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Black and white graphic of the Hill Tower at Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesin.

A recommended book: At Taliesin

Reading Time: 5 minutes The graphic at the top of this page is one of the designs created by the Taliesin Fellowship for their weekly “At Taliesin” newspaper articles that ran from 1934 through late 1937. Architect Randolph C. Henning found these “At Taliesin” articles and put them into a book that I want to write about today. The […]

This is drawing number 4930.006 in the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation Archives (The Museum of Modern Art | Avery Library, Columbia University, New York).

I found another Taliesin drawing

Reading Time: 6 minutes This is drawing number 4930.006 in the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation Archives (The Museum of Modern Art | Avery Library, Columbia University, New York). Two years ago I wrote here about when I found a Taliesin drawing of bunkbeds for a room at Taliesin in 1911. srsly: someone needs to give me a commission for […]

Photograph of Keith McCutcheon outside at a stone wall at Taliesin, c. 1932.

Letters from Keith McCutcheon to Franklin Porter

Reading Time: 6 minutes A photograph looking (plan) northeast at, apparently, Keith McCutcheon (1904-1968) in the Garden Court of Taliesin. The stone wall to his right was built while Wright reconstructed Taliesin after its second fire. Wright removed it in 1933. Since we are close to Gay Pride Day, I thought I would write about: an employee of Frank […]

The Chicago Day Book December 21, 1911. In the public domain.

Was Mamah Borthwick the love of Frank Lloyd Wright’s life?

Reading Time: 5 minutes Drawing of Mamah Borthwick. People have asked me this question about Mamah former wife of Edwin H. Cheney, and the woman for whom Wright first designed Taliesin south of Spring Green, Wisconsin. And who was murdered on August 15, 1914. Since Mamah’s birthday is June 19, I am addressing this question in this post.1 Or […]

Photograph taken in Taliesin's living room on Frank Lloyd Wright's birthday. Wright is with 5 others, including his wife, Olgivanna (standing), and daughter, Iovanna (seated closest to him).

Frank Lloyd Wright’s birthday

Reading Time: 5 minutes Frank Lloyd Wright was born on June 8, 1867. If you’re in the Wrightworld you know this. Read my post, “Keiran don’t try to correct the internet“, about how people originally thought he was born in 1869. In today’s post, I’m going to write about traditions within the Taliesin Fellowship connected to Wright’s birthday. In […]

Photo of artist Wafaa Bilal with photoshopped yellow paint blotches. In part by Keiran Murphy.

Memorial Day, Wafaa Bilal, and art:

Reading Time: 6 minutes This is a screenshot with yellow paint blots. I wrote “I support Wafaa” at the bottom of the photo. He’s the man I wrote a lot about, below.  This post isn’t going to be about Frank Lloyd Wright. Today I want to write about a work of art and how it made me appreciate Memorial […]

Photo looking west in Taliesin's garden court. Taken in 1929 by Architect George Kastner. Courtesy Brian A. Spencer, Architect.

Things I don’t know at Taliesin

Reading Time: 6 minutes In 1929, architect George Kastner (then, a draftsman for Frank Lloyd Wright) took the photograph at the top of this post. It looks west in Taliesin’s Garden Court while stonemasons lay the wall that separates this courtyard from the other courtyards at Taliesin. This wall insured that this courtyard would be free from cars. Today […]

First page of the Feature Section in the Washington Herald newspaper, on November 28, 1915. Includes drawings, letters, and photograph of the face of Miriam Noel.

What about the second wife?

Reading Time: 7 minutes Yah: what about Wright’s second wife? That’s who I’ll write about today. Years ago, a group of coworkers and I performed a comedy sketch for a friend who was leaving Taliesin Preservation. At one point in the sketch, we voiced common questions that folks ask when they take a tour. Among them were “how tall […]

Headline describing the April 20, 1925 fire at Taliesin, Frank Lloyd Wright's Wisconsin home

What a Way to Begin

Reading Time: 5 minutes Have you ever fallen in love with someone, were blissfully going along, and then something crazy-bad happened outside of the control of either of you? It’s a test of your mettle. And you move beyond your fears and you are all there for that person. It’s a test and you’ve aced it, in this binding […]

Photograph on April of Taliesin in the distance. Taken by Keiran Murphy.

Buying the hill

Reading Time: 2 minutes On April 10, 1911, Frank Lloyd Wright’s mother, Anna, purchased 31.65 acres of land in The Valley south of Spring Green, Wisconsin. The land, which cost $2,274.88, is where Wright would build the structure you see in the photo above: his home, Taliesin. I put a copy of the warranty deed below: Warranty deed is […]

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