Welcome to the second episode in this miniseries about Frank Lloyd Wright. This is George Bartley in a wax museum in the city of Chicago, and we are talking to a wax figure of .the great architect himself. When we left Frank was talking about his trip to Europe with his–how shall I see it–his lover MAMAH.

When Frank returned to the United States, he did not live with his wife Kitty and his children but instead lived with MAyAH.

Mr. Bartley, that is true, and my mother gave me 31 acres of her families land in Spring Green, Wisconsin. Not surprisingly I moved there with MAyAH, and built a home called TALIESIN. 

Mr. Wright does the word TALIESIN have a specific meaning?

AH, Mr. Bartley some say that it is a Welsh word meaning radiant, others claim that it has more to do with home out of the shining brow of a hill. In any case it had lots of windows where MAMAH and I could look out over the valley.

Unfortunately Mr. Wright, I understand tragedy struck in 1914.

Yes, Mr. Bartley. On August 15 of that year when I was in Chicago working on the Midway Gardens project, I received a phone call that informing me that TALIESIN was on fire.

Mr. Wright, how could something like that happen?

Mr. Bartley, My servant, Julian Carlton, set fire to the house after serving lunch, and then he murdered seven people– Most of them with a hatchet.

I will never forget–The names of those who died were: my dear partner, mamaH BORTHWICK her two children, John and Martha Cheney Emil Brodelle ( a draftsman); Thomas Brunker (a foreman); David Lindblom (a gardener); and Ernest Weston, the 13-year-old son of carpenter William “Billy” Weston.

And Mr. Bartley, I was naturally very heartbroken about the tragedy, but I attempted to work through my grief. I firmly believe that in action, there is release from anguish of mind, and I worked for several years to rebuild 

Mr. Wright, I have studied your life– Something that I will go into later–and I know that you were also designing the imperial hotel in Tokyo Japan at basically the same time.

Frank: Yes Mr. Bartley. You see the country of Japan had been hit by many earthquakes, and I needed to design and construct the imperial hotel so that it would still be standing after the inevitable earthquakes that would occur in the country. I certainly did not want my work to collapse like the Wisconsin State Capital building so many years ago.

George: How did you do that, Mr. Wright?

Frank: Mr. Bartley, I built the walls thicker at the bottom then at the top, making the building far more stable.  And I also constructed the hotel in sections.

Mr. Wright, why did you do that?

AH, Mr. Bartley– That way if one section DID TOPLE, it would not pull the entire building down with it. And I worked on the hotel from 1917 to 1922. I am proud to say that my second oldest son, John Lloyd, also an architect, worked as my assistant–and from this he gained an idea for a lucrative new toy.

Mr. Wright could you explain that new toy to us?

Certainly– I thought you would never ask. John Lloyd thought that children could create their own to a buildings except they needed the right materials. Therefore my son invented Lincoln Logs.

So we have a little plug here!

Mr. Bartley, What do you mean by a plug– Is it connected to a drain?

Never mind, Mr. Wright. But getting back to the imperial hotel, what was it status?

Mr. Bartley, the Imperial Hotel opened in 1922. That same year kitty and I finally divorced they it seems for all the many years that we had been living apart, kitty was hoping that I might return to her and the children. I certainly had visited my children and they visited me, but you might say that I was never quite one my call a traditional father. I never really had the father feeling for my children– I only had that feeling for my buildings. Note that I have become a great artist and builder, but sometimes there are those who say that I could be & extremely selfish man.

As I understand it, Mr. Wright, on the very day that the Imperial Hotel held it's completion ceremony–September 1, 1923–Japan was hit by a very powerful earthquake -One of the most powerful in its entire history. 

Yes, Mr. Bartley, almost a quarter of a million people died and 300,000 buildings were completely destroyed. But my hotel was one of the few buildings that withstood the earthquake. Now I was back in the United States when the earthquake occurred, and a few days later I received a telegram from the emperor of the country saying "Hotel stands undamaged as monument to your genius. Congratulations!

Mr. Wright, I would not be surprised to learn that this made you even more famous at the time.

Mr. Bartley, unfortunately, I did very little building over the next decade. I always believed my designs were the best and I would like to think that I never compromised– And sometimes my design cost more than the builder wanted to spend and sometimes after hearing my ideas, I was fired so that another architect could design the structure.

Also this was an extremely sad time in my personal life. My mother died in 1923. Then in 1925 Taliesen caught fire again and was greatly damaged.

Mr. Wright, was anyone hurt this time?

Fortunately, no. But I had to work hard to rebuild TALIESIN again. Fortunately there were some happy times for me. I did fall in love with an artist by the name of MAUDE Miriam Noel in 1923 but we were divorced just four years later. However in 1928 I married OLGIVANNA or Olga HINZENBERG. Olga was very beautiful and 33 years younger than me. Together we had a daughter by the name of IOVANNA.

So I guess you could say, Mr. Wright, that your family life was more secure then it had been previously.

Yes, Mr. Bartley, this is undeniably true, but unfortunately my career began to suffer.

And why was that, Mr. Wright?

AH, Mr. Bartley–a major reason was the occurrence of the Great Depression. You see, individuals just did not have the money to build new residences. And the world of architecture was drastically changing. Designers were moving away from constructing buildings with wooden stone, and began using glass and metal instead. And by 1933, one of every four people in the United States was unemployed. The fact that there was a tremendous drought in the great Plains states worsened the situation because farmers could not go crops and food became scarce.

Mr. Wright, however I do take it that this economic downturn eventually ended.

Thank goodness Mr. Bartley, but the unfortunate side was that modern technology allowed individuals to design cheaper houses and other buildings that were built quickly. They often resembled each other because they were mass produced. And it definitely affected my business.

So what did you do, Mr. Wright?

Mr. Bartley, I certainly did not have the chance to construct new buildings, so I began lecturing at institutions of higher learning across the United States. And I also wrote a book about my early life& my opinions regarding art, architecture, and even love.

Mr. Wright, what was the name of that book?

It was simply called An Autobiography. And in 1932, my wife Olga and myself opened a school directly beside TALIESIN. I called the school the TALIESIN Fellowship and welcomed students to come each year and learn under me, as well as do a bit of work. The student studied design and other arts, as well as doing farm work such as growing their own food - just as I had done when I was a young lad.

Mr. Wright, is it true that one of the students at the fellowship was Edgar Kaufman Junior?

Yes, Mr. Bartley.

Could you tell us a bit more about this Edgar Kaufman?

Certainly Mr. Bartley, Edgar KAUffman Junior was the son of Edgar Vffman Senior, who owned a famous department store in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The KAUFMANNS also owned 2000 acres of land in a beautiful forest area south of Pittsburgh. At the time Pittsburgh was a center of steel production, and as a result, was a rather dirty city. The KAUFMANNS wanted to build a house near a waterfall on their getaway land, and asked me to design the home. I thought about what I wanted to build for at least nine months, and when I sat down to draw the house I completed the plans in less than two hours.

Yes Mr. Wright, I have worked as a guide at that house– Also referred to as Fallingwater-and damn well familiar with the story.

Then you should know that instead of designing the house NEAR the waterfall, I designed a house that was built ON the LEDGE of the waterfall, making it appear that the house GREW right out of the rock! But if you have worked at falling water I am sure you know what I mean.

I certainly do, Mr. Wright, and the experience of stepping out of the house with the waterfall directly beneath you never fails to take my breath away!

AH, Mr. Bartley and from what I understand, many articles about falling water appeared all over the country. I was of the age where many might consider me has been– 70 years old–but instead of retiring, I entered the most creative and successful PERIOD as an architect. Now, Mr. Bartley, you say that you were a guide at Falling water. How did that occur? I intended the house to be a summer retreat for the Kaufman's.

Mr. Wright, it was–then as I understand it– then at Edgar Kaufman Senior's death, the house was left to the SON, Edgar KAUFMAN Junior. And currently, the house is operated by the Western Pennsylvania conservancy, and people from all over the world can tour Fallingwater as a scenic and architectural treasure.

Mr. Bartley, I have been doing all this talking– Since you are a guide at Fallingwater, once you give me a rest& tell me some of the things that you told guests on your tours?

That would be quite an honor, Mr. Wright to talk to the master himself about one of his most outstanding contributions to architecture. I hope I can remember…I would meet guests at a bridge and explain to them that falling water was a vacation retreat for the KAUFMAN family as they sought escape from Pittsburgh during the 1930s. Then we would cross the bridge and follow a pathway to the house itself.

Mr. Bartley, don't forget to mention that when an individual cross the bridge he or she was experiencing the sounds of nature.

Yes Mr. Wright, and those sounds of nature meant that something special was going to occur when they entered a gradually unfolding house.

And when the visitor entered, they realized that the first floor had an open plan, as nature, with the sound of a gently flowing stream, was brought inside.

I did arrange a selection of music by basically classical composers called Fallingwater Dreams that was sold in the Falling water Bookstore.

Perhaps I can hear that someday. Why don't you bring it here some night and we can hear it!  I am sure we can find an old Victrola around here.

That would be a definite honor– to receive your opinion of my musical tribute to your creation.

AH, Mr. Bartley I will always have fond memories of falling water because it changed everything–I had just entered the most successful and creative period of my entire life. And now that I was arguably the most famous architect in America, many extremely wealthy people wanted me to design expensive residences for them. Interestingly enough, a journalist by the name of Herbert Jacobs wrote to me asking if I would design a rather inexpensive home for his family in Madison Wisconsin. This Mr. Jacobs only wanted to spend $5000.

Why, Mr. Wright– If I remember correctly from my training, Falling water had cost well over $100,000 to build.

Precisely, Mr. Bartley. I enjoy the new challenge–I wanted to see if I could design an affordable and stylish home for everyday people using my vision of organic architecture.

The Pope-Leighey House was built about three years after Fallingwater. Like the Jacobs house, it represents my more affordable, compact Usonian vision, whereas Fallingwater was a large, luxurious country retreat.

Mr. Wright, it seems that these years were becoming the most productive of your entire life.

Precisely, Mr. Bartley. After 1946, I designed 260 new buildings including a glass temple in Pennsylvania that look like a mountain and a gas station in Minnesota with an observation tower. I designed a Unitarian church in Wisconsin that look like two hands in prayer, and perhaps most famously the design for the Guggenheim museum in New York City.

Mr. Wright I think that the Guggenheim Museum is an incredibly interesting story!

I quite agree, Mr. Bartley. My intentions were to design a museum that would be as interesting as the art on the walls, and I designed a building that looked like a giant teacup. Inside a ramp expires to the top of the building, and an elevator takes visitors to the top of the ramp so they can slowly walk down and view the museums great collection of priceless art.

How long did it take to build the Guggenheim museum?

Mr. Bartley, it took 16 years to complete the museum.

That seems like a rather long time! Was there any specific reason?

Possibly it was because so many individuals disagreed with what I designed– They found it most unconventional! They were probably of the opinion that it's swirling shape would look strange in the middle of the other buildings nearby. An artists may have thought the building itself would take peoples attention away from the art that the people came to see. One newspaper article even referred to me as Frank Lloyd Wrong. But I firmly believed that the unique shape of the building with compliment the paintings hanging there. AND, as usual, I was right.

Join us for the two episode in this discussion with the wax figure of Frank Lloyd Wright– An episode that I know you will not want to miss this mixture of music and architectural design –by the name of Fallingwater Dreams -  Part One .This has been George Bartley.

Sources include

Frank Lloyd Wright. An Autobiography, in Frank Lloyd Wright Collected Writings: 1930-32, volume 2. Edited by Bruce Brooks Pfeiffer, introduction by Kenneth Frampton (Rizzoli International Publications, Inc., New York City, 1992), 240.