Ever since Christmas, I've been looking forward to seeing Taliesin, the country home of Frank Lloyd Wright out in Spring Green. Laura suprized me with the most wonderful gift of two house tour tickets for use this summer, and this weekend was the perfect time. The weather was beautiful for our drive to western Wisconsin. It made me realize that Wisconsin has some really nice scenic drives of which we should take more advantage while we're here.

The afternoon started out great, with a few subs from the local Big Mike's, we can't say how much we love them. When we move, we'll just have to open a franchise wherever we go, that or get the recipe for their bread. We found a picnic bench outside the visitor's center, and then headed in to see the gift store and register for our tour. There were so many books about his life and works, as well as rather expensive imitations of some of his famous designs. I especially liked some of the coasters and neck-ties.

The house tour would take about two hours, so we were reminded a few times to take a pit stop now, because we couldn't touch or use anything in the house. It is like a living museum, since they still have classes there and nearby at his Prarie School of Architecture, and there were plans out on his tables, but for us, we were just visitors. It began with a look around the outside landscaping and his personal vineyard; pretty much all the land we could see was owned by the preservation society, and they took care of it very well. It was one of the most serene places I've visited; everything was well integrated into one complete picture. Our tour guide told us all the history of when he built all the buildings we could see and the progression of his architecture style, and then we proceeded to his gardens. Since the house was built on the brow of the hill, thus the name Taliesin (as well as being Welsh like him), the garden was on the top of the hill, and it looked like the house was sunken around us.

We visited the inside of his personal reception area (he likes cramped doorways so you feel more open once your inside) with very tall ceilings. It was interesting to also notice the minimal staircases and hallways, since he believed you didn't really spend time there, you shouldn't need lots of space to feel open. There were many long corridors, where you could stand at one end and see all the way to the other end of the house, a section of the house which made you feel like you were up in the air, and short ceilings all around.

It was also very noticable how much the house was in need of repair (thus the preservation society). Many outside wall structures looked cracking, and some of the trees planted to give the house a nice feel, which they did, had grown such that their roots were breaking up the foundation. I guess they weren't supposed to grow, which is the main thing I've noticed about the house; it was made to be in tune with nature, but not to adapt or change as the surrounding environment inevitably would neccessitate. He's a great architect, but not so strong on structural engineering. All in all, it was wonderful experience, and we'll have to find some more of his places to tour around Wisconsin.