Taliesin West

Very cool, staff is so friendly and helpful our tour guide did a marvelous job and was thorough but had a great sense of humor. Will definitely go back.

The winter home of the most influential architect of the 20 century did not disappoint. I’ve also been to Taliesin in Wisconsin. My only regret is that I only did the 90 minute tour. In Wisconsin I did a much longer one (all day?) There is so much ground to cover, you can barely scratch the surface in 90 minutes.
The gift shop is huge, impossibly beautiful and (mostly) reasonably priced.

One of the best experiences ever! I love architecture and Frank Lloyd Wright is my favorite architect. For Christmas my girlfriend bought the extended behind the scenes tour and loved every minute of it. They take you to the guest house, bedroom, dinning room, drafting studio, and 2 performance areas. They serve tea and a small snack and tell stories about the property, school, and architect the whole time. The guide was very knowledgeable, friendly and engaging. The property is beautiful and there is so much to see and enjoy. They have a nice gift shop and I would go back to take more tours anytime!

Back when North Scottsdale was only an arid expanse of desert nestled amongst the mountains, Frank Lloyd Wright saw promise, a dream, a vision of his own living space integrating the beauty of the natural Arizona wilderness into his home. The house is a marvel to behold, an experiment of sorts, of what he could accomplish in what was still an untamed land. Every piece of the house and property itself was carefully crafted, with great thought put into each aspect of the living spaces. The name itself Taliesin (Pronounced Tally-​ess-​in) is an homage to a childhood Welsh story he had heard way back when.
The tour was informative and our guide Phil B. provided excellent and entertaining commentary on the building of Taliesin West and Frank Lloyd Wright’s life. Each part of the tour revealed another innovative and unique aspect of this house, and the strengths and weaknesses of the designs. For instance, the canvas covers for the ceilings provide a perfect amount of light to show through, but they do require more maintenance, especially when it rains.
The house is still a living, breathing space for the past, present, and future. The last few remaining students from Frank Lloyd Wright’s original architectural school live here (They are in their 90s), tours highlight the depth and creativity of the artist’s vision which is still a work of timeless art, and it is still an educational experience for those that are starting their architectural career (Right now they offer masters programs).
We took the 90 minute Insights tour which was $ 32 per person online ($ 36 at the door) which I thoroughly enjoyed. About half the time was spent outdoors admiring the integration of desert and nature into the manmade space, the Asian influenced touches, and in general all the beautiful features that made this space a lovely place to call your home. The indoor area was equally amazing, as we toured bedrooms, entertainment areas, a storage/​movie room, and even a cabaret room made below ground.
The price of admission was worth every penny and you get a wonderful glimpse into the talented mind of Frank Lloyd Wright. Definitely a great way to spend a day in Scottsdale.

At first I thought it was ridiculously elitist that you have to purchase a tour ticket to visit Taliesin West; it’s not allowed to explore on your own. However, our tour guide Lori was so captivating that I changed my mind. She explained Frank Lloyd Wright’s life and vision in the most accessible and interesting way: knowledgable without being pretentious, admiring without being overly reverent, inspiring without being too philosophical, and just dry enough to keep us all entertained. Thank you, Lori!
I took the 1.5 hour «insights tour,» which conveniently runs every half hour from November to April and hourly otherwise. In my opinion, this tour has the most universal appeal. Although it is pricey at $ 32 in advance and $ 36 in person, I think the extra half hour is wholly necessary, so I wouldn’t try to cheap out and go for the $ 24-​$ ²⁸⁄₁ hour «panorama tour.» If I came back a second time I would love to try out the night lights tour and see the fire-​breathing dragon in action.
To me, the highlights were FLW’s private bedroom with his cleverly partitioned bed and the breathtaking living room with furniture designed by FLW himself. You’re allowed to take pictures everywhere except in and around the studio, out of respect for the architecture students that still live and work here.
The gift shop here is fairly affordable, and a membership gets you an additional 10% off. If you’re thinking of a purchasing a membership, at the end of the tour they offer a special reduced price on the intermediate level membership.
I would emphasize that you do NOT have to be particularly educated about or even interested in architecture to enjoy this beautiful cultural site. I don’t know the first thing about architecture, and I left here feeling full of inspiration and new knowledge. If you’re in the valley I encourage you to take a tour – you won’t regret it!

AMAZING! This was not something I was excited about doing and ended up loving it. I bought the extended 3 hour tour for my boyfriend for Christmas who loves Frank Lloyd Wright and so I thought we would go take the «behind the scenes» extended tour and it was worth every penny. The extended tour comes with tea in the dining room where we actually had a guest speaker who studied with the master himself. The stories were fabulous, the scenery and architecture truly beautiful and unique, and worth a stop even if you do one of the shorter tours.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I adore Frank Lloyd Wright. His designs speak to me with his eccentric focus on details, fluid incorporation of nature in designs and how everything implemented is so purposeful. In modern terms they call him an eco visionary.
Taliesin West is about a 20 minute car ride and is Northeast from Downtown Scottsdale where we were staying. As with all car rides I was lulled into sweet slumber on the way there. We head into the McDowell Mountains to a private road that just looks so quintessential Arizona with all sorts of cacti, tumbleweeds and dry brush. It not just kind of magical, it is magical.
We head into the gift shop to get our tickets that were pre-​purchased online. Shortly after our tour is ready to start and we head outside and meet our guide. I go into complete fangirl spazz photo mode looking at the lines of the structure, how it faces the the sunset and the natural building supplies used for the construction.
Taliesin was created as a school of architecture and all the students had lugged the building supplies across the dessert as well as hieroglyphs that live on the property. Now hauling hieroglyphs from their found location is highly illegal. So I guess I can’t pack this rock in my luggage as a souvenir? Anyone know?
At the front of where we enter is an asian sculpture that Wright picked up at discount in San Francisco as it was partially broken. He was interested in Asian art, but only wanted it at a bargain. In my head I cheered, «Wright was ‘the value’, I may love him more now than ever.»
The first room we enter into is his office. The door is geometric and 6-​sided like many of his designs. The clean asymmetry sings to me on another octave, maybe only audible by dogs. We sit around a large table, undoubtably where designs were shared. On the main table was a design for the Arizona State Capital in 1957. Alas this structure was too modern for the times and never built.
Next we went back outside to the front of the building. Earlier from the side which we entered you really couldn’t get a good idea of the majesty and grandeur of the building but from the front you can breathe it all in. A flock of quails partied on the lawn and I imagined the parties that were held here.
Next we enter in the Garden Room which is riddled with glass windows. The greatest thing about this room was the story of the vase. Contractors had asked him to move the vase so that they could install the glass, but Wright insisted that the vase was where it belonged and they needed to build around it.
The rest of the room was filled with long benches and a collection of orange stools and his wing back chairs. My booty gravitated immediately to the wing back chair and plopped itself down. Mmmm… comfy. Also in this room was a grand piano as Wright loved music and the classics, he of course had a Steinway. This room was where he would host a lot of his parties and he was friends with a plethora of celebrities of this era including John Wayne. Again I’m hanging back so I can take more photos.
We then visit the living quarters for the Wrights. Frank and his 3^rd wife Olgivanna had separate bedrooms as Frank had a tendency to wake up after only 4 hours of sleep to sketch designs and would offset this behavior with naps. The genius in Frank’s room however was that he had two beds, a napping bed and a sleeping bed. Whenever he was in the sleeping bed people were not allowed to wake him. At this part of the story I really lusted for a napping bed. Close by to his bed was a tiny desk to which he’d work out nightly inspirations.
There were more details to the rest of the building, but you’ve let me go on for so long I don’t want to spoil the rest.
Taliesin West, you’re a gem. I’m so glad to have visited, you’re beautiful. We left just as the sun was setting and coyotes began strolling around the property.

Took the «Insights» tour — and not for the first time. This time was much different than the time before because the tour guide (Phil) spent much of this tour running down the management of Taliesin West, denigrating the business decisions of Taliesin West, and then at the end, talking about how the place has fallen on hard times and they’ve had to shut down their Bachelor’s program (leaving just the Master’s program) urging people to join the foundation. It was off-​putting to have traveled many hours to tour such a gem of a facility and then get a tour-​guide who’s clearly been there too long (he said 25 years) and clearly has become bitter and jaded and needs to take a vacation. Five stars for Taliesin West, one star for the tour guide.

A great way to see the summer home of Frank Lloyd Wright. Great to see the relationship between nature and structure.
Well kept school. Our tour guide Nicole A. Was not very knowledgeable about the structute, history of the school and current family.
For the price it would be expected for the guide to have more than just surface information. Appreciation of the environment not freely encouraged.

My husband and I did the 1.5 hour tour-​you can buy tickets online to save a few dollars. Nice gift shop with interesting architectural books. The tour guide was friendly and informative. The house itself is looking a bit dated. Some of the best views are from outside.

Super interesting tour. Do NOT go during Summer — we went in December and it was a perfect weather day for a visit. The tour guide was knowledgable and sweet.

I had a 7 hour layover in Phoenix, and made sure to book a rental car and a tour of Taliesen West ahead of time. Can you say #designerbucketlist? Sure, I had to drive a good 40 minutes there and back, but it was time well spent! (Hint: pick up a zipcar at the airport, in the Avis parking lot.)
I had high expectations and they were all met. What an amazing place. Beautiful and nicely preserved so you feel like you are in a different era. The last room, a kind of an underground jazz club was my favorite.
My tour was at 4pm, the last one of the day, and the sun was setting on a beautiful early November day as we walked around the grounds and in and out of marvelous buildings on the property. We were allowed to take pictures, and the leisurely pace of the tour was perfect, with room for a little bit of meandering and Q & A peppered throughout. I loved it.
The docent who gave the tour was so knowledgeable. She explained quite a bit of Frank Lloyd Wright trivia and didn’t hold back when explaining that the man had quite an ego. «He would never claim to be influenced by anyone, oh no!» she exclaimed at one point. «He’s a maverick. Very proud of his achievements and designs» and after seeing Taliesin West I can see why.

A true Phoenix-​area gem — I can’t believe I never reviewed it. As everyone already noted the docents are incredibly knowledgable and engaging. The anecdotes and stories are interesting and not too tourist-​geared.
You’ll learn a lot about FLW and not just about his architecture but his many inventions as well — including bi-​fold doors (wha??) and in floor lighting used by movie theatres. I took my husband who knew nothing of the man, and he left in awe of the building and the architect.
It is completely guided but there is the ability to roam the grounds and outdoor area a bit and yes — take all the photos you want, for most of the tour it’s fine.
If it’s summer time consider the night tour.

A few caveats for this tour — it’s guided, so you won’t be able to mill around (this contrasted from my tour of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Hollyhock House earlier this year, where you go as you like and there are docents available to answer questions); many sections of the house are off-​limits (consistent with my experience at other FLW houses); and it’s indoor/​outdoor, so depending on the time of day or season, be sure you are dressed and bring sunscreen or mosquito repellent as appropriate; and yes, you can bring your camera (surprised me, as inside Hollyhock they requested no photography).
With all of that out of the way, if you’re a fan of FLW you should absolutely go. You’ll find many of his design trademarks at work here, and learn much about how he wanted the home to fit into its desert habitat. This was a very remote location when the house was originally built — he even petitioned the President of the United States to get rid of the ugly above-​ground power lines after they went in! (Didn’t work, they’re still there.) Our guide was extremely detailed. I even learned a lot about lighting :) While the tours may seem pricey, they do sell out so I recommend booking ahead, and the funds go toward preservation so it is absolutely worthwhile.

We hadn’t been to Taliesin West in over 10 years, so we decided to try a night tour… boy, does nighttime give you a different perspective on this place and in such a good way! We were extremely fortunate to also have the opportunity to do the nighttime tour during a full moon… stunning for pictures along with a beautiful sunset. We even got to see a bobcat on our tour… he just fit in like he was one of the «pets» on property. Amy was our tour guide and she was fantastic — she truly gave us a great experience and was a wealth of knowledge. I highly recommend this tour for those that live in town and tourists alike.

A must-​stop for buffs of Frank Lloyd Wright’s (FLW) architecture in particular and American design more generally, Taliesin West offers a variety of tours at different price points, but for dire-​hard FLW fans the three hour «extended insights tour» is well worth the time and money. I went in the summer and while it’s a «dry heat,» it does get hot, although fortunately they plan accordingly, giving out as many water bottles as you wish through-​out the tour and stopping for a sit-​down presentation with food and drink mid-​way. One’s feelings about FLW as a man (some would say, misogynist) aside, there is no denying his creativity and influence on 20^th century world architecture and design and Taliesin West in many ways represents the culmination of what one sees visiting his first home and studio and many client homes in Oak Park (IL), the original Taliesin near his childhood home in Spring Green (WI) and myriad of iconic structures from NY to LA, perhaps most notably Falling Water (Mill Run, PA). Those who know them will identify elements of each of these structures in different components of Taliesin West’s multi-​building campus, but it isn’t necessary to have seen any other FLW building to appreciate the unique desert setting.
Although there are power lines and now miles of housing in the distance which weren’t there when FLW began, even on a warm day, the desert’s flora and fauna capture the imagination of those of us who come from other parts as perhaps they once did the «great man.» One visits a mix of public and private spaces of this very public figure, including theaters, the dining and drafting rooms used by architecture students (who as in FLW’s time go north during the summer and return to study here during the winter) as well as the personal quarters of FLW and his third wife, who survived him and did so much to promote his work. Interior and exterior photography is allowed and depending on the day an insightful speaker talks while you eat and a «golf cart» is used to take you to one or more of the outlying buildings built by and/​or occupied by students or staff. A car is needed to reach this location from Phoenix and some prior knowledge of FLW’s work and an interest in architecture is helpful to gain full benefit from an extended visit.

A hidden gem among all the glitz and glamour of Scottsdale and an Instagram snappers paradise!
Taliesin West was built long before Scottsdale was more than a blip on the map. While I’ve been in a few of Frank Lloyd Wright’s works, this was my first «official» tour in one of his personal homes.
We braved the scorching 115 °F heat and beating sun as the tour took us about the grounds of Taliesin West. The 90-​minute tour takes you through all 6 of the buildings on the grounds and plan to spend time both indoors and outdoors so keep that in mind based on the weather. The staff will gladly provide umbrellas and water bottles. Our guide was friendly and very knowledgeable. The staff all around was very welcoming.
The tour is a bit pricey at $ 32 (advance purchase) for the tour length but it goes to the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation and maintaining his works. The architecture and design is inspiring and a great history lesson. I found the tour far more interesting than a game of golf, something that draws many to Scottsdale!

I’ve visited a few of Frank Lloyd Wright’s other buildings, and this is a pretty epic site and the Western headquarters for Frank Lloyd Wright during his day.
Although some of the buildings are dated, there’s a certain aspect of modernity in his design, decades ahead of his time and aspects still being used today.
What’s even more amazing was how far and remote the site was from Scottsdale and Phoenix. Everything was transported or moved with trucks or by hand on unpaved roads. And the city and urban sprawl has creeped up to Taliesin.
Tours will require tickets, and they sell out, so book early.
Here’s another tip. If you take the night tour, which is 2 hours, it goes by really quickly. And bring BUG SPRAY. And maybe long pants. Within minutes of starting the tour, the group was a giant feeding tank for mosquitos. By the end of the tour, I had over 10 bites all over my legs.

A very worthwhile 90 minute tour by Mr Peter.
Very informative tour– architecturally & knowing the life of Frank Lloyd Wright married life in AZ

Okay, so this isn’t like an amusing park so if that is what you are expecting than I would suggest another attraction but this is for people who can find beauty in the random things in life.
My husband and I went to this place on our anniversary with a few architects friends thinking that we would see a building of where Frank Lloyd Wright lived and worked and that was it. I thought it would be this boring tour that our friends were pumped about but honestly… it was amazing!
The tour guides were so knowledgeable and even my friends who were in the «business of making buildings» were just completely in awe of their knowledge. The buildings all had beautiful interesting stories especially his living room with the hole in the wall for the vase he wanted… weird but SOOOO cool! The living quarters were just the highlight I would say along with the dragon. :) We didn’t get to see it lit up but you can see pictures and the burnt bushes around it and imagine its beauty. I would say my FAVORITE place was the amphitheater. The way the piano placement the acoustic were literally GENIUS!
We also met one of FLW’s original students while we were visiting the amphitheater and he told us his stories of his major fails and how the campus looked back in the day and all in all it was a great day.
One draw back was parking SUCKED and the drive up and down the mountain was a little… um…scary because the road is narrow.
Just a couple tips.
1. Buy early online. These tours sell out even on random days. (It happened to us.)
2. If a tour is sold out for the time, as long you don’t have A TON of people with you, they general will let you add in during that time slot. Go to the gift shop very quietly and ask if you can join the group you wish and pay. They will only tell you no if they don’t have space.