If you love architecture or just appreciate an incredible view, you have got to make the drive out to Taliesin in Spring Green, Wisconsin. This 800-acre estate was Frank Lloyd Wright’s personal home, studio, and living laboratory for decades, and it is easily one of the most stunning places in the Midwest.
The name Taliesin means “shining brow” in Welsh, and it fits perfectly. Wright built the main house right into the brow of the hill, rather than on top of it, so it feels like a natural extension of the landscape. Everything is crafted from local limestone and sand from the nearby Wisconsin River.
When you take a tour, the best part is seeing his “organic architecture” philosophy up close. The ceilings start incredibly low to give you a cozy, compressed feeling, and then they suddenly open up into these massive, sunlit rooms with huge windows. It completely blurs the line between the indoors and the beautiful rolling hills outside.
The estate is huge and has so many cool structures to explore besides the main house. You can check out the Hillside Home School, which features a gorgeous drafting studio with a soaring roof, and the towering Romeo and Juliet Windmill. Every corner you turn has some experimental design element that Wright was testing out.
It is officially a UNESCO World Heritage Site, so you do need to book a guided tour ahead of time to get inside the buildings. Standing in the very studio where he designed masterpieces like Fallingwater and the Guggenheim is a total core memory. Just grab some comfortable walking shoes, because you will be doing plenty of exploring across the hills!