Life after Annandale High: A Day with Frank

Friday, November 2, 2012 – A Day with Frank

Road trip on Friday, heading north on I-10 West (yes, that’s right), the route from Tucson to Phoenix. Our destination is Taliesin West. Our goal is to discover the spirit of Frank Lloyd Wright in the desert. I-10 is your basic highway, but when I look to the right or the left, these strange mountains rise up. Sometimes they’re dotted with points of scrubby brush, but often they’re simply bare and boulder-studded. They’re not shaped like the typical mountains in the East. The mountains in the Arizona desert seem more like sculptural forms made of earth.

Streaky cloud cover creates a veil in the distance, adding to the surreal quality of the landscape. Signs warn that we’re in a Blowing Dust Area. An impossibly long freight train, with four Union Pacific locomotives, runs alongside us and I think of the lessons I taught about building the transcontinental railroad. Something is growing in the fields, a plant low to the ground with little white tufts – cotton, perhaps? Picacho Peak looms over an ostrich farm, and there’s an exit for the Huhugam Heritage Center. I’d love to stop and visit, but we’re hoping to do a tour at Taliesin before lunch. Another time.

Meanwhile, Elliott entertains us with reminiscences of his first trip to Arizona, in 1947, when he drove his brand new black Chevrolet (cost - $1,010) out to Tucson from Washington, DC. He was going out west on his doctor’s orders, seeking relief in the dry heat from chronic sinus problems. As soon as he arrived, he went to Sears & Roebuck and purchased a cowboy wardrobe: hat, blue jeans, and boots. In fact, I have a photo at home in which he’s wearing this outfit. Elliott stayed in Tucson for several months, during which time he met John Wayne and some other Hollywood stars when he worked as an extra on the classic western film, Red River.

Yes, that's Elliott in Tucson in 1947!

But I’ll interrupt his tale now because we’ve arrived our destination. I’ve admired the work of Frank Lloyd Wright for years, but only in photos. Now I have a chance to see a Frank Lloyd Wright home in person. Our guide at Taliesin West explains that Frank was already 70 years old in 1940 when he designed and built Taliesin West. The prairie-style structure served not only as his winter home, but also as a laboratory where he could try out new ideas. In addition, Taliesin functioned as a school where small groups of students would come to learn about Wright’s organic approach to architecture.

Wright also designed most of the furnishings at Taliesin West. When I sit in one of the chairs in the living room, I realize that he was more concerned with aesthetics than with comfort. The guide also points out several distinctive architectural and design features, such as the geometric shapes. There are several triangular tables and a trapezoidal floor lamp. Many of the doors are irregular hexagons. Most of all, I’m surprised to learn that Taliesin lacked many basic amenities. Living there was like camping out, although with a bit more style. There was no electricity until 1950 and there was no glass in the windows, just sheets of canvas that could be lowered and raised.

The gift shop has some interesting items, especially clothing and jewelry based on Wright’s designs. However, I don’t buy anything (for the first time in history), probably because we’re all starving. Our lunch plans continue the Frank Lloyd Wright theme of the day. We’re planning to eat at the restaurant in the Arizona Biltmore, a classic hotel in nearby Phoenix, for which Wright served as a consultant. His influence is apparent as soon as we see the stained glass panel in the hotel lobby. And the food in the restaurant doesn’t disappoint us. In fact, Elliott gobbles up his entire Cobb salad and I scrape the last spoonful of tortilla soup out of my bowl. If I ever need a place to unwind for a couple of days, I’ll check into the Arizona Biltmore and just stay on the hotel grounds the entire time. It’s that impressive.