Wright Chat

The L.A. Times reported Sunday on the upcoming reopening of the King Kamehameha Golf Club in Hawaii, formerly known as Grand Waikapu. Then the article says:



"Built at a cost of $135 million, Grand Waikapu featured waterfalls, a wind-blown layout and a unique, dome-roofed clubhouse based on an old Frank Lloyd Wright design for a weekend home commissioned by Marilyn Monroe and Arthur Miller."



Does anyone know any backstory on that commission?

The commission dates from Monroe's marriage to Arthur Miller. The design is a variation on the Bailleros Project, but enclosed for Connecticutt winters. Another similar design is the Windfors Project. Miller/Monroe is in the Monographs and in BBP's book "Treasures of Taliesin." In Miller's autobiography, he says plans to build were never too serious on his part.

It is a shame that this project was never built in any of the variations which Wright designed. The idea of the circular "Great Room" is spectacular. I look at the renderings and can along say "what if".