Scottsdale is Phoenix’s posh neighbor, dotted with gated communities, resorts and spas. While Arizona remains known for retirees, snowbirds and a particular brand of Don’t Tread on Me conservatism, a new generation has taken up residence, drawn not just by golf but by art, architecture and design.
Design nerds have plenty to work with, thanks to the legacy of two giants of architecture—Frank Lloyd Wright and Paolo Soleri. Their desert compounds—Wright’s fastidious Taliesin West and Soleri’s chaotic Cosanti—represent a yin-yang of design philosophies and offer a way into a different Scottsdale.
Taliesin West: Frank Lloyd Wright’s Legacy
Frank Lloyd Wright came to Arizona in the 1930s to create a place where he could work in peace and train apprentices. In 1937, he established Taliesin West—his winter home and “desert laboratory”—in what was then the middle of nowhere, 26 miles from Phoenix.
Wright and his students built the complex largely by hand, using materials harvested from the surrounding desert, all to the end of working with, rather than against, the terrain. The apprentices didn’t merely study architecture; they lived it. Wright required them to camp in the desert, and generations of students continued the tradition by designing and building experimental shelters in which they lived.
The architecture school is gone, but Taliesin West remains home to the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation and one of the best places to understand Wright’s ideas about organic architecture. Visitors can explore Wright’s living and working spaces, while a seasonal Apprentice Shelter Hike ventures into the desert to see the experimental structures.
Taliesin West | 12621 N. Frank Lloyd Wright Blvd., Scottsdale | franklloydwright.org
Wright’s Rival
If Wright was a madman for order, Paolo Soleri was just plainly a madman. Although his reputation was tarnished by posthumous allegations of sexual abuse, his work remains an important part of design history. (Wright was no Boy Scout either, BTW.)
The Italian architect came to Taliesin West in 1946 to study among Wright’s apprentices. But his wild nature, manic energy and boundary-pushing designs didn’t mesh with Wright’s monastic environment. Soleri was also challenging Wright on the national stage, winning exhibitions in New York and attracting attention in important architectural circles.
There is no definitive account of why Soleri was expelled from Taliesin West. But Claire C. Carter, former curator at the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art and a scholar of Soleri’s work, told me she believes the Italian’s splashy success was a threat to Wright’s near-domination of American architecture.
“Soleri was brash, cocky and his work was getting noticed in important circles,” Carter says. “I suspect that wasn’t to Mr. Wright’s liking.”
Whatever the reason, Soleri left Taliesin for Italy in 1950. He couldn’t, however, just let things lie. In 1956, he returned to Arizona and established his own rival workshop, Cosanti.
Where Taliesin West is all right angles—Wright angles?—Cosanti is wild and organic. Soleri pioneered a technique of mounding desert silt, covering it in concrete and digging the dirt back out, leaving domed structures that inspired George Lucas’ design of Skywalker Ranch in the opening scenes of Star Wars.
Cosanti remains a working studio where artisans cast its famous bronze and ceramic windbells. Guided tours explore Soleri’s buildings, and weekday visitors can often see a bronze pour.
Cosanti | 6433 E. Doubletree Ranch Road, Paradise Valley | 480-948-6145 | cosanti.com
Play
Enough architecture. Now get into the desert. And, yes, there’s a river.
The Lower Salt River cuts through the Sonoran Desert east of the metro area, creating an improbable ribbon of water among the cactus and rock, where birds, river otters and herds of free-roaming horses congregate.
Start at Saguaro Lake Guest Ranch, just below Stewart Mountain Dam. The ranch began as the dam’s 1920s construction camp; its old mess hall, ice house and commissary survive as the main lodge. Better yet, the private ranch provides access to the river upstream from the public recreation sites. Its five-mile kayak trip launches from the property and includes gear and a return shuttle. Reservations are required.
Saguaro Lake Guest Ranch | 13020 N. Bush Highway, Mesa | 480-984-2194 | saguarolakeranch.com
For dry land, Scottsdale’s McDowell Sonoran Preserve protects more than 30,500 acres of desert with more than 230 miles of trails. In warmer months, believe every warning about the heat. The desert is not screwing around.
McDowell Sonoran Preserve | scottsdaleaz.gov/preserve
Dine
At FnB in Old Town, chef Charleen Badman—winner of the 2019 James Beard Award for Best Chef: Southwest—builds her cooking around Arizona growers, while co-owner Pavle Milic champions the state’s increasingly serious wine industry. Yes, Arizona makes wine. Quite a bit of it, actually.
FnB | 7125 E. Fifth Ave., Scottsdale | 480-284-4777 | fnbrestaurant.com
For food, architecture—and more wine—Postino Highland occupies a former Valley National Bank branch designed by Frank Henry, an apprentice of Frank Lloyd Wright.
Postino Highland | 4821 N. Scottsdale Road, Scottsdale | 602-428-4444 | postinowinecafe.com
For a more literal taste of Arizona, head to Arizona Wilderness Brewing Co. in Gilbert. The brewery uses Arizona-grown ingredients, and some wild beers go further: Brewers have captured wild yeast during multi-day camp cooking trips, bringing it home to ferment beer carrying, quite literally, a little Arizona wilderness in every glass.
Arizona Wilderness Gilbert Brewpub | 721 N. Arizona Ave., Gilbert | 480-497-2739 | azwbeer.com
Stay
At the foot of Camelback Mountain, Mountain Shadows channels Scottsdale’s mid-century past. The original 1959 resort was a Hollywood hideaway before closing and eventually being demolished. Its 2017 reincarnation is a ground-up riff on desert modernism: low lines, walls of glass and enough mid-century swagger to make you consider furniture you cannot afford.
Take your wife there, please.
Mountain Shadows | 5445 E. Lincoln Drive, Paradise Valley | 480-624-5400 | mountainshadows.com
For even more throwback, Hermosa Inn began in the 1930s as the home and studio of cowboy artist Lon Megargee. Its adobe architecture, secluded grounds and casitas feel like an exceptionally well-appointed piece of Old Arizona.
Hermosa Inn | 5532 N. Palo Cristi Road, Paradise Valley | 602-955-8614 | hermosainn.com
Learn more about Scottsdale: experiencescottsdale.com
