Taliesin (studio) - Preservation

Preservation

In 1940, Frank Lloyd Wright and his third wife, Olgivanna (December 27, 1898 - March 1, 1985), formed the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, which still exists. Upon Wright's death in 1959, ownership of the Taliesin estate in Spring Green, as well as Taliesin West, passed into the hands of the foundation. The foundation also owns Frank Lloyd Wright's archives and runs a school, the Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture. The architectural restoration of the Taliesin estate in Wisconsin is under the supervision of another non-profit organization established in 1991, Taliesin Preservation, Inc. The entire Taliesin estate is a National Historic Landmark.

Some $5 million has been spent on the stabilization of Taliesin during the past two decades. Unfortunately, its preservation is "fraught with epic difficulties", because Wright never thought of it as a series of buildings with a long-term future. It was built by inexperienced students, and solid foundations for the buildings were not used. Its future is now in some doubt, and another major fund-raising project is about to begin.

It was submitted for UNESCO's World Heritage List along with the West site but was rejected.

In 2008, the U.S. National Park Service submitted the Taliesin estate along with nine other Frank Lloyd Wright properties to a tentative list for World Heritage Status. The 10 sites have been submitted as one, total, site. The January 22, 2008, press release from the National Park Service website announcing the nominations states, "The preparation of a Tentative List is a necessary first step in the process of nominating a site to the World Heritage List."