Saturday morning saw us up and off early again to continue our Eastward trek. We jumped right back onto the I 90 again for another 120 miles and then turned off once we reached the Mississippi River. We took the Great River Road, a scenic route down the west side of the river. After crossing to the east side we decided to go "off piste" off our route and rode further south than planned to Prairie Le Chien, mainly because we loved the name! This is the second oldest town in Wisconsin having been settled and named by the French in the late 17th Century. It certainly was a cool town and we found a great spot for lunch and a coffee.
After lunch we continued east along the Wisconsin River until we reached Spring Green, Wisconsin. Here we checked into our motel for the night.
We are now on the Frank Lloyd Wright trail and thought the Usonian Inn was a good place to start. Usonia was a term coined by the man himself
to refer to his vision for the landscape of the United States. Usonian is now generally used to describe a certain group of homes designed for middle class Americans in the 1930s.
The Usonian Inn can be seen as a flat, single story, simple building across the field.
Our bikes parked outside our room at the inn. It was a super place and really got us excited for Sunday's planned activity. But first we took a walk into town and enjoyed spotting some of the Wright inspired architecture.
This bank was designed by his son-in-law. As was it's little brother two doors down:
This place was originally built to match the bigger bank as a drive through branch. It is now privately owned. The owner saw us admiring it, invited us inside and showed us around! What a privilege this was and the owner and his wife have done an amazing job of sympathetically converting it into a lovely weekend home complete with Frank Lloyd Wright style decor and furniture.
After a good nights sleep we were up early again and after a hearty breakfast at a nearby restaurant we packed up, loaded the bikes and rode 5 minutes south to the Frank Lloyd Wright visitor center.
This building was designed by FLW as a restaurant but was not completed whilst he was still alive. It is now home to the Taliesin Preservation, Inc and serves as the base for tours to Taliesin itself.
After enjoying looking around inside we boarded a small bus with our guide and were driven up to Taliesin itself.
View of the front of the house from the bus!
There are a number of buildings built around the crown of a hillside.
View of the back of the main house.
Taliesin was Wright's primary residence for 48 years, from 1911 to 1959. The Taliesin Preservation was founded an 1990 with the sole purpose of preserving the Taliesin estate as an eminent example of the vision of Frank Lloyd Wright. We were given an excellent tour in a small group and learned a lot about the history of this magnificent estate and the great man himself.
The inside, containing many of his collected artifacts was fascinating and, of course, quite unique.
The above was his desk where he would sit and draw his designs
He apparently loved to play the piano and had several in the house in his day. Note also the music stand designed by FLW for a string quartet to sit and play.
