This scholarly book focuses on the 1914 brutal murders of Frank Lloyd Wright’s mistress, her two children, and four of the workers and architects living in the original Taliesin buildings in Spring Green, Wisconsin. I lived for years only a few blocks away from Wright’s Usonian Jacobs House in Madison, which I toured during its annual open house. Although I think Wright is one of the more brilliant minds of the 20th century, I knew little about his personal life. And I hadn’t a clue that the Taliesin that you can visit today is the third building to be constructed there—the first two were both burned. The earliest burning, and the deaths the fire was meant to conceal, are the subject of this book.
Drennan looks at the records, the newspaper reports, and when possible, interviews those who were present that day, and attempts to reconstruct the timetable and reasons for the tragedy. He also provides a good overview of Wright’s professional and personal life up to that point, not glossing over the bad (such as Wright’s megalomania) nor fluffing up the good (Wright’s mega-talent).
Wright built Taliesin for his lover, Mamah Borthwick Cheney. One August day while Wright was in Chicago frantically finishing his current project of the Midway Gardens on the city’s South Side, a man was unleashing his demons on those nearest and dearest to Wright. Back in Wisconsin, the workers—carpenters, draftsmen, landscapers and architects—were having lunch in one part of Taliesin, and Cheney and her son and daughter were having their lunch on the porch. Serving them was Julian Carlton, one of the two servants in the household. After he served the food, he butchered Cheney and her children with a hatchet, then locked the door where the workers were dining and poured gasoline under it. Drennen does a good job of presenting facts, questioning the conclusions drawn at the time, and building his case on why the murders happened. This is an excellent book, whatever your thoughts are regarding Wright the person and the architect.
Drennan looks at the records, the newspaper reports, and when possible, interviews those who were present that day, and attempts to reconstruct the timetable and reasons for the tragedy. He also provides a good overview of Wright’s professional and personal life up to that point, not glossing over the bad (such as Wright’s megalomania) nor fluffing up the good (Wright’s mega-talent).
Wright built Taliesin for his lover, Mamah Borthwick Cheney. One August day while Wright was in Chicago frantically finishing his current project of the Midway Gardens on the city’s South Side, a man was unleashing his demons on those nearest and dearest to Wright. Back in Wisconsin, the workers—carpenters, draftsmen, landscapers and architects—were having lunch in one part of Taliesin, and Cheney and her son and daughter were having their lunch on the porch. Serving them was Julian Carlton, one of the two servants in the household. After he served the food, he butchered Cheney and her children with a hatchet, then locked the door where the workers were dining and poured gasoline under it. Drennen does a good job of presenting facts, questioning the conclusions drawn at the time, and building his case on why the murders happened. This is an excellent book, whatever your thoughts are regarding Wright the person and the architect.
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