Taliesin West

Taliesin West was built by Frank Lloyd Wright and his apprentices in the 1930s and was constantly expanded and modified by the architect until his death in 1959. Wright and his apprentices literally created Taliesin West out of the desert by gathering rocks from the desert floor and sand from the washes to keep the design in balance with the surrounding environment. The site, considered one of the Wright’s greatest masterpieces, was designed to serve as Wright’s personal home, studio and architectural laboratory.

From its inception, the buildings at Taliesin West astounded architectural critics with their beauty and unusual form. In it 1956 report Architectural Record called a visit to Taliesin West “an experience in color, light, and time . . . Most of all, the building is an experience in time: approach terraces, the steps, the long walk under the pergola, the penetration into the heart of the building itself: all these form a subtle sequence of varied spaces, scales, and shapes . . .Perhaps never since the baroque period has the element of time been used so skillfully in realizing the enchantment of an intricate work of art.”

Taliesin West is the international headquarters for the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, the site of the Frank Lloyd Wright Archives, and the winter campus for the Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture.

Taliesin West offers a broad range of tours to meet individual interests. All tours are led by knowledgeable guides, and all visitors must be accompanied by a guide.

Now open: Wright Downtown, a combination information center, retail shop and small exhibit gallery in downtown Scottsdale at 7079 East 5th Avenue.