August 15, 2000

Romeo and Juliet Windmill

"Romeo, as you will see, will do all the work and Juliet cuddle along-side to support and exalt him. Romeo takes the side of the blast and Juliet will entertain the school children. Let's let it go at that. No symbol should be taken too far."
Frank Lloyd Wright, An Autobiography

This is one of my favorite Wright structures. I didn't understand the reference to the name until seeing that the windmill consists of a diamond (Romeo) wrapped with a octagon (Juliet). This diagram is not to scale, but it conveys the idea behind the design of the windmill. 

Romeo and Juliet overhead diagram.

According to Storrer, the windmill was torn down in 1990 and rebuilt on the original foundation and with the original roof. May it last another 100 years! 

These photographs are from the visit that my father and I made to Taliesin East this past summer. 

Looking up at the windmill.
The following is the view of the windmill from the Hillside School. You can see it was quite colorful with the flowers in bloom. It was a warm day, so we worked up a sweat climbing the hill for a closer look.
Looking up the hill at the windmill.
Although somewhat dark, you get a better view of Romeo in the following photograph.
A better view of Romeo.
Here is a closeup of the top of the windmill. Notice the red Taliesin square.
A closeup of the top of the windmill.

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