The Romeo and Juliet Windmill is a wooden structure designed by architect

Frank Lloyd Wright Frank Lloyd Wright Sr. (June 8, 1867 – April 9, 1959) was an American architect, designer, writer, and educator. He designed List of Frank Lloyd Wright works, more than 1,000 structures over a creative period of 70 years. Wright played a key ...

in the town of

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Bruce Brooks Pfeiffer, ''Frank Lloyd Wright Complete Works'', Vol. 1: 1885-1916,

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, 2009, p. 154. (Wyoming is south of the village of

Spring Green Spring Green or spring green may refer to: Colors * Spring green ** Spring bud, formerly known as spring green Plants * Spring greens, edible young leaves of certain plants * Spring greens (Brassica oleracea), vegetables Places in the United S ...

). The building is on the

Taliesin Taliesin ( , ; 6th century AD) was an early Britons (Celtic people), Brittonic poet of Sub-Roman Britain whose work has possibly survived in a Middle Welsh manuscript, the ''Book of Taliesin''. Taliesin was a renowned bard who is believed to ...

estate and was declared a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a National Register of Historic Places property types, building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the Federal government of the United States, United States government f ...

in 1976.

History

The windmill was designed in 1896 after being commissioned by Wright's aunts, Jane and Ellen Lloyd Jones, who needed the

windpump A windpump is a wind-driven device which is used for pumping water. Windpumps were used to pump water since at least the 9th century in what is now Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan. The use of wind pumps became widespread across the Muslim world a ...

to provide water for their school, the Hillside Home School. The diamond-shaped portion of the windmill intersects the portion with the balcony that sits on an

octagonal In geometry, an octagon () is an eight-sided polygon or 8-gon. A '' regular octagon'' has Schläfli symbol and can also be constructed as a quasiregular truncated square, t, which alternates two types of edges. A truncated octagon, t is a hex ...

structure. The balcony is accessible through an interior stairway. Wright named these two parts of the building "Romeo" and "Juliet". "Romeo" is the

lozenge Lozenge or losange may refer to: * Lozenge (shape), a type of rhombus *Throat lozenge A throat lozenge (also known as a cough drop, sore throat sweet, troche, cachou, pastille or cough sweet) is a small, typically medicated tablet intended to ...

and "Juliet", the octagon.

Architectural historian An architectural historian is a person who studies and writes about the history of architecture, and is regarded as an authority on it. Professional requirements As many architectural historians are employed at universities and other facilities ...

Neil Levine Neil Levine is an American music industry executive. He is best known as the founder of the hip-hop label Penalty Recordings, and is currently the CEO of its successor company, Penalty Entertainment. Levine helped to launch the careers of artis ...

explained the principles behind the lozenge and octagon:

right Rights are law, legal, social, or ethics, ethical principles of freedom or Entitlement (fair division), entitlement; that is, rights are the fundamental normative rules about what is allowed of people or owed to people according to some legal sy ...
gave the tower a bold geometric form as a structural solution to the expression of the tower's role as a landmark. The pump rod and support for the wheel are carried up within an acutely angled lozenge shape pointed southeast to deflect blasts of wind like a "storm prow". This angular element is inserted halfway into a larger octagonal volume that contains and supports it throughout nearly its full height. Wright called the composition Romeo and Juliet, likening its conjugate geometry to an amorous union.

After resistance from his uncles about the design, Wright explained the windmill to the aunts:

Of course you had a hard time with Romeo and Juliet. But you know how troublesome they were centuries ago. The principle they represent still causes mischief in the world because it is so vital. Each is indispensable to the other ... neither could stand without the other. Romeo, as you will see, will do all the work and Juliet cuddle alongside to support and exhalt him. Romeo takes the side of the blast and Juliet will entertain the school children. Let's let it go at that.

According to the local Spring Green newspaper, ''The Weekly Home News'', the windmill was completed in 1897. The Romeo and Juliet Windmill was the second structure the aunts commissioned from Wright. The first one, which no longer exists, was Hillside Home School I built in 1887. The third structure designed by Wright for the Hillside Home School was a stone educational facility, the Hillside Home School II, known today as the Hillside Home School, since it is the only one of the two that still exists.

The Taliesin Historic District

Romeo and Juliet is one of five buildings designed by Frank Lloyd Wright on what became his property, which is now known as the

estate. From the windmill, it is possible to see three of the other structures on the Taliesin estate: his home Taliesin is on an adjacent hill to the north,

Tan-y-Deri Tan-y-Deri, also known as the Andrew T. Porter Home and the Jane and Andrew Porter Home, is a house in Wyoming, Iowa County, Wisconsin, United States. It was designed in 1907 by the architect Frank Lloyd Wright for his sister Jane Porter (1869� ...

(his sister's house) is near the windmill's base, and the Hillside Home School is down the hill to windmill's south. Also on the estate is the farming structure, Midway Barn.

Construction

Originally clad in shingles, the windmill was re-clad in cypress board and batten in 1938. Repairs on the windmill were attempted by its owner, the

Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation Taliesin West ( ) is a studio and home developed by the American architect Frank Lloyd Wright in Scottsdale, Arizona, United States. Named after Wright's Taliesin (studio), Taliesin studio in Spring Green, Wisconsin, Taliesin West was Wright's ...

and an effort on restoration was completed in 1992 by the newly formed Taliesin Preservation, Inc., which carries out restoration on the Taliesin estate with assistance from the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation."Saving Taliesin: Preserving a Masterpiece"
88.1 WYCE March 4, 2017. The windmill no longer pumps water.

References

External links

Taliesin Preservation, Inc.Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation
National Register of Historic Places in Iowa County, Wisconsin Frank Lloyd Wright buildings Windmills in Wisconsin Windmills on the National Register of Historic Places

History

The Taliesin Historic District

Construction

See also

References

Further reading

External links