Taliesin

Taliesin is the home, studio, school, and 800-acre estate of Frank Lloyd Wright (1867-1959). Located in the Driftless Region of southwestern Wisconsin near Spring Green, Taliesin is the name of Wright’s home as well as the estate that includes buildings from nearly every decade of Wright’s career from the 1890s to the 1950s. Taliesin has a commanding presence in Jones Valley, the land along Wisconsin River where Wright’s Lloyd Jones ancestors settled in the 1860s after emigrating from Wales 20 years before. Taliesin was named in honor of his Welsh heritage: The name of a druid bard, Taliesin literally means “shining brow.” Its many wings and terraces reach out to frame the crown of the hill, embracing the site and standing as “brow.”

Taliesin was the principal residence of Wright, and the valley was his inspiration and laboratory for architectural designs and innovation. Taliesin in its three iterations (1911, 1914, 1925) and its landscape are considered the most complete embodiment of Wright’s philosophy of organic architecture. The Taliesin residence is the heart of a series of buildings that Wright designed for himself and his family members across the estate: Romeo & Juliet Windmill (1896), Hillside Home School (1903), Tan-y-Deri (1907), Hillside Drafting Studio (1932), Midway Barn (1949), Hillside Theater (1952), and the Frank Lloyd Wright Visitor Center (1967).