So Long, Frank Lloyd Wright

Architects may come and
Architects may go and
Never change your point of view.
When I run dry
I stop awhile and think of you.*

Kathy and I drove out to Spring Green yesterday.  We had no big plans; we just thought we’d drive out, have lunch, enjoy the scenery, and see where Taliesin is located.  As you probably know, Taliesin is where Wisconsin native Frank Lloyd Wright lived and worked for much of his life.  He is still considered one of America’s greatest architects and the long, low horizontal lines and rows of windows in his Prairie Style designs stand out to me as his signature style.

The visitor center parking lot was quite full of cars when we arrived.  People were enjoying lunch in the restaurant overlooking the Wisconsin River as well as waiting for an afternoon tour. We didn’t tour Taliesin but collected information for a potential future tour.

When we left the visitor center we drove around to look for some buildings in the vicinity that were designed by or associated with Wright.  One was the Unity Chapel, which was completed in 1886.  According to the chapel website, “Unity Chapel combined the talents of famed Chicago architect, Joseph Lyman Silsbee, and a ‘young boy architect of the family (who) looked after its interior.’ That ‘boy architect’ was Frank Lloyd Wright.”

The chapel was locked so we walked around the plain wooden structure and found a cemetery under the trees behind it. Near one end of the cemetery was a large upright stone and a rectangular block of stone encircled by a border of curved stones level with the grass. A simple metal sign on the stone read “Frank Lloyd Wright, 1869-1959,” which immediately made me wonder if this is where he is buried.

photocrati gallery

When we returned to Madison I checked the internet to see if this is the case. As it turns out, this is where he was buried after his death in 1959. However, when his last wife, Olgavanna, died in 1985, her final wish was to have Wright’s body exhumed, cremated, and moved to Taliesin West in Scottsdale, Arizona. This was quite controversial since the rest of his family did not think this was what he would have wanted.  You can read about it in a story in the April 10, 1985 edition of the New York Times.

So long, Frank Lloyd Wright.
I can’t believe your song is gone so soon.
I barely learned the tune
So soon
So soon.*

*Lyrics from So Long, Frank Lloyd Wright by Simon & Garfunkel

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