When we first started mapping out this trip in detail, visiting Taliesin popped up and I put it on my mental list…and then promptly forgot all about it.  

I was interested in visiting not only because Dennis and I really love the Prairie School of architecture, but also because I read “Loving Frank” in book club years ago, and Taliesin plays a big role in the story.  Add in that it’s a great opportunity for teaching the kids about architecture, and you can see why I thought “hey I need to put that on the list.”

Flash forward to us cruising down the road from Monmouth to the Wisconsin Dells.  I’m studying my old-school road atlas…and there it is!!!  (Score one for the old school road atlas!) And it would only add 5 miles to our route to go there.  I called ahead and they had a few spots left on the tour.  So then I spent the next hour of the drive trying to educate the kids on all kinds of wikipedia Frank Lloyd Wright facts.

The grounds are just amazing.  Both the gardens directly surrounding the house/workshop/etc, and the surrounding environment.  And the house completely embraces it…or rather, from the inside it feels like every room basically frames the view, or invites you to go out there — to just step out into it.  I’m sure the fact that it’s the height of late spring/early summer bloom amplified the effect, but even in winter it would be a sight. 

The house itself is in need of some work, but I had to keep reminding myself that it’s more than 100 years old…and was basically an experiment when it was built.  I think maybe because the design is so timeless (does 100 years count as timeless?), it’s also easy to forget that it’s as old as it is.  It’s kind of a living thing with peeling, cracking, and all the expanding and contracting that Wisconsin winters must bring on.  I can’t even imagine how  much work it is to keep it up.

You are supposed to be at least 10 years old for the tour…we told Maya she had to act like she was 10 and I was really proud of her for being on her best “don’t touch anything” behavior.  The kids were recently gifted a very nice digital camera, and she spent the tour taking lots of pics….in fact, a lot of her pictures are better than these!  She will have a post here in the next day or so about the visit.