Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesin West (Scottsdale, AZ)

If you love architecture and find yourself in the Phoenix area in the future, you need to take a tour of Taliesin West. Even for myself, who is not that knowledgeable in architecture, I found the tour extremely fun! Taliesin West in Scottsdale was the winter home of Frank Lloyd Wright, but the property also doubles as his architecture school. You can't explore the property on your own, as Taliesin West is still functioning as an architecture school, but the $32 tour ticket is well worth it to not only see Taliesin West but also hear the stories behind the building and the various aspects of it.

During the 90-minute tour, you'll hear about this petroglyph and how the carvings inspired Wright's iconic Whirling Arrow, which actually symbolizes "fellowship".

Or how he came to use these Chinese ceramic sculpture and how each one signifies that you are entering a different area of Taliesin West.

People used to not be allowed to take photos of this living room, but now you can see how lovely it is in the daylight. Those chairs you see were designed by Wright, and it makes you sit in the perfect posture. Try it when you're there!

Since Wright and his family and his students stay at Taliesin West all winter long, and there wasn't much around Scottsdale back then, they entertain themselves in rooms like these. One of them may perform on the piano, or sing, or put on a play. You'll see other entertainment rooms later in the tour.

There's a bust of Wright made by one of his students, Heloise Crista. Wright realized where Crista's talent really lies and persuaded her to become a sculptor instead of an architect. You'll find many of her sculptures displayed throughout the property.

Did you know Frank Lloyd Wright had two beds? The corner of the room is a glass window where the students can look in and see the bed on the left. If he's lying on one bed, it means he is not to be disturbed, while if he is on the other bed, they can feel free to come in and speak to him. How efficient!

One of the last rooms we visited was the theatre. Did you also know Frank Lloyd Wright invented the use of floor/aisle lights in theaters? The first time that was ever used was in this very room. There were other neat things about how the room was designed, including the angle of the seats. It was apparently to suit how Wright likes to sit!

We also got the chance to see the Lego model of Taliesin West. This lego model by Adam Reed Tucker took 180,000 bricks and over 500 hours to build.

This tour was definitely one of the coolest things we did in Phoenix. If you have any interest in architecture or just like to see something unique, I would highly recommend it. I tried not to give away too many of the cool things I saw and heard about, so you can still be surprised and impressed when you do go!

After the tour, you may want to grab ice cream or donut at one of these top five dessert spots in Phoenix. 

Disclaimer: this tour was hosted