Saturday With Frank

On Saturday 3 May, we spent the day with Frank Lloyd Wright -- well, at least with his design. We motored over from Peoria to Scottsdale, to the Arizona Biltmore, built by FLW in 1929. It is in splendid condition and still evokes the feeling of the heydays of Hollywood. We lunched at the California Pizza Kitchen and then drove north to Taliesin West. Lloyd Wright built Taliesin West after falling in love with the desert while spending time in Arizona working on the Biltmore. He bought the land with his fees from Falling Water. Wright established a school there for students who wanted to study with him. He had a great racket going: they had to pay to study there and then along with their studies, they did all the work around the place. They still have a racket going; they charge $27 entry fee for a partial tour. It seemed like a lot to pay, but I have always wanted to visit and, heck, when will I be there again? It was very interesting, but both Maren and I felt that it was rather run-down. It needs a bit of freshening up

The Arizona Biltmore as it appeared in the early thirties

As it appeared on the day of our visit

Katy, Kris, Maren and Harry in the Biltmore gardens

The Biltmore dining room retains much of its original flavor

The logo on the gate at Taliesin West was taken from
petroglyphs found on the site

Taliesin West is one of FLW's best-known works

The arbor along the back of the drafting room

A small pool just outside the "kiva," a windowless room
used as a movie theatre/conference room

Maren and Katy Kathryn, two of the silliest girls in all of Arizona

It made us happy to see these two important FLW designs. We had a great day.

OXO

D.