ABOUT THIS BOOK

The Wisconsin-born Frank Lloyd Wright (1867–1959) is recognized worldwide as an iconic architectural genius. In 1911 he designed Taliesin to use as his personal residence, architectural studio, and working farm. A century later Randolph C. Henning has assembled a splendid collection of rare vintage postcards, some never before published, that provides a revealing and visually unique journey through Wright’s work at Taliesin. Included are intimate images of Taliesin at various stages and views of the building just after the tragic 1914 fire. The postcards also depict nearby buildings designed by Wright, including the Romeo and Juliet windmill and two buildings for the Hillside Home School. Henning provides useful explanations that highlight relevant details and accompany each image. Frank Lloyd Wright’s Taliesin documents and celebrates Wright’s 100-year-old masterpiece.

Finalist, Midwest Book Awards for Cover Design and for Regional Interest Illustrated Book

Best Books for General Audiences, selected by the American Association of School Librarians

Best Books for General Audiences, selected by the Public Library Reviewers

AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY

Randolph C. Henning, a Frank Lloyd Wright enthusiast, is an architect in Lewisville, North Carolina, and author of At Taliesin: Newspaper Columns by Frank Lloyd Wright and the Taliesin Fellowship, 1934–1937.

REVIEWS

“A valuable, intimate tour of an extraordinary design when it was new, before the myth of Wright took root.”—Alan Hess, author of Frank Lloyd Wright: The Buildings

“These postcard photos provide the ‘missing link’ in the evolving designs of Taliesin. It has always been a difficult building to understand through photographs, but Henning clears up many of the mysteries. I had many ‘a-ha’ moments as I studied the images and accompanying text. The images of the folks standing in the ashes after the fire at Taliesin are chilling and reveal the fascination with tragedy.”—Thomas A. Heinz, American Institute of Architects

“Ingenious. . . . Thanks to this book the reader is able to gain insight into the architect’s thought process and appreciate, anew, a 20th-century masterpiece.”—Style 1900

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Foreword by Kathryn A. Smith

Introduction

Taliesin—1911

Unity Chapel—1886

Home Building—1887

Romeo & Juliet—1896

Hillside Home School II—1901

Epilogue

Acknowledgments

Source Notes

Selected Bibliography