facets of its hipped roofs appear to follow the contours of the landscape, and Wright chose to build with limestone and other materials native to the area.

Taliesin’s living quarters were tragically destroyed when a disgruntled employee set fire to the property and killed Mamah Borthwick, her two children, and four others on August 15, 1914. Wright subsequently rebuilt the structure, and it was incorporated into a larger estate that is now open to the public.

Back to The Buildings of Wright's Chicago Years

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• wisconsinnowtravel
• Nov 8, 2022

Visiting Taliesin in Wisconsin: A Frank Lloyd Wright Fan's Guide

If you're a fan of Frank Lloyd Wright, then Taliesin in Spring Green, Wisconsin is a must-visit. As Wright's summer home and studios, Taliesin was where he worked on some of his most iconic buildings, including the Unity Temple and the Fallingwater house. Today, Taliesin is open to the public for tours and features a collection of Wright-designed furniture, artwork, and architectural drawings. Here's everything you need to know about visiting Taliesin.

Tours of Taliesin

Taliesin offers a variety of different tours, each of which highlights different aspects of Wright's life and work. The Hillside Studio Tour gives visitors a behind-the-scenes look at Wright's design process, while the House Tour includes a visit to the living quarters where Wright and his family lived. There's also a Garden Tour, which showcases the extensive gardens that Wright designed, as well as a Culinary Tour, which includes a cooking demonstration and lunch prepared by the chef of the on-site restaurant. No matter which tour you choose, you're sure to come away with a greater appreciation for Wright's genius.

The Taliesin Collection

In addition to touring the buildings and grounds, visitors to Taliesin can also view the Taliesin Collection—a rotating exhibit of furniture, artworks, and architectural drawings by Frank Lloyd Wright. The collection is housed in Hillside Studio, one of the buildings on the property that was designed by Wright himself. Whether you're interested in seeing original sketches for famous buildings or learning more about Wright's creative process, the Taliesin Collection is definitely worth checking out.

Eating at Taliesin

Last but not least, no visit to Taliesin would be complete without stopping by the restaurant for a bite to eat. The menu features seasonal dishes made with locally sourced ingredients, so you can be sure you're getting the best of what Wisconsin has to offer. And if you're lucky enough to visit during lunchtime on a Thursday or Friday, you might even get to see the cooking demonstration that is included as part of the Culinary Tour.

Whether you're interested in architecture, interior design, or just want to see where Frank Lloyd Wright spent his summers, Taliesin is definitely worth a visit. There's something for everyone—from tours of the buildings and grounds to exhibits of Wright's furniture and artwork—and you're sure to come away with a greater appreciation for one of America's most iconic architects.

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Our chosen tour at Taliesin — the Highlights Tour — consisted of two (very quickly passing) hours, first inside the original architectural school with its huge assembly Hall, and then to Taliesin itself, where we were awed by Wright’s Personal Studio. The tour was devoted to exactly twenty visitors, curious about the architect and where he lived and worked.

HILLSIDE SCHOOL AND MIDWAY BARNS

Promptly at 10:15 am, we boarded a 20-passenger bus and, along with our guide, Ms. Julie Shockey, took a short ride down Route 23, turning into a gravel driveway that led to one of Wright’s first designs, the Hillside School. Dedicated to educating children based on “learning by doing”, the first building (and Wright’s first commission) was designed for his aunts Jane and Nell Lloyd-Jones in 1886. The remainder of the complex was completed in 1902, situated on land originally cleared by his grandparents. Although the school was closed in 1915, the other Wright-designed buildings on the property were destined to become the Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture, formally initiated in 1932.

We would tour the giant Assembly Hall first, an area with a mighty fireplace and expanse that was designed with a large first floor, as well as a magnificently cantilevered balcony above. The building’s corners anchored and supported the structure part-way up the roof line instead of exterior walls providing support at the edges of the roof, as was common practice. Allowing for greater strength as well as increased space inside, this type of structural element was one of the earmarks of Wright’s designs. We also viewed the Fellowship Dining Room, where all the apprentice architects would share meals together and the incredible 5,000 square-foot Drafting Room; with its unique roof and lighting, “the Abstract Forrest” is a stunning workspace where aspiring architects still study. Curiously, the triangular roof trusses have pins at the bottom of them that essentially are not attached to anything; they rest on steel plates that sit atop stone piers on which they rest. According to Ms. Keiran Murphy from Historic Research at Taliesin Preservation, Inc.:

“When Mr. Wright was constructing the room originally, it was done in such haste (and with so little resources) that they milled the wood and put it up ‘green’ – not letting it age & dry. So the wood warped. Because the triangular supports are not directly connected to the piers, the ‘pins’ lifted up over time due to warping. So they (had to) put shims under them. You can see metal shims around the room under the ‘pins’. The weight (of the roof) isn’t concentrated in any one particular place.”

We also got to sit in the cozy and unique Theater. With not a bad seat anywhere and excellent acoustics, it was a perfect venue for Sunday get-togethers, where performances were regularly scheduled events.

Outside the building is an interesting windmill; Wright christened the structure the “Romeo and Juliet Windmill Tower”. Designed in 1886 to carry water to the Hillside School — and to withstand some of the area’s strongest storms — critics said it would never remain standing more than 10 years. Romeo (a diamond shaped structure) and Juliet (an octagonal-shaped structure) are locked in an embrace that inspired the moniker. True to the strength of Wright’s design and a testament to his engineering genius, the windmill — although now undergoing renovation to repair damage done by marauding squirrels — still stands, proudly thumbing its nose at the naysayers, the ravages of time and the elements.

Filing back onto the bus, we took a short ride past the large Midway Barns, a farming complex that Wright envisioned would be the agricultural center of the estate, supplying dairy and other products to the apprentice architects at the school. Winding our way up the narrow road on the back side of Taliesin, I was taken by the enormous and sprawling structure that was to serve as Wright’s home, studio and eventual workspace for his apprentices. Frank Lloyd Wright was, in addition to a master architect, an incredible landscaper as well. He felt that a structure should be a part of the land, rather than an encumbrance upon it. Taliesin is so well tucked into the hillside, it is difficult to believe just how large it really is… a total of approximately 38,000 square feet!

SHINING BROW

The jewel of the tour — the Taliesin residence (actually built for his mistress, Mamah Borthwick Cheney) — is an absolutely awesome building. Every detail oozes function; every line, every corner, every brick and every stone has a reason to be where it is. From Wright’s personal drafting area, to the living room, to the guest bedroom and to his personal bedroom, the house is a study in architectural achievement. Taliesin was not only a home to Wright, it was a place in which he could constantly experiment, both with the building and with the land. He was always changing something. In fact, according to Ms. Murphy’s calculations:

“Wright made at least 200 changes just to that structure (The Taliesin Residence) alone (not counting Midway Barns, the waterfall, Hillside, Romeo & Juliet, Tan-y-Deri – his sister’s house – or the landscape).”

An extremely long and cantilevered balcony allowed Wright or any of his guests to leave the living room for a walk that felt almost as if one were in the canopy of outside trees… right along with the birds. And then there are the corner windows… with no corners, making it appear as if the window line were one continuous panorama.

We stood silently in the guest bedroom, where many famous people have been rumored to have stayed, including Ayn Rand, author of The Fountainhead. The book was supposedly about Wright, but Rand has always refuted this. We were also led through Wright’s personal bedroom. It too, is currently undergoing extensive renovation; time and some of Wright’s own roof changes have necessitated raising and re-leveling the floor. The view from here was incredible, and it took little imagination to picture Frank Lloyd Wright at a drafting table here, conjuring up his next commissioned structure.

As we left the building and followed the curving driveway past the small lake and dam that Wright had designed, I couldn’t help but wonder what things had looked like back in the 1930’s. Taliesin — a Welsh word meaning “shining brow” — was an apt description of this beautifully-sculpted brow of the hill that Wright would rebuild two additional times after fires consumed much of it… I am unsure I would have had the strength or resolve to even attempt such a task.

After the tour we enjoyed a light lunch in the Riverview Terrace Cafe; I was overwhelmed, I believe, by what I had seen and felt as I walked though the places that Frank Lloyd Wright himself had walked; the places that he had designed and built; the places that have endured and are being preserved for all to see and appreciate. The Lloyd-Jones family had an interesting motto, and one that I shall remember: “Truth Against the World”.

On July 7, 2019, UNESCO announced the addition of Taliesin along with seven other Frank Lloyd Wright designed buildings to the United Nations’ list of the world’s most significant cultural and natural sites. View the complete list.

TOUR INFORMATION

Many different guided tours of the grounds are available. All tours depart from the Frank Lloyd Wright Visitor Center. Check the Taliesin Preservation website for rates and times.

TALIESIN VISITORS’ CENTER

The building from where the Taliesin tours start is easily discernible as a Frank Lloyd Wright structure. Designed in 1953 and adjacent to The Taliesin Estate, Wright originally intended that the building serve as a restaurant, along with a meeting room for potential clients. He never saw the completion of the project, as he died in 1959. Former apprentices of Wright did finish the building in 1967; in 1993, The Spring Green restaurant was renovated and converted to a Visitor Center — finally becoming pretty much what Wright had originally envisioned it to be. Along with books and other re-creations of Wright artifacts, the building still contains a small restaurant. Called the Riverview Terrace Cafe, it offers lighter fare for visitors and tour guests alike, and allows for a marvelous panorama of the Wisconsin River. It was not difficult to imagine Wright as a child, climbing the slight rise and creating the vision that would one day become Taliesin.

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Reflections from the Shining Brow: My Years with Frank Lloyd Wright and Olgivanna Lazovich by Kamal Amin (2004) – Amazon book

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Yvonne Carpenter-Ross

Flw enthusiast & webmaster.

Architecture and home design have always fascinated me. As a young girl I enjoyed drawing floor plans, rearranging my parent’s furniture and playing with Lincoln Logs and Legos.  My passion has always been the architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright. Since I have been old enough to drive a car, I have visited Frank Lloyd Wright homes in the Chicagoland area and attended the Wright Plus house walks. Now, as co-owners of Northern Sky Designs , my husband & I are able to combine our website design skills and FLW travels to bring you this website! Enjoy!

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Discover the architectural legacy of world-renowned architect Frank Lloyd Wright at Taliesin, his home, studio, and 800-acre property in Spring Green, Wisconsin.

Boasting buildings spanning nearly every decade of his career, Taliesin is a must-see destination for every Wright enthusiast. Visitors can choose from 4 different tours of this magnificent property. 

Taliesin was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1976 and part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2019 - the only public UNESCO site in Wisconsin.

Your Taliesin experience begins at the Wright-designed Riverview Terrace, home to the Frank Lloyd Wright Visitor Center, and the Taliesin Gift Shop.

Daily Tours, 7 Days a week including holidays, from May 1 - October 31

Hours from 8:30am - 5:30pm

Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays in April and November

Hours from 10:00am - 4:00pm

Contact Info

Frank Lloyd Wright Visitor Center

Address: 5607 County Road C, Spring Green, WI

Phone: 608-588-7900

Email: [email protected]

Frank Lloyd Wright House Tours

You’ve probably heard about this legendary architect, but now it’s time that you see his works in person! You have several touring options, with several being accessible for wheelchairs. 

Children (and b abies) under the age of 10 are not allowed on certain tours.

ESTATE TOUR

Length: 4 hours

Adults: $98

Student, Senior, Military: $93

The most passionate Wright fans will want to experience no less than the full estate! You’ll have the chance to visit every attraction on the property, and learn its history in-depth. It’s the most expensive tour but offers the richest historical experience. The Estate Tour requires 1.5 miles of walking across the property, so wear comfortable shoes.

What will you see?

• Romeo and Juliet Windmill Tower
• Tan-y-Deri House
• Hillside 
• Midway Barn
• 1 Hour in the Taliesin House

A light snack is provided at Frank Lloyd Wright’s Terrace.

HIGHLIGHTS TOUR

Length: 2 hours

Price is $68

Student, Senior, Teacher & Military - $63 What will you see?

The Highlights Tour is a way to experience the interiors of two significant yet distinctly different Frank Lloyd Wright-designed buildings, Hillside and Taliesin. Created for the Frank Lloyd Wright enthusiast and the casual visitor, the Highlights tour couples the history and masterful design of two architectural landmarks into one quick-paced 2-hour tour. In addition to visiting the two buildings, this tour includes a drive through the scenic Taliesin estate past Midway Farm, Taliesin’s former farming complex.

2-HOUR HOUSE TOUR

Adults: $58

Student, Senior, Military: $53

The 2-Hour House Tour guides you through rooms that Wright imagined and built, exploring the rich canvas he worked on for nearly 50 years. You will be immersed in stunning views of the beautiful valley settled by Wright’s ancestors, while the interior portion of the tour explores Taliesin’s famed living room, garden room, loggia, bedroom, and studio.

1-HOUR HOUSE TOUR

Adult - $42

Student, Senior, Teacher & Military - $37

What will you see? The introductory One-Hour House Tour explores the extraordinary home of Frank Lloyd Wright, designed and modified by him over nearly fifty years. You will see beautiful courtyards near the home, Wright’s personal drafting studio, and portions of the main house including his famous living room.

DRIFTLESS LANDSCAPE TOUR

Adults: $25

Student, Senior, Military: $20

Children (6 and under): FREE

Join us for a conversation about the interconnectedness of land and culture while enjoying an approximately 1-mile walk across the Taliesin property. Please note that there is no access to the interiors of the buildings on this tour. 

In addition to viewing the gorgeous surrounding landscape of rolling hills, this tour dives into the legacy of nature, farming, and cultural history that shapes Taliesin today.

WYOMING VALLEY SCHOOL

Address: 6306 State Road 23 Spring Green, WI

Phone: 608-588-2544

Although not a part of Taliesin, Wyoming Valley School (1957) is located 3 miles south of Taliesin and was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. He donated his design and 2 acres of land to the Wyoming School District in honor of his mother, Anna Lloyd-Jones Wright, a kindergarten teacher, who encouraged his lifelong love of learning.

Taliesin is one of the most important landmarks in Spring Green. Be sure you don’t miss it! If you’re looking for a place to stay, Spring Valley Inn is the perfect place to relax after a long day of exploration.

All photos courtesy of Taliesin Preservation

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Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesin, Spring Green, Wisconsin

This 360 Virtual Visit samples what can be seen and heard on various tours offered at Taliesin East. Many schools use it as a virtual field trip. Unlike still or video, 360 Virtual Reality lets you experience the place as if you were there. This tour offers something extra - a couple viewpoints not available to the public. For instance, visitors aren't allowed in the Blue Loggia. Foot traffic would damage the irreplaceable Chinese rug, So they never see the balcony above or the rug up close. The virtual visitor can.

The tour includes immersive views inside Wright's studio, home, school and several locations on the estate grounds.

To learn more about this tour's background, how and why similar virtual visits might benefit others, please view the blog post .

How to view:

As you enter each location our tour guide will share history, perspective and tell you about important aspects of what you see around you. Your view is automatically directed to the current area of interest. Just sit back and enjoy. When the guided tour is done you take control or grab control any time you want. Click and drag to look anywhere. Use your mouse wheel or gestures to zoom in or out. If you want to experience part of the guided tour again just hover above the Play Tour button then click the tour topic of interest.

When you are ready to move on, select your next location from the thumbnail menu at the bottom of the tour and you will be taken there. View in any order you wish.

You can stop the tour at any time by clicking the "Stop Tour" button. Start it again by clicking the "Play Tour" button. Display a tour menu by hovering your cursor or pressing above the tour button. If you prefer listening to the guide while controlling the view entirely yourself, click "Turn Motion Off" from the tour menu. Background music can be turned on or off by clicking the sound button.

Your tour guide is Keiran Murphy, staff historian at Taliesin Preservation, Inc.

More: Take brief virtual tours of the Wright designed American System-Built Home and the Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church , both in Milwaukee.

Sadly the CD, Music, Architecture & Wright , is out of print but check out the Taliesin Bookstore Online . There you will find a wealth of unique items related to Wright, architecture, interior design and more.

For more 360 interactive images and virtual tours visit the main Tour de Force 360 website .

Find anything you save across the site in your account

Taliesin West: Everything You Need to Know About Frank Lloyd Wright’s Winter Home and Studio

By Rachel Davies

Many dash to Illinois to see Frank Lloyd Wright’s prairie-style homes, others fly to Pennsylvania to experience Fallingwater . A trip to Arizona calls for a visit to Taliesin West. The Scottsdale property was the winter home and studio of the acclaimed American architect , from the time he purchased the land in 1937 until his death in 1959. Wright’s Taliesin Fellowship apprentices would “learn by doing” alongside the architect, building up the property from barren desert. Nowadays, a visit to Taliesin West offers the opportunity to experience how the legendary architect’s principles of organic architecture applied to a desert landscape. Below we detail the basics of Taliesin West’s history, elements of its design, and what you need to know about Taliesin West before visiting yourself.

What is Taliesin West?

Taliesin West is a National Historic Landmark and UNESCO World Heritage Site located in Scottsdale, Arizona. It was Frank Lloyd Wright’s winter home and studio. Wright and his apprentices would spend the warmer months at Taliesin, his home and studio in Wisconsin, but when the weather turned cold they would migrate to Taliesin West. Today it is open for tours and a variety of community events, including movie nights, happy hours, and day camps, among other programming. In addition to these public uses, the offices of the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation are located on the property.

History of Taliesin

Five years after founding the Taliesin Fellowship, based out of his Spring Green, Wisconsin, home and studio, Frank Lloyd Wright found a plot of land that would allow himself and his apprentices to head out West every winter. While the cost of heating Taliesin in Wisconsin over the winters is cited as a contributing factor to the Arizona migration, the need for inspiration was another central factor. “He was in search of new catalysts for his imagination,” Roger Friedland and Harold Zellman write in The Fellowship.

As a home base, he purchased hundreds of acres of land in Scottsdale in the foothills of the McDowell Mountains. “In 1937, [Frank Lloyd Wright] came to the site that is Taliesin West and decided that this is where he would want to work to create a desert laboratory,” says Henry Hendrix, vice president of marketing and communications at the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation. “From that time, it built up from the desert camp to eventually becoming the series of buildings and supporting buildings that it is today. It [allowed for] a learn-by-doing way of life for Wright and his apprentices.”

According to Kathryn Smith on Taliesin and Taliesin West, the majority of the first phase of construction—which included the office, drafting room, kitchen, dining room, apartments, and the small theater—was complete by 1940. Life at Taliesin West was scrappy, with apprentices sleeping in tents or small structures of their own design, along with a years-long period without running water, as detailed in The Fellowship. Like Taliesin in Wisconsin, Taliesin West continued to evolve throughout Wright’s lifetime and after his death too.

Today, the Taliesin West property measures roughly 500 acres, with a “historic core” of buildings that date back to Wright’s own lifetime. This core includes the triangular prow, Wright’s living quarters, the garden room and private dining room, the kitchen and an additional dining space, the drafting studio, the board room and the William Wesley Peterson conference room, Wright’s office, the music pavilion, and the cabaret.

It was added to the UNESCO World Heritage list in 2019.

Architectural details of Taliesin West

Taliesin West is defined by its site-specific “desert masonry.” As detailed in The Fellowship, walls and other structural elements were crafted by pouring a mixture of cement, sand, and quartzite rocks in wood forms. This work—handling the heavy quartzite in particular—was an especially laborious task. In the early days of Taliesin West, rather than a proper solid roof, canvas was stretched across redwood beams, allowing Wright and the apprentices to roll them up when more light was needed or pull them across to minimize heat and protect from rain. Still, the material wasn’t leakproof and it was eventually replaced with glass and acrylic panels, in some cases. After years in the heat, the wood showed its age and was reinforced with steel and painted red.

Wright chose the name Taliesin, meaning “shining brow” in Welsh, for his Wisconsin property because he chose to site the home on the brow of the hill rather than directly atop it. Extending that sensitivity to his site in Arizona, he chose the locations for the buildings of Taliesin West so that they would complement the McDowell Mountains. The experience of Taliesin West is as much about the exterior spaces as it is the interior, with walkways and terraces connecting one building to the next.

Interior design of Taliesin West

The interiors of Taliesin West frame the landscape, giving visitors a greater appreciation for its site. “Wright’s work was very intentional,” Hendrix says. “He has built-in furniture here because you’re supposed to sit and absorb that view from that particular angle while sitting down…. He wanted people to sit and look and absorb and be inspired.” In Hendrix’s experience, the desert environment is one of the things people remark upon most when first visiting Taliesin West—a testament to Wright’s commitment to the ideals of organic architecture. “The distance in views, what you can see here, just the beauty of it and how everything fits together—I think that’s what the first time visitor experiences,” Hendrix says.

Generally speaking, the colors in the interiors match the landscape, with reds, greens, and yellow details appearing inside. These colors play off of the color variations in the stone of the desert masonry, which makes up many of the interior walls too. The furniture in the spaces that visitors will view on tours are reproductions of original Wright-designed furniture to reduce wear and tear on original designs.

Frequently Asked Questions

According to Humanities , the magazine of the National Endowment for the Humanities, Frank Lloyd Wright purchased the 800 acres of land for $3.50 an acre—a total of $2,800. Of course, this cost does not include the expense of making this land liveable. One major cost was paying a well digger to bring running water to Taliesin West, which cost $10,000 according to The Fellowship.

The cost of visiting Taliesin West varies depending on which specific tour you choose. As of 2024, the Highlights Audio Tour costs $44 for adults, $31 for students, and $22 for youth ages 6 to 12. The In-Depth Guided Tour costs $54 for adults, $38 for students, or $27 for youth ages 6 to 12. Other tour opportunities, and their associated costs, vary from year to year.

The self-guided Highlights Audio Tour lasts roughly 90 minutes, while the In-Depth Guided Tour takes one hour. The length of other tour options varies. The tours offer different ways of experiencing the property, allowing you to choose the way you wish to engage with the property. “The beauty of the audio tour is that it allows you to kind of move through these spaces at your own pace, so if you want to linger in the garden room a little bit longer, or even when you’re in the drafting studio you can [linger,] versus the guided tour [that] would move you through the spaces,” Hendrix explains. The Taliesin West property also includes the Frank Lloyd Wright Store, which visitors may spend varying amounts of time visiting prior or following their tour.

Since Frank Lloyd Wright’s death in 1959, Taliesin West has been owned by the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation.

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Visit Taliesin West in Arizona

Experience Taliesin West in Scottsdale, Arizona. With multiple Tours and Programs to choose from, come see a side of Scottsdale and the Sonoran Desert unlike any other. 

Guided Tour

In-Depth Guided tours will be available again in the fall.

All Programs

Members-Only Programs

Frank Lloyd Wright Store

If you are in Scottsdale, AZ, please stop by our flagship store at Taliesin West! Beautifully curated with gifts and treasures of all sizes, our store has been featured in Sunset Magazine for our “perfect gifts for art lovers and history buffs.”

Visit our Frank Lloyd Wright Store! Our online store has a wide variety of thoughtful merchandise inspired by Wright and his designs. We are proud to partner with hand-picked manufacturers from around the globe. We encourage you to browse our books, home goods, art, and more!

VISIT OUR ONLINE STORE

Accessibility

All Taliesin West Tours are walking tours on gravel and concrete pathways. There are shallow steps and uneven surfaces.

Ramps are available on the property and visitors are welcome to use them at their own discretion. Ramps are 36 inches wide with slopes ranging from 21 to 27 degrees. For guests who are visually impaired, Assistants are welcome on any tour free-of-charge. Please make your reservations in advance at [email protected]

For guests who are hard of hearing, a written script of the tour is available. Hard of Hearing guests may bring a language interpreter on any tour free of charge. Please make your reservations in advance at [email protected]

Certified service animals are permitted on all tours. Pets and other animals whose sole function is to provide comfort, companionship, or emotional support, do not qualify as service animals under the Americans with Disabilities Act or state law.

Please read our FAQ for answers to commonly asked questions.

Closed: Thanksgiving, Christmas Day, and Easter Sunday.

12621 N. Frank Lloyd Wright Blvd, Scottsdale, AZ 85259

Tickets Are Limited. Advance Reservations Are Strongly Recommended.

Taliesin West is happy to provide accommodations for guests.

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A trip to see frank lloyd wright’s taliesin west winter retreat and school—and the sonoran desert that inspired him—is a must for architecture lovers..

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Taliesin West in Scottsdale, Arizona, was the winter retreat of 20th-century architect Frank Lloyd Wright.

By Andrew Pielage

“The saguaro is the greatest example of a skyscraper that was ever built.”

This was Frank Lloyd Wright ’s take on the world’s largest cactus, native to the Sonoran Desert, which can grow to a towering 40 feet. The late architect’s words echoed in my mind as I hiked past legions of the thick, tree-like formations on a cloud-free winter day in the McDowell Sonoran Preserve in Scottsdale .

I came across a stout and spiny cholla cactus and reached for one of its prickly towheaded fingers, tempting fate with a light caress, and felt the sharp pain of a barb as it impaled my skin.

“The beautiful blonde of the desert that is as wicked as anything that ever existed,” he called them.

I was in Scottsdale learning about how the natural world played such a central role in the work of Wright, one of great 20th-century architects. Between hikes through the Sonoran Desert, I planned to visit Taliesin West , the winter retreat Wright built in 1937 with his third wife, Olgivanna, and the winter campus for the School of Architecture at Taliesin (based in Wisconsin).

Taliesin West has been in the news a lot lately: In the summer of 2019, it made the UNESCO World Heritage List as just one of 11 U.S. cultural monuments. But the following winter, the school announced it would stop its accredited architecture program by June 2020, citing an inability to come to an agreement on the future of the campus with the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation . In 2017, the school split from the foundation to meet accreditation requirements of the Higher Learning Commission. The campus will remain open for tours, and it remains one of the best places for an immersive understanding of Wright’s nature-driven design philosophy.

The McDowell Sonoran Preserve has more than 200 miles of trails.

Courtesy of Experience Scottsdale

From Bauhaus to Wright’s House

The midcentury modern style was born in the United States in the 1930s, and was inspired by European movements such as Bauhaus . Wright, with his groundbreaking designs, was among the first to introduce the minimalistic, functionality-driven philosophies coming out of the Continent into American architecture. Midcentury modern is characterized by clean, minimalist lines, angular forms, and an overarching philosophy of harmony with nature. It still features prominently in America’s architectural aesthetic today: Wright’s Guggenheim museum in New York is one such example, and so are the famous leather-and-wood Eames chairs designed by Charles and Ray Eames .

Preservation efforts have struggled in Scottsdale compared to such minimalist hot spots as Palm Springs, according to Ace Bailey, the founder of Ultimate Art & Culture Tours , whom I met in the lobby of the city’s Hotel Valley Ho . “We have not reached the Palm Springs level of midcentury architectural preservation yet, but we’re working on it,” she told me. “We have an older and more conservative demographic here that hasn’t quite gotten it because they grew up with it, so it doesn’t feel historic to them.”

She is one of several locals working to help preserve the rich architectural heritage in the Phoenix-Scottsdale area. Modern Phoenix , run by Alison and Matthew King, aims to preserve and protect the legacy of midcentury architecture, while the Upward Projects restaurant group repurposes midcentury buildings as restaurants .

The Hotel Valley Ho in Scottsdale is a showcase of the midcentury modern architectural style popularized by Frank Lloyd Wright.

Courtesy of Hotel Valley Ho

Bailey is the head concierge of the Hotel Valley Ho, a midcentury-modern gem by architect Edward L. Varney—one of many local architects who never studied under Wright but were influenced heavily by his work. The hotel originally opened in 1956 when Scottsdale was Hollywood’s go-to desert hideaway from the paparazzi. With its flat roofs, carved concrete panels and columns, and glass panels that let the golden desert light in, the hotel is a true time warp: You half expect Betty and Don Draper to saunter into the light-filled lobby. In the 70s, the Hotel Valley Ho became a chain hotel, and a lot of its charm was covered over. That all changed in 2002: the property was at risk of being torn down until local hospitality company Westroc Collection swept in and completed a $80 million, preservation-minded renovation. It uncovered the original carved concrete columns, added a tower that had always been part of Varney’s original plan, and decorated the 241 guest rooms with period-style minimalist furnishings, such as glossy yellow en suite kitchens and open-riser stairs. Since the Hotel Valley Ho reopened in 2005, Alan Hess, an architect and author, called it one of the best-preserved midcentury hotels in the United States, and it’s the only hotel in Scottsdale that’s listed as a Historic Hotel of America by the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

Frank Lloyd Wright poses at Taliesin West, his desert retreat in Scottsdale.

Courtesy of the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation Archives (The Museum of Modern Art | Avery Architectural & Fine Arts Library, Columbia University, New York). All rights reserved

Minutes after we met at the Hotel Valley Ho, Bailey and I were driving down a saguaro-lined road in Scottsdale toward Taliesin West, the desert sun beating down on her Volkswagen. With short silver hair, a perpetual smile, and a seemingly endless supply of enthusiasm, Bailey would become either visibly excited or perturbed, depending on the type of architecture we passed. We encountered a sea of red tile-roofed stucco houses built in the 1980s, and Bailey pointed out the shallow, flush-mount windows with disdain. The shallow-set windows are ineffective against desert heat and cause fabrics and artwork to fade, she explained, but they became ubiquitous when air-conditioning became common. When we’d come across a low-slung, flat-roofed building—a midcentury modern oasis in a sea of cookie-cutter constructions—Bailey would sigh with delight. She pointed out that midcentury construction stays cooler because of the thick concrete walls, diffused lighting, and smaller elements as hole-filled breeze blocks that help to circulate air.

With Bailey’s help, I was beginning to see Scottsdale’s architectural sprawl with new and more discerning eyes, too.

“I’m passionate about the preservation of good architecture, not all architecture,” said Bailey. “It all comes down to educating people and pointing out what good midcentury architecture is.”

Taliesin West is located at the foothills of Arizona’s McDowell Mountains.

A Design Oasis

Taliesin West, pronounced tally-essen—means “shining brow” in Welsh, because it sits on the brow of a hillside in the McDowell Mountain Range. We didn’t see the retreat until we were almost on top of it: the low-slung buildings blend in so well with the desert that they pop up seemingly out of nowhere. The 600-acre property is where Wright would teach his apprentices with a learn-by-doing philosophy. His students built everything onsite themselves; they’d even lug concrete for their own creations in wheelbarrows.

Wright founded Taliesin West in 1937 using the commission he received from his now-iconic Fallingwater , a private home in rural Pennsylvania, strikingly cantilevered over a scenic river, that he built in 1935. Between October and May—save for one year during World War II amid gas shortages—Wright, his wife, and his students would migrate west from the School of Architecture at Taliesin in Wright’s native Wisconsin.

“I was struck by the beauty of the desert, by the dry, clear sun-drenched air, by the stark geometry of the mountains,” he once wrote. “The entire region was an inspiration in strong contrast to the lush, pastoral landscape of my native Wisconsin.”

In the various structures at Taliesin West, all of the architectural values Wright embraced are on full display: harmony with nature, maximization and manipulation of natural light, cantilevered designs, geometric shapes. He was famous for using canvas roofs, which, while leaky during the Sonoran Desert’s rare periods of rain, would diffuse light in a way that would create perfect conditions for intense visual work—such as architectural drafting.

The Wrights’ private living room exemplifies the “compression and release” design device that Wright loved: he’d build a diminuitive entryway that would would open up into a much larger room—to heighten the visual impact of the larger space within. When I passed the diminutive foyer and entered the living room, I was bathed in light from large windows that faced a picturesque garden. My eye immediately went to an enormous stone fireplace, the focal point of the room. I noticed that almost no art hung on the walls (Wright believed architecture itself was the art). As I explored the space, Michael, our docent, invited us to sit in the origami chairs, created out of plywood in a shape reminiscent of the Japanese folding art. As I sank into an orange-upholstered chair, I imagined what it may have been like to listen to Wright play the grand piano that sat in the corner (Michael informed us that Wright was a self-taught, concert-level pianist).

Wright’s Cabaret Theatre at Taliesin West in Scottsdale was inspired by his travels to Europe.

My most magical encounter with space at Taliesin West was at the Cabaret Theatre, inspired by Wright’s trips to Europe. I entered through a narrow hallway and was greeted by another large fireplace. I turned left into the subterranean main room, shaped like an irregular hexagon on its side. Seats are arranged at an angle rather than parallel with the stage, positioned the way Wright used to like to sit while watching a show with Olgivanna: with his left leg crossed over his right, and his right arm around her. According to Michael, the cabaret is 97 percent acoustically perfect; the airspace beneath the stage allows for voices to project naturally. At 12:30, a bell rang in the distance, and Michael informed us that the students and instructors were breaking to have lunch together. Part of the culture of Taliesin West was to live life within their own architectural innovations—cook, sleep, and work in them—in order to understand and improve their designs. A group of the school’s 28 current students, many in their 20s and 30s, had just abandoned a cluttered, scale model-filled computer room for the glass-encased dining hall. As I watched the students through the windows, clad in their hoodies and beanies, talking animatedly with their professors, I reminded myself that I was looking at the architecture school’s last class before the program shutters in June.

Bailey’s eyes widened when she saw an older man in a red sweater, sitting at the end of a table not far from a cluster of students. “That’s Arnold Roy,” she said.

Roy started his apprenticeship with Wright in 1952 when he was a teenager. One of the few living architects who worked directly under Wright, he is now a preservation architect for all the buildings at Taliesin West.

I took a moment to appreciate this living connection to the history that resides at Taliesin West. A shiver of delight ran down my spine as Bailey and I made our way back out into the desert road.

Taliesin West is open year round and offers guided tours ranging from an hour to three hours long. Book tickets through the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation , or book a Scottsdale architecture tour with Ace Bailey , who also leads history and architecture walks for the Hotel Valley Ho.

>>Next: Major Exhibition Devoted to Native Women Artists Opens in Washington, D.C.

Road construction may lead to delays, so please plan your visit accordingly.

Hours & Directions

The Frank Lloyd Wright Visitor Center is located 2 miles (3 km) south of Spring Green, Wisconsin, at the intersection of Highway 23 and County Road C.

All tours and events depart from the Frank Lloyd Wright Visitor Center, 5607 County Road C, Spring Green, WI 53588

• 1 hour from Madison, WI
• 2½ hours from Milwaukee, WI
• 3½ hours from Chicago, IL
• 4½ hours from Minneapolis/St. Paul

Frank Lloyd Wright Visitor Center

• Open Monday-Thursday, May 1st through October 31st, 9:00am to 5:00pm
• Open Friday – Sunday, May 1st through October 31st, 9:00am-5:30pm
• Open Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays in April and November from 10:00am – 4:00pm
• Private tours can be arranged with advance notice
• Open year-round for private event space rentals

(608) 588-7900

Toll-Free: (877) 588-7900

Gift Shop Inquiries: [email protected]

Tours: [email protected]

Address Taliesin Preservation Frank Lloyd Wright Visitor Center 5607 County Road C Spring Green, WI 53588

• Open Monday – Thursday | 9:00am – 5:00pm
• Open Friday – Sunday | 9:00am – 5:30pm
• Private tours available with advanced reservation.

5607 County Road C

Spring Green, WI 53588

Taliesin West

12621 N Frank Lloyd Wright Blvd

Scottsdale, AZ 85259

TALIESIN PRESERVATION

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Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesin West

Frank Lloyd Wright’s Taliesin West is Scottsdale's only National Historic Landmark as well as an Unesco World Heritage Site. It serves as a prime example of Wright’s organic architecture in that the structures are built of the rocks and sand of the Sonoran Desert and melds to the lower McDowell Mountains.

The grounds and buildings were constructed over a period of approximately twenty years by Frank Lloyd Wright and his apprentices. Set amid a Sonoran Desert Preserve of 491 acres, Taliesin West tours wind through provocative terraces, landscaped gardens and walkways commanding dramatic views of Camelback Mountain and the Valley of the Sun.

Choose the self-guided audio tour if you prefer to walk the site without a guide. The tour will guide you through the historic core and you will even listen to a recording of Frank Lloyd Wright himself. The 60-minute Audio Tour is an indoor AND outdoor tour that uses your own smartphone and headphones.

For information and tickets regarding all tour options visit www.franklloydwright.org

Don't forget to visit the Frank Lloyd Wright Store featuring a curated collection of Wright-licensed products.

Additional Info

• Reservations URL: Click Here

Hours of Operation

• Monday: 9 am -12 pm
• Tuesday: closed
• Wednesday: closed
• Thursday: 9 am -12 pm
• Friday: 9 am -12 pm
• Saturday: 9 am -12 pm
• Sunday: 9 am -12 pm

Facility Info

• Exhibits Space
• Largest Room 125
• Reception Capacity 125
• Theatre Capacity 125
• Allow Outside Catering Yes
• Close for Groups Yes
• Full Bar Yes
• Number of Outdoor Function Spaces 3
• Banquet Capacity 80
• Number of Rooms 3
• Large floor Plan PDF Click Here
• Classroom Capacity 100