Tafel (Edgar) Collection regarding Edgar Tafel and the Thomas Watson house, 1948-2001

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Summary

Title:
Collection regarding Edgar Tafel and the Thomas Watson house
Dates:
1948-2001
Creators:
Tafel, Edgar
Extent:
3.25 Linear feet 1 quarter hollinger box, 2 flat file folders
Language:
Preferred citation:

Collection regarding Edgar Tafel and the Thomas Watson house, Architecture and Design Collection, Art Design & Architecture Museum, UC Santa Barbara

Background

Scope and content:

Collection holds materials collected by the Thomas Watson family regarding Edgar Tafel and the addition he designed in 1948-1949 for their house in La Canada, California.

Included are 25 letters from Tafel to Mr. and Mrs. Watson, other documents regarding the design and construction of the Watson house, manuscripts, clippings and other printed materials regarding Tafel and Frank Lloyd Wright, and 27 drawings, all reproductions, for the Watson house. Also included is Tafel's publication, Apprentice to Genius, which he inscribed to the Watsons. The material in the collection dates from 1948 to 2001.

Biographical / historical:

Edgar Tafel (1912-2011) was an architect, follower of Frank Lloyd Wright, and Wright's first apprentice at Taliesin. He went to Taliesin in 1932, and remained there for 9 years. When he left Taliesin in 1941, he worked briefly in Chicago, enlisted in the Army in 1943, and after the war, returned to New York City where he established his practice. Between 1941 and the 1990s, Tafel designed over 80 buildings. He was instrumental in promoting the memory and preservation of Frank Lloyd Wright's work.

Custodial history:

Gift of John Watson, whose parents commissioned Edgar Tafel to build their house, 1948-1949.

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

About this collection guide

Collection Guide Author:
Finding aid prepared by ADC staff
Sponsor:
The processing of this collection was made possible through generous funding from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, administered through the Council on Library and Information Resources “Cataloging Hidden Special Collections and Archives” Project.
Date Prepared:
2015
Date Encoded:
This finding aid was produced using the Archivists' Toolkit 2016-05-23T08:26-0700

Access and use

Restrictions:

Uncatalogued collection; open for use by qualified researchers.

Preferred citation:

Collection regarding Edgar Tafel and the Thomas Watson house, Architecture and Design Collection, Art Design & Architecture Museum, UC Santa Barbara

Location of this collection:
University of California, Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara, CA 93106-7130, US
Contact:
(805) 893-2724
adc@museum.ucsb.edu
Website