Editor's Page

EDITOR'S

FORTY YEARS AGO Frank Lloyd Wright designed a simple, handsome, and comfortable home for a friend who under ordinary circumstances could not have afforded to commission the services of the famous architect. The house was planned to fit a relatively small subdivision lot in Phoenix, and material and construction costs were carefully held to a modest level. The client: Raymond Carlson, the legendary, longtime editor of Arizona Highways.

In January of this year, the Phoenix Art Museum unveiled a fascinating exhibition: "Frank Lloyd Wright Drawings: Masterworks from the Frank Lloyd Wright Archives." In this issue Arizona Highways is pleased to present a sampling of the drawings, sketches, and designs that were loaned by the Wright archives for the show, along with Christopher Geoffrey McPherson's account of how this unusual exhibition came about.

One of the drawings on display, reproduced above, is a perspective of the Raymond Carlson house. Construction was completed in 1951, and the house was occupied by Carlson and his wife, Helen (better known to friends as Zilch), until Helen's death in the late 1960s. The house was sold inthe early '70s, although Carlson lived on in a retirement home until 1983.

Subsequent owners had made several changes in the house when, in 1986, it was acquired by Christian Petersen. The present owner engaged architect Charles Schiffner, who had studied at the Wright school at Taliesin West, and he and Petersen undertook a careful restoration. In the process the home was returned to its original appearance, including its distinctive color scheme of gray and turquoise blue.

The Carlson-Petersen house became the subject of an article in the February 1989 issue of Phoenix Home &Garden. Last fall the restoration won a special award in the biennial Western Home Awards program sponsored by Sunset and the American Institute of Architects.

The Phoenix Art Museum exhibition of Wright drawings will continue through April 8. The museum is located at 1625 N. Central Ave. (Central at McDowell Road), and is open from 10:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M. Tuesday through Saturday: 10:00 A.M. to 9:00 P.M. On Wednesday; and 1:00 to 5:00 P.M. on Sunday. It is closed on Monday and major holidays. There is an admission fee except on Wednesday, when everyone is admitted free of charge. For information concerning guided tours, telephone (602) 257-1222.

Meanwhile, the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation is sponsoring a series of other special events that will continue throughout 1990 and 1991 with the theme Taliesin West: Frank Lloyd Wright's Arizona Legacy. These include tours of the late architect's home and school of architecture at Cactus Road and 108th Street, Scottsdale; longer (half-day) "behind the scenes" tours; and workshops, lectures, seminars, and musical performances. For specific information, write to Taliesin West, Scottsdale, AZ 85261; or telephone (602) 860-8810.

In other Highways articles this month, Larry Cheek explains how the experts anticipate and then manage the levels of central Arizona reservoirs when runoff from rainfall and snowmelt flows down from the highlands; artist Bill Ahrendt takes us back to the Cactus Derby of 1914; Louise Gacioch tells us what an "avocational archeologist" does; Marion Donaldson stirs memories of a town now gone; Jack Dykinga captures some of the special moods of the Vermilion Cliffs country; and George Ridge invites us to visit the nation's only Titan missile museum.

On their behalf, welcome!