Taliesin, Spring Green, WI

By Claire

Our abode for the night was the Spring Valley Inn, located 2.7 miles from our target site, Taliesin, architect Frank Lloyd Wright's home and studio.  There were only six cars in the parking lot last night and we had the giant pool and enormous hot tub all to ourselves.  Breakfast was really nice, too, and again, we had the place to ourselves. We're very happy and comfortable here. In fact, either we're slowing down or we've gotten into a groove.  The pace seems far more leisurely to me now.  Spring Valley Inn was designed by a Taliesin architect.

Spring Valley Inn

 

Our 4 hour Estate Tour began at the visitor center at 9:30 am with our knowledgeable guide, Cyndi, who owns a dairy farm in the area with her husband.  We were driven a mile and a half to the family cemetery, where we were given some history and shown the pertinent grave sites.  

We then moved on to the Taliesin estate--this name is that of a Welsh bard whose name means 'shining brow'; this is how FLW honored his ancestry and it explains his use of FLLW as his initials: 'll' is a separate letter in the Welsh alphabet. For those who don't know or who haven't read the wonderful book, Loving Frank, a terrible event happened here.  Frank Lloyd Wright was married to his wife Kitty for 20 years and had 6 children when he fell in love with the wife of one of his clients.  Mamah Borthwick Cheney was a modern woman and early feminist with interests outside the home.  She and Frank each left their spouses and children and fled the scandal by moving to Europe.  Mamah was able to obtain a divorce but Frank's wife told him to give it a year and if he still felt the same way, she would give him a divorce.  He asked her again after a year but it would be several years before she would concede.

Frank and Mamah returned to the United States and he began work on what would become Taliesin in 1911.  They lived together in spite of the scandal of not being married; however, they did not care.  On August 15, 1914, while Frank was working in Chicago, a disgruntled male servant poured gasoline around the house, set it on fire then proceeded to kill seven people with an axe, including Mamah and her two children, who were visiting their mother.  The entire residential wing of the house was destroyed.  Frank would rebuild, endure another fire, and rebuild again.

This tree was planted on top of Mamah's grave by Frank and was the only marker at that time.

 

Frank's first wife, Kitty, finally gave him a divorce and he married his second wife, Miriam, a year later--he couldn't stand to be alone.  Due to her morphine addiction, that marriage lasted only a year. His third wife, Olga, eventually placed a marker on Mamah's grave site using her married name in all caps--even though Mamah had returned to her maiden name of Borthwick.

 

FLW died in 1959 at 91. Olga didn't want to be buried in the family cemetery so she had his remains exhumed one night and removed to Taliesin West in Arizona.  She then had his remains cremated so they could be mixed with her own ashes after her death.  For years, Wisconsonites had bumper stickers saying 'FLW GET YOUR ASH BACK HERE!'

The FLW memorial site at Taliesin

The surrounding vistas of this 600 acre estate are gorgeous.  There are views everywhere.  This farm belonged to Frank's uncle, Tom.

 

This is The Hillside School, where Frank's two maiden aunts gave their lives to teaching.  He designed the building and eventually turned it into an architectural school, with dormitory.   Our van dropped us here and we walked the rest of the tour.

This windmill was designed by Frank in 1896 for his two aunts, who needed it to pump water to the Hillside School.  Both his uncles told him it would never last, being made out of wood (cypress) rather than metal.  It lasted through 97 years of storms before the preservation society decided to reconstruct it due to some damage. After both uncles died, Frank noted that his structure was still vertical while its critics were horizontal.

 

This house was designed for his sister, Jane, but Frank never liked it.  She made it very clear that she didn't want one of those low ceiling prairie houses--this was to be her home.  When he took clients on a tour of the estate, he never showed them this house, and at one point threatened to burn it down.

 

Another beautiful vista

 

House on the property, converted from a farm utility building to house architectural students

 

Barn with classic FLW spire. Students sometimes live in the tower structure.

 

FLW designed all the roads on the property.

Taliesen

 

View showing Taliesin built into the hillside--the slope of the hills determined the slope of the roofs.

 

Frank selected his livestock based on aesthetic criteria.  He didn't care for the common white chickens which reminded him of crumpled newspapers flying around--so he brought in Rhode Island Reds because they were a better fit with the landscape.  The same went for the cows:  He did not like the typical black and white Holsteins, so he went with the brown Guernsey cows because they were more pleasing in the green landscape.  He was known for making many, many changes--one roof line was changed 20 times; he would often use his cane to draw a new idea in the dirt or a nail to scratch something on a shingle.  His contractors were so good they could determine dimensions from these rough sketches.

Courtyard where we were given hot drinks, muffins and scones on the terrace

 

A rear view of the property.  It is 37,000 sq. ft., according to FLW--this includes the gardens and terraces, as they are an integral part of the space.

 

Frank subscribed to the Unitarian emphasis on harmony and respect of nature. He was also influenced by Japanese and Chinese art.

 

Note the use of water pipes as a trellis.  He was known for recycling materials and rarely discarded anything. To obtain the desired color and texture for the stucco, he mixed Wisconsin River beach sand with some pigment for the effect you see here.

 

Waterfall, designed to bring "music" into nature--all the main rooms of the house have pianos.

 

Photography was not allowed in any of the buildings.  The interiors are beautiful, fascinating, inovative and inspiring.  I recommend you make a trip to Spring Green, Wisconsin and see for yourself.  The tour was $150 for the two of us and worth every penny.

We drove 3 miles to the town of Spring Green in search of lunch.  I had read about the Arcadia Bookstore and café.  As soon as I saw the menu, I knew this was the place.  I ordered the black bean soup with fire-roasted tomatoes, carrots, onions and garlic (Greenspirit Farm), vegetable stock, lemon drop peppers (Bulldog Gardens), canola oil and cumin.  Chuck ordered a cup of the soup and half an avacado vegetarian sandwich.  Organic farming is prominent in this part of the State. We both had a latté. 

 

What a nice bookstore, with very friendly people and fantastic food.  

 

That's the bookstore on the corner.  I don't know how they survive in such a tiny, quiet town.

 

Notice the wide, lovely streets.

 

We walked around the entire downtown, which involved a 4 block stroll.  This visitor center was interesting; it seems to mimic FLW's style and color scheme.

 

This is The Country Store Café, recommended to us by the guy at the organic food store back in Hillsboro.  They also offered great food, and we thought about coming back later for dinner; but they close at 6.  We never ate dinner last night and probably won't tonight.  Good food seems to stick with us longer. And, the chocolate covered coffee beans help sustain us.

 

Interesting bank, probably influenced by FLW. He might be rolling in his grave, except he isn't there, is he?

 

Study nature, love nature, stay close to nature. It will never fail you. ~ Frank Lloyd Wright

Scenic Wisconsin

 By Claire

We began our journey through southwestern Wisconsin with an interesting sign warning us to be careful.  From there, we continued on the trail of horse droppings.  Sure enough, we passed a guy who gave us a friendly wave.

We weren't completely surprised by the beauty of this state; it's one of the reasons we wanted to see it.  The evidence of fall approaching, the rolling hills and the many trees and endless cornfields met our expectations.

 

Today was leisurely, with many stops along the way.  Our first was another state park, Wildcat Mountain.  We spent about 20 minutes with the ranger helping us pick out the best hike.  We were the only car in the parking lot and I have a feeling she had time on her hands.  The park and the hike were beautiful on this increasingly gray, 61° day.  Rain was predicted, along with thunderstorms.  Bring it on!  Here are some of the views we enjoyed on our hike.

 

 

Wildflowers?  Still?

 

 

 

 

 

Back on the road again, we meandered through tiny towns, suddenly finding ourselves in Hillsboro with an organic food store and a cafe called Holvy's.  We decided to stop for lunch.

Classic Wisconsin dairy barn

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I ordered the egg salad sandwich ($2.79) and a cup of homemade chili ($2.59).  The bread was homemade rye.

 

 

Chuck ordered the Shuleke soup (chicken and dumplings, $2.59).  We asked about the name and found out this is a Czechoslovakian area.

 

We've had requests for more dessert pictures, so Chuck volunteered to order the pie of the day, homemade banana cream ($2.79), delicious! I must observe that in towns like this it can be cheaper to eat out than to shop in grocery stores.

 

As we were getting ready to leave, an Amish couple came in with another couple, civilians.  The Amish woman was in black, with a black bonnet, which she removed--only to reveal yet another bonnet underneath, encasing her hair.  She and her husband (with broad-brimmed hat and typical beard, minus the mustache) were laughing and talking excitedly with their friends as they sat down for their meal.  I tried to keep my eyes in normal mode.

 After lunch, we walked down to the organic food store where I walked through the small aisles completely enraptured.  I quickly grabbed two packages of muesli (oh, how I have missed it).  We were about to grab a container of Greek yogurt when we realized we'd have to get some ice.  Chuck asked the owner where to get it just as I realized we have free breakfasts for another week.  I'll save the muesli for later but yogurt is another story.  We ended up in a long conversation with him about the town and the area.  He told us he was from central Indiana and has lived here for 9 years when I asked him if he was a native.  He said he loved it here but wouldn't come again for the same reasons he originally did.  He went on to explain that he came for religious reasons, but left the faith.  He told us it's a great town with 3 chiropractors, 2 doctors and a hospital.  Not only that, there is a town nearby that has an enormous farmer's market and a Whole Foods grocery store. He believes the harsh winters and the resulting difficulty of travel require self-contained communities. 

He also mentioned that the climate dictates special planning at intersections so that in the winter motor vehicles do not need to halt at stop signs if it's uphill--they'd never make it otherwise, with the slippery ice on the road.  We talked some more about food in general and I told him how thirsty I've been at night, probably caused by too much salt in restaurant food.  He quickly showed us a bottle of kombucha tea--slightly fermented and carbonated; it was his favorite flavor, gingerberry, has live cultures and is very thirst-quenching.  Without even asking what other flavors he had, I told him I'd take it.  He responded with "but you don't know what the price is!"  Actually, I had noticed the price of $4.19, but didn't care.  I wanted to try it.  Meanwhile, Chuck grabbed a large container of chocolate covered coffee beans.  That drink cost more than my sandwich but I loved it. I'm afraid I could become easily hooked but at that price I think I'll have to let it go.  Maybe just once in awhile--it's even more expensive than a cappuccino at Peet's!

Returning to our car, we were just in time to see the Amish couple get into a gigantic Chevy Suburban (I guess that's redundant) with the other couple.  We were too shocked to notice whether either one got into the driver's side or the passenger side.  I must say, this is my one and only exposure to anything Amish, and I was pleasantly surprised.  For some reason I was expecting very stern people with nose to the grindstone.  I guess you don't need TV or the Internet to be happy, not to mention clothes in differing styles, Temperpedic beds, movies, Kindles, iPhones, iPods, iPads or a car for road trips.  At A&W we ran into two more ladies in identically styled dresses but sporting different patterns (yes, another stop for Chuck--for his now traditional daily fix of root beer float).  I guess A&W is on the allowed list for the Amish.

Winding our way through the back roads, we came to Devil's Lake State Park, our next destination.  By now the rain had started; but the ranger was very nice and helpful, mapping out the route through the park and some back roads to get us to our present location, Spring Green, Wisconsin.

Back in civilization (towns of about 1,100), we have noticed quite a few Obama/Biden lawn signs and announcements for town meetings.  One sign advertising a meeting said "Who cares?  Obama cares."  Another said "Don't Give More to the 1%."  We haven't seen a single Romney sign--but perhaps this is due to strong support, rendering such signs unnecessary?

I love this sign on a truck with Wisconsin plates.  I have no idea who the ass is; but surely there are enough of them to cover several States.

Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.  ~Lao Tzu

Toward the Big River

by Chuck

Today, we started in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, drove straight across Minnesota, and ended in Wisconsin. We regretted bypassing Minnesota sights, but we did see an Amish family driving down the road.  The real beauty seemed to be north, and we decided that we didn't want to lengthen the road trip for that. Maybe we can take that in on a future trip across Canada by train or car, dropping down on occasion to catch the far north of the US lower 48.

Along the way, about 11:30am, I spotted a sign for an A&W Root Beer stand only 2 miles off I-90. I was thirsty; there was no reflection necessary. Just short of the A&W, hungry Claire spotted a Subway sandwich shop; so we stopped twice for a threefer--the daily special sub sandwhich (chicken, on Sundays, for $3.25) for both of us, and then a root beer float for me and gas for Cristina. These refreshment stops make the long driving spells tolerable.

We were delighted to drive through the small, charming village of St. Charles on the way to eat. It is what I imagine much of this part of the country to be--low key, lots of old homes (large and small), no front yard fences, virtually no traffic (foot or car). I especially liked seeing the occasional brick home or office building.

After 4 1/2 hours of highway driving, we finally crossed Minnesota and the Mississippi, arriving at Perrot State Park. I had identified this as an end of day offering to Claire's insatiable lust for natural beauty.

This is a view across the Mississippi looking back to Minnesota  from the vantage point of Brady's Bluff--a 520 foot vertical climb from the parking lot. We noticed, along the way, that things were much greener than they had been recently and that the humidity seemed much higher. Minnesota license plates proclaim "10,000 Lakes" and the Mississippi certainly has water to lend to the air. Maybe my skin won't be so dry for a while.

Part of the trail had stone steps on the steeper portions

Claire has time to take photos while waiting for me to catch up

I do well on the flat and downhill sections

Here is the Mississippi, some shrubbery, and Trempealeau Mountain and Bay

Standin' on the dock of the bay watching the tide roll away...

From a distance, the green on the water looks like scum; but close-up it is really little "clover" petals floating on the water.

I don't much like rowing; but, it is wonderful to watch someone else do it. After we hiked up Brady's Bluff from the east and down the shorter, steeper route to the west, we hiked the River Walk Trail back to Vicki Cristina Barcelona.

My reward for all this exercise was to lounge, alternately, in the pool and the hot tub at our Days Hotel, La Crosse, Wisconsin, followed by dinner at the hotel bar & grill. 

California Garden Flatbread

Wisconsin: Smell the Dairy-Air ~ Unattributable