December 17, 2016

December 17, 2016

We flew in and out of Phoenix this trip.  Because a new snowstorm was imminent, we took advantage of United Airlines’ offer and flew home last night arriving late.  Since we no longer like to drive at night we stayed in town and now have the day free in Phoenix.  We take advantage and make the 30-minute drive to Taliesin West in Scottsdale.  This was the winter home of Frank Lloyd Wright.  Many years ago we toured his home and studio in Oak Park outside Chicago. He is arguably America’s most famous architect and is widely known for his unique ‘prairie style” designs.

We sign up for the 90-minute tour and since we are early it turns out to be a private one with a very knowledgeable guide.  Wright came out here after suffering a bout of pneumonia.  The site started as a winter camp, but since it was the Depression and his income was meager, he moved his architecture school out here and used the free labor of his student apprentices to build the complex.

Wright believed in building in harmony with the environment.  All the walls are constructed of local stones bound by cement and integrate well with the surrounding desert. The tour starts with his personal living quarters and then moves on to the public spaces.  Interestingly there is nary a right angle to be found.  Even the doors are weirdly shaped.  I almost felt like I was in the land of Hobbits.

Taliesin West remains the home of Wright’s architecture school and apprentices still live and study here.  Near the end of the tour we get invited to join the Wright Foundation.  Aimee thinks it is a good investment because we are planning a trip back to the Midwest this fall where we can tour several more sites for free if we join.  I must have had a weak moment as I agree. 

From Scottsdale, we head south back towards Tucson.  About halfway we exit arriving at Casa Grande Ruins National Monument.  We visited this site in 2001 during an early scouting trip to Arizona.  It is an opportunity to stretch our legs and soak up the sunshine.

The ruins consist of a village of the Hohokam, ancestors of the Pueblo Indians.  The Hohokam learned not only to survive but thrive in this harsh desert environment.  Besides hunting small game and gathering cactus fruit and mesquite pods, they built an extensive network of canals off the small Gila River that allowed them to grow corn, beans and squash.

The village consists of a large walled rectangular compound with several interior buildings including one four-story Great House.  All the Hohokam villages were abandoned some 500 years ago.  No one knows why but, to me, the high walls suggest danger from some enemy.  Perhaps it was the Navajos or Apaches, nomadic raiders, who migrated here, and found the Hohokam farmers easy targets.