Designs in the Desert: Celebrating and touring architectural treasures in Scottsdale, Arizona
Credit to Author: Andrew McCredie| Date: Fri, 21 Feb 2020 14:31:56 +0000
SCOTTSDALE, AZ. — For many Canadian snowbirds, this desert suburb of Phoenix is all about the golf, the sunshine and the absence of moisture falling from the cloudless sky.
But increasingly, the self-described “West’s Most Western Town” is establishing itself as a mid-century modern architectural gem, tapping into the same sentimental spirit as Palm Springs has done with its wildly popular Modernism Week every February. Only instead of celebrating the works of, among other, architects E. Stewart Williams, Albert Frey and Richard Neutra, the burgeoning Scottsdale scene honours groundbreaking local designs of Ralph Haver, Edward L. Varney, Paolo Soleri and Frank Lloyd Wright.
And while many visitors to Scottsdale have done public tours of Wright’s majestic Taliesin West School of Architecture and his student Soleri’s Cosanti studio, they’d have little idea that tucked away in cactus-strewn subdivisions and hiding-in-plain-sight are architectural treasures just as interesting, and in some cases influential, as those of those two masters of design. For instance, Ralph Haver ‘s Phoenix-based firm built more than 20,000 so-called ‘Haver Homes,’ affordable tract housing notable for their low-sloped rooflines and floor-to-ceiling walls of glass, brick or cinder blocks. Haver’s mentor Varney, who studied under Wright, designed some of the state’s most iconic buildings, including Sun Devil stadium and the Hotel Valley Ho.
Here’s a look at three tours that provide insights into the architectural treasures of the Sonoran desert.
Frank Lloyd Wright's Wright’s majestic Taliesin West School of Architecture.
The elegant final resting place of Cheeta and Fiera on the Taliesin West property. Olgivanna Lloyd Wright, Frank's wife, had students design and build it for her beloved companions.
Another view of the dog cemetery.
The tea circle designed by apprentice Charles Montooth and built in the 1970s
An unexpected treasure on the Shelter Tour was a complete house based on one of Frank Lloyd Wright's unbuilt designs. It was built in the 1970s by Bruce Brooks Pfeiffer.
Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation VP Jeff Goodman stands by Branch during the tour.
Conor Denison, at left, helps in construction work of an addition at Paulo Soleri’s Cosanti studio in Scottsdale's Paradise Valley.
Hanging Tent was designed by Fatma Elmanalipinar and Fabian Mantel in 2001 and features a steel-framed tent suspended in the air by steel cables attached to a large supporting column
'Ava,' at left, and 'Hanging Tent' are studies in contrast in the Sonoran desert.
This shelter resembles a smaller version of at typical Scottsdale desert home, a style which is heavily influenced by Lloyd Wright's design philosophies.
Another whimsical shelter, though this one is for those who don't mind sleeping with the desert insects and mammals.
Another shelter designed extolling Lloyd Wright's teachings.
A very organic shelter with a Japanese influence.
A sleeping bag and a tuxedo. Along with creative chops, a curious mind and an adventurous spirit, that’s what apprentices heading west to Frank Lloyd Wright’s Taliesin Fellowship at Taliesin West in the Sonoran desert were required to show up with back in the day.
The formal wear was for when the young students would be invited to the Wright’s on-campus residence for an evening of rubbing shoulders with noted academics, celebrities and others basking in the arc light of the legendary architect’s genius.
The sleeping bag? That’s what kept them warm in the shelters they were required to design, build and live in during their studies over the winter months.
That tradition began way back in the late-Thirties when Wright and students built the now iconic main building overlooking Scottsdale as a winter campus to compliment his Taliesin estate in Wisconsin.
Among the first student-designed shelter was a lean-to built in 1938 by John Lautner, who would go on to be a notable architect and whose modernist homes embraced the kind of ‘organic’ design Taliesin West instilled in young minds. Google ‘Chemosphere’ for a look at his most famous work. And his Elrod House in Palm Springs is a mainstay of Modernism Week.
More than eight decades later those shelters continued to get designed, built, and slept in, many of them either adding on to existing shelters or at the very least using existing concrete pads for new builds.
I’ve done the school public tour at Taliesin West a couple of times — thanks to the unique perspective and personality of each tour guide, or docent, I learned different things and heard different stories each time — but hard has I tried could not line things up to get on one of the rare shelter tours operated by the students themselves. The seven-days-a-week tours are operated by the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation.
That changed a few weeks ago when I had the pleasure to get a personal tour of the shelters — and as it would turn out some very interesting, and unexpected, structures on the Taliesin West property — from Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation VP Jeff Goodman.
As we hopped on an electric golf cart and left the public parking lot for a rough-hewn desert one-lane track, I had the vision of one of those tuxedo-clad apprentices wandering back to their shelter along this very path under a bright Arizona moon after a memorable night of conversation and revelry. Before we came across the first shelters, however, Goodman pulled over and led me to a very low cement and stone structure built in a very similar fashion as the school walls. On top sat what appeared to be two cement birdbaths.
“Guess what this is,” Goodman said with a smile.
“The beginnings of a building that was never built?” was the best I could muster.
He led me around and pointed down to two cement pads covered up by desert shrubs.
“This is a cemetery for Mrs. Wight’’s dogs,” he said of her beloved companions. “She had the students design and build it. Here lies Cheeta and Fiera.”
Back in the cart for another short drive and we pulled over again, this time to check out another Mrs. Wright-commissioned structure, this one a semi-circular bench constructed of cement and rocks with three circular rock tables.
“This was for having afternoon tea,” said Goodman of the unique feature designed by apprentice Charles Montooth and built in the 1970s.
Then it was onto just one more stop before the shelters themselves, and one that I must say almost rivaled the shelters in terms of ‘wow’ factor. A complete house, built by Bruce Brooks Pfeiffer in the Seventies and based on one of Wright’s unbuilt designs. This home in and of itself, with circular rooms and natural light flooding in, could be the highlight of any mid-century modernism home tour, but for us it was just an appetizer before the real meal.
I caught site of the first shelter as we crested a bit of a rise, and I must say it wasn’t what I expected. But as Goodman pointed out, that’s the point.
Called ‘Ava’ and designed and built by Liu Xinxuan, it looked like a Wild West fort, only for about three people instead of an entire troop. On closer inspection, it was constructed entirely of two-by fours and plywood.
Next up was a minimalist design called Hanging Tent, designed by Fatma Elmanalipinar and Fabian Mantel in 2001 and featuring a steel-framed tent suspended in the air by steel cables attached to a large supporting column.
And so it went, one fantastical shelter after another. Brittle Bush, by Simon de Aguero in 2010, paid homage to the original tent shelters; Kamal Amin’s Lotus, built in 1963 and restored by Amin in 2004, is among the longest continuously inhabited shelter; and others that looked like mini versions of Wright’s open concept plans. Sadly, Amin passed away earlier this month.
“You’ll like this one,” Goodman said as we approached one of the final shelters on the tour. “A Canadian who graduated from here last year built it.”
‘Branch’ was the brainchild of Torontonian Conor Denison and utilized the ancient sustainable building method of rammed earth. It’s named in honour of his mentor and teacher Quentin Branch, who has used the rammed earth method of building for 40 years.
In a remarkable coincidence, I met Conor just an hour after my shelter tour while on a tour of Paulo Soleri’s Cosanti studio. In a scene that would have no doubt made Frank Lloyd Wright proud, this young graduate of his school was in jeans and t-shirt wheel-barreling concrete to and from a work site that was adding an addition on to Soleri’s incredible studio design. Wright, and Soleri, preached that an architect should not just sit at a drafting table; they should build their designs with their own hands to better understand not only how to fabricate but also how different materials can be manipulated.
Sadly, Conor is likely one of the last graduates of the School of Architecture at Taliesin as just last month the institution announced it will be closing at the end of the semester. This happened literally just days following my shelter tour, and in contacting Goodman after I heard the announcement, he felt confident the shelter tour program would continue to be an ongoing experience available to visitors..
As the foundation, which has been an independent organization from the school since 2017, operates the Taliesin West public tours, those are unaffected by the school closure.
But there might be a silver lining as the shelter tours could fall under the management of the foundation. To press time, no decisions have been made, but I can’t help but guess the shelter tours will become part of the foundation’s public offerings. Keep up to date on that and learn more all about all of the tours and events at Taliesin West by visiting http://www.franklloydwright.org
The Hotel Valley Ho on the edge of Old Scottsdale is one of many mid-century modernism architectural treasures located in the Phoenix suburb.
The hotel in its early days and before a tower was constructed on the property
Tour guide extraordinaire Ace Bailey, at right, educates and entertains participants during the Garden Apartment District portion of her Old Town Scottsdale Mid-Century Tour.
…and the hotel pool as it looks today. Note the second storey railings are the same.
The Hotel Valley Ho's pool in its early days…
The hotel's lounge, where you'll often hear hits from the Fifties and Sixties playing over the sound system.
The original lounge. Note second floor railings are same as today.
The original restaurant and lounge ares.
A fashion show on the pool deck back in the day.
As mentioned above, a tour guide makes or breaks a memorable tour, and the incomparable guide of the Old Town Scottsdale Mid-Century Tour guarantees that not only will you learn a lot about the architects and their creations, but you’ll also have a great time doing so.
Why Ace Bailey even invites you into her historic townhome during the Garden Apartment District portion of the two-and-a-half hour tour.
The by-appointment-only tour begins at the Valley Ho Hotel on the western edge of Old Scottsdale, an archetypal Hollywood brat pack desert hotel that opened in 1956 and incorporates many of the hallmarks of mid-century modernism. And while it has undergone different owners over the years, and undergone some renovations and additions, it retains much of the architectural genius of Edward L. Varney.
Bailey works as a concierge at the hotel, and her passion for the place, both its celebrity-packed history and its design significance, is infectious, as is her ever-present laugh.
From the hotel its just a short walk over the Garden District, where much to the credit of Scottsdale city planners it looks very much as it did when it sprang to live in the Fifties and Sixties. Replace the 21st Century vehicles on the quiet streets with cars from those decades and you’d swear you had time travelled.
Again, Bailey provides great insights into the designs, and as this is her own neighbourhood, funny anecdotes to share.
After walking a few blocks its back to Valley Ho for a drink and recap at the hotel’s funky ZuZu lounge.
If you’re still in the mood for more mid-century masterpieces, Bailey will provide you with a 12-stop self-driving tour map that features a dozen important Scottsdale buildings. She’s also happy to serve as a guide on that tour also.
For more information and to set up an Old Town Scottsdale Mid-Century Tour visit hotelvalleyho.com
The Price House, built in 1954 in Scottsdale, was one of Frank Lloyd Wright's final residential builds before his death in 1959.
Typical of Frank Lloyd Wright's genius, the car port features windows located at carseat height so your first impression of the house upon arrival is a framed view of the Sonoran desert.
Thanks to the dedicated stewardship of the Shoen family, who bought the Price house in the early 1960s, the interior, right down to furnishings and knick knacks, has been preserved as it was when Frank Lloyd Wright completed it.
The diningroom set looks like it was built just yesterday.
After animals and debris got into the outdoor livingroom during the first year, Wright had one of his students design and build these wooden doors.
A closer view of the amazing doors.
Wooden windows were also installed.
Natural light floods the outdoor living space thanks to a big opening in the ceiling.
The outdoor living space.
The open concept main room looks just as it did when the Price family moved in back in the mid-Fifties…
…right down to the knick knacks Wright selected as decorations.
Another view of the master bedroom.
The master bedroom, which was added on a year or so after initial construction.
The spacious master bedroon.
Wright's distinctive recliners are as comfortable on the body as they are pleasing to the eyes.
When Mrs. Price complained to Wright about closet space, he went a little overboard when he added the larger master bedroo.
The work desk in the master bedroom.
The view from the master bedroom.
All the lights in the house could be controlled from this panel in the original master bedroom.
One of the children's bedrooms.
The kitchen is just as Wright designed it, apart from the stainless steel fridge.
Clever swing out seats were ideal for the Price grandkids.
Chilly nights were warmed up by this big open fireplace in the outdoor living space.
The bathroom was year's ahead in terms of design.
A very interesting bathroom sink design for 1954.
The indoor fireplace.
The pool was included in the design specifically for the Price's young grandchildren to play in.
When the house was built, there were no homes on any of the local mountainsides.
Behind this beautiful wooden door is an outdoor kitchen.
Not all Wright residences were given this red tile stamp of approval by the architect, but the Price House did.
The massive driveway.
Getting back to that hiding-in-plain-sight aspect of Scottsdale’s architectural gems, very few of the thousands who drive by 7211 N. Tatum every day know that they are passing one of Frank Lloyd Wright’s ultimate designs. At least that’s how the architect felt about the Price House residence that was built on nine acres in 1954. He told Harold Price that it encapsulated all he had learned in his long life of design.
If you’re lucky enough to get on one of the rare public tours of the residence, it’s difficult to not agree. Having been at Taliesin West the day before, the design language Wright developed in the Sonoran desert was everywhere, along with original furniture in museum quality.
My tour guide was Jeff Lockridge, a former newspaperman now in the employ of U-Haul International.
U-Haul? Fortunately for Frank Lloyd Wright fans, U-Haul founder Leonard Shoen bought the house in the early Sixties from the Prices for a family home. Initially drawn to the home for its sturdy concrete and steel construction — “My boys won’t be able to destroy this house,” Lockridge says Shoen told the realtor — he would come to appreciate the historic value of the house. Not only would he keep it in the family as a legacy but also did no renovations or changes to keep its architectural integrity. According to Lockridge, its current state is how Wright envisioned it.
As with the shelter tours, public Price House tours are in a state of flux at the moment . Lockridge advises that if you are interested in taking one, reach out to pricehousefoundation.org
— amccredie@postmedia.com