Taliesin, A Great Birthday Package

The last of the sparkling wine packages is: Taliesin, A Great Birthday Package.  We provide a bottle of our Bin #03 Freixenet Cordon Negro Brut, 2 Keepsake Craftsman B&B flutes and a box of Harry & David Truffles for just $25.00.  That's cheap, I mean inexpensive.  Freixenet is a Spanish bubble so do you remember what that is called?  Cava, baby!  It comes in a bottle that is Mike's favorite color, matte black.  Here is a picture of Mike on his matte black Ducati Monster.

So what or where is Taliesin?  Taliesin was the summer home and studio of Frank Lloyd Wright in Spring Green, Wisconsin and is a National Historical Monument.  He moved there after leaving Oak Park and his first wife for the wife of a client.  A great architect, not a great husband.  The area was originally settled by his mothers family, Welsh immigrants and Taliesin, a name of a Welsh bard, means "shining brow" and he positioned the home on a favorite brow of his childhood.  Wright experimented with Organic architecture by using local stone to mimic sandbars in a river.  Wright and his mistress moved into the house in 1911.

This is where the story of Taliesin gets a little dark.  While Wright was away in Chicago working on the Midway Gardens, one of his staff set fire to the living quarters and murdered seven people with an axe.  The dead included Wright's mistress and her two children.  The murderer died in jail weeks later.

Wright rebuilt the living quarters and renamed it Taliesin II.  Again, another fire.  This one caused by a telephone line that may have been struck by lightning during a storm.  It was rebuilt as Taliesin III.  Wright continued living at the house and acquiring land to grow the estate to nearly 600 acres.  He was always making changes to the house and used his students/ apprentices in his fellowship and other invited artists to do the work.

Taliesin West was the winter home and school for Frank Lloyd Wright and another National Historic Monument.  It was built entirely by students of The Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture, which still hold classes here.  Mike visited the site a long time ago while in Arizona visiting his grandparents.  Located in what used to be in the middle of nowhere, Scottsdale AZ.  The building is made entirely of stone found on the site.  The canvas roofs provide natural light to the building.  Low linear roof lines provide the buildings to blend in to the natural landscape.  Wright designs morphed from linear prairie school style to more futuristic in the Gammage Auditorium at ASU Tempe, one of Wright's last public commissions.  Wright lost the plans originally for a opera house in Baghdad, Iraq to Grady Gammage, president of ASU in a card game.  Another out of this world design is the Marin County Civic Center.

In 1940, Wright along with his third wife formed the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation.  After his death in 1959, the Foundation took over Taliesin and Taliesin West.

OK, that was a lot of history to describe a wine package, but you can see how much thought we at The Craftsman B&B put into a name.  Just think how much thought we have put in to making your stay relaxing and enjoyable.  I am here to make your visit to Pacific City a historic one, oh and the innkeeper does his share too.

Oak Park

Here at The Craftsman B&B we offer wine packages to our guests. They are very popular as our guests choose to say in a B&B to celebrate a special occasion like birthday's and anniversaries. So in addition to their room and a great breakfast, they get a bottle of wine and other goodies to make their stay memorable.

The packages vary greatly in what is available and we have named them after famous and not so famous towns that are known for their Craftsman Style homes.

Our top of the line, ultimate package is called Oak Park. It includes a bottle from the cellar of our Bin #01, Dom Pérignon Champagne, 2 Keepsake Craftsman B&B champagne flutes, 2 Keepsake Spa Robes, a box of Oregon made Harry & David Truffles and one dozen roses. Whew, that's a lot and for only $300.00.

Dom Pérignon was a monk that "bottled the stars" and is said to be the Father of sparkling wine. He, in fact developed Méthode champenoise, the process used to make the bubbles and the wine is named in honor of him. Quality of sparkling wine is judged by the size of the bubble. Tiny Bubbles anyone? Sparkling wine is made all over the world. In France, the home of the process is Champagne and only wines form this region can be called Champagne. Outside the region but still in France is called Crémant, South Africia calls it Cap Classique, Spain's is called Cava, in Italy wine made in the Piedmont region is called Asti and in other areas, Spumante. Sekt is the German version. USA is just sparkling wine, but no matter where it comes from, look for Méthode Champenoise on the label to know it is made the "correct" way. Some cheaper brands tank ferment and it should be done in the bottle.

OK, now that I have impressed you with my trivial wine knowledge lets talk about Oak Park. This village in Cook County, Illinois is the starting point of the career of architect Frank Lloyd Wright. Here the Prairie style of design was developed to mimic the surroundings. Open plan, flat, linear lines using natural materials. Our Prairie room reflects the Prairie School style of design which offered an alternative to Classical Revival Style common in the day.

Oak Park also is home to some of the best sit-com actors, Bob Newhart and Betty White. For you literary types, Oak Park is the birthplace of some guy named Ernest Hemingway. I don't know much about him, except he likes to fish. Oh, wait in meant to say "Doh!" The voice of Homer Simpson, Dan Castellenata hails from Oak Park.

I hope you learned something new by following all the hyperlinks in today's blog. Maybe it has inspired to you take a break from the traditional B&B style and come pay me a visit. I am after all, the alternative dog, not a lab or Whatever-doodle, just a happy, spoiled Weimaraner.