Monday – December 11, 2017
The weather was freezing cold in the teens at home in New York, but sunny, blue skies and 60 degrees in Arizona! The heated pool looked inviting:
We enjoyed an outdoor breakfast near one of the hotel’s pools. A falconer stood nearby with an impressive Harris hawk on her arm. The mere presence of the hawk scares away the resident grackles.
The famous American architect, Frank Lloyd Wright, built his winter home and “camp” nearby in the Sonoran Desert, which he called Taliesin West. Since we’re big fans of FLW’s architecture, we had to visit Scottsdale’s only National Historic Landmark. 
Visitors must take a guided tour of the facilities and we were lucky to have an excellent guide and only five other people on our tour.
Frank Lloyd Wright left his home/studio in Wisconsin every winter and transported his family, architecture school, and business to Scottsdale. He built all the structures out of natural materials and used the desert as an important component of his designs.
During Frank Lloyd Wright’s seasonal residence from 1937 to 1959, the rooms were open to the environment without glass walls or windows. Students lived in tents or rudimentary cabins which they designed and built for themselves. Today, the architecture school is housed on one side of the main building.
Besides living quarters for his family, Wright designed and built theaters, offices, studios, and galleries at Taliesin West. A visit here is a feast for the eyes!
The Sonoran Desert around the property showcases a wide variety of cactuses:
