Frank Lloyd Wright Made Me Love the Desert
Frank Lloyd Wright’s Taliesin West in Scottsdale, Arizona.
I don’t do well in the heat.
As a coastal transplant who actually enjoys humidity, I could never fathom why anyone would want to spend more than a weekend trip in the scorching, deadly heat of the desert. Phoenix, after all, was meant to be a simple pit-stop on our way home from a honeymoon filled with two straight weeks of travel, hiking and camping in the Southwest. As the closest (and cheapest) major airport, Phoenix became our departure point.
Phoenicians are quick to chime in with “but it’s a dry heat!” in the face of my skepticism; and while I’m still not totally convinced, I did have a major turning point in my desert attitude during a quick and hot trip to Phoenix... thanks to Frank Lloyd Wright.
Even those who don’t recognize America’s most famous architect by name have been touched by his designs. From open floor plans in modern homes, sustainable building concepts including in-floor radiant heating and using local, sustainable materials, Wright’s legacy lives up to his desired reputation as being ahead of his time – his innovative Prairie Homes were built between 1900 and 1914 during a time when cramped Victorian style houses and the excessive materialism of the Industrial Age still informed the American home. Oh – he also designed a little building in New York City called the Guggenheim.
Wright has a long, storied career filled with success, debt, tragedy, mistresses and more – all of which led him eventually to Scottsdale to build Taliesin West, his desert campus and winter residence until his death in 1959 at age 91. I’ll let you do some independent research if you’re into the nitty-gritty of his biography... we’re just here for the aesthetics right now.
A side view of Wright’s drafting room and main entrance to the home.
If you’ve been to any of Wright’s buildings or even just seen photos of them, the first thing you may have noticed is the simple and understated beauty of his designs (Fallingwater is a great place to start). The buildings are not grand and imposing, but exist in harmonious dialogue with their surroundings. Wright believed buildings that dominated their setting ruined the beauty of the landscape. Rather, by orienting the structure on the side of the hill – its “shining brow” – the home exists in conversation with its surroundings.
Taliesin West is nestled on a rolling hill in the Sonoran Desert with incredible, sweeping views of Paradise Valley. Now developed and populated as far as the eye can see, in Wright’s time the Valley was devoid of human activity with desert shrubs, giant Sonoran cacti and rocks permeating the landscape. To Wright, the view from his living room would have appeared almost as if he were looking across the ocean floor.
The campus itself is hardly modest, but Wright’s signature “organic architecture” approach create an atmosphere of utility, pleasure and calm. The interior of each room is slanted and low – Wright, standing at roughly 5’7” (depending on which account you read) would insist that ceilings over six feet were a waste of space – which might make one think that his home designs were cramped, even claustrophobic.
Perhaps I’m biased as someone who is decidedly under six feet tall, but the use of height and levels in Taliesin West have the opposite effect. Immediately upon entering any room on the campus, a sense of calm and serenity replace all other feelings; stepping through the threshold of the space was like pulling on a weighted blanket.
Everything from the acoustics of the stone walls to the canvas-paneled ceiling to the specially designed chairs and furniture exists in aesthetically beautiful harmony. Asian art and antiquities, monstera plants and earth tones hone the environment with a spa-like quality. While now enclosed by glass (thanks to the fabulously spunky and intelligent Mrs. Wright) the space encourages airflow and the building materials create a delightful sensory experience featuring earthy scents and soft, natural lighting.
It’s not just the interior of the campus that’s so special – Taliesin West blooms with the soft purples and pinks of manicured gardens contrasting with the surrounding desert brush. Wright even designed special pools and fountains that not only contributed to the site’s oasis-like quality, but served as fire protection as well. Everything about his desert laboratory is thoughtful and filled with delight.
With each passing moment of the tour I found my desert experience translated away from the fear of death by heat stroke to genuine joy and appreciation of a landscape that inspired such genius innovation. I get it now – the appeal of the desert, the colors and creatures that inhabit the landscape, the tranquility and beauty of isolation. Taliesin West isn’t just a house in the desert – it’s an extraordinary journey into what living in communion with the desert can be like.
Taliesin West is located in Scottsdale, Arizona. Reservations are required to tour the space – I’d recommend the Details Tour!
All photos by me.