Ron McCrea
Author of Building Taliesin: Frank Lloyd Wright's Home of Love and Loss
Works by Ron McCrea
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Building Taliesin : Frank Lloyd Wright’s Home of… by Ron McCrea
Would appeal to those who are interested in both Frank Lloyd Wright the architect and the person.
Most readers have visited famous houses. Some are famous because of their magnificence: Breakers, Biltmore or Hearst Castle come to mind. Others are famous because of their associations: Mount Vernon, Monticello or Lincoln's home. What do you do with a home that is an example of stunning design, an incubator of genius and associated with both love and tragedy in the life of one of America's most renowned architects? If you are author Ron McCrea you would scour the world for the words and pictures that bring them to life and publish them in a book that is a treat for the mind and a delight for the eyes.
For the unaware, Taliesin is Frank Lloyd Wright's home, studio and farmstead in southern Wisconsin. "Building Taliesin" tells the tale of inception, construction and fiery end of the first phase of its existence. The 1911-1914 story begins with Wright and his lover, Mamah Borthwick, having abandoned their families preparatory to divorce, in their hideaway in Tuscany. Upon their return to America, Wright built a successor haven where they could continue their love in the hills of Wisconsin. Predictably for the time, they were objects of gossip as they lived their lives together, lives that would be cut short by a tragic and shocking crime. I will leave it at that. The suspense is part of the book.
Although Taliesin was a refuge, it did not exist in a vacuum. That Taliesin and its people played their parts in the Progressive Movement that dominated Wisconsin during this era is well documented in this book.
That, in brief, is the story. Now for the pictures: Leavened by over two hundred photos and drawings gathered from around the world, this book is a feast for the eyes. The people, the buildings and the scenery will grab the readers' attention and bring them back time and time again to look and to savor.
"Building Taliesin" is a story to read: a story of a love lost and a house built. It is an oversized book teeming with pictures deserving of a place on your coffee table where guests, and you, can pick up and gaze.
I did receive a free copy of this book for review.… (more)
For the unaware, Taliesin is Frank Lloyd Wright's home, studio and farmstead in southern Wisconsin. "Building Taliesin" tells the tale of inception, construction and fiery end of the first phase of its existence. The 1911-1914 story begins with Wright and his lover, Mamah Borthwick, having abandoned their families preparatory to divorce, in their hideaway in Tuscany. Upon their return to America, Wright built a successor haven where they could continue their love in the hills of Wisconsin. Predictably for the time, they were objects of gossip as they lived their lives together, lives that would be cut short by a tragic and shocking crime. I will leave it at that. The suspense is part of the book.
Although Taliesin was a refuge, it did not exist in a vacuum. That Taliesin and its people played their parts in the Progressive Movement that dominated Wisconsin during this era is well documented in this book.
That, in brief, is the story. Now for the pictures: Leavened by over two hundred photos and drawings gathered from around the world, this book is a feast for the eyes. The people, the buildings and the scenery will grab the readers' attention and bring them back time and time again to look and to savor.
"Building Taliesin" is a story to read: a story of a love lost and a house built. It is an oversized book teeming with pictures deserving of a place on your coffee table where guests, and you, can pick up and gaze.
I did receive a free copy of this book for review.… (more)
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