Collection Guide
Collection Title:
Collection Number:
Get Items:
Finding Aid for the Collection regarding Edgar Tafel and the Thomas Watson house
0000341
0000341
View entire collection guide
Search this collection
Table of contents
Title: Collection regarding Edgar Tafel and the Thomas Watson house
Identifier/Call Number: 0000341
Contributing Institution:
Architecture and Design Collection, Art, Design & Architecture Museum
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
3.25 Linear feet
1 quarter hollinger box, 2 flat file folders
Date (inclusive): 1948-2001
creator:
Tafel, Edgar
Conditions Governing Access note
Uncatalogued collection; open for use by qualified researchers.
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.
Gift of John Watson, whose parents commissioned Edgar Tafel to build their house, 1948-1949.
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.
Related Archival Materials note
Edgar Tafel architectural records and papaers, 1919-2005, Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library at Columbia University,
New York, New York
Collection regarding Edgar Tafel and the Thomas Watson house, Architecture and Design Collection, Art Design & Architecture
Museum, UC Santa Barbara
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Tafel, Edgar
Wright, Frank Lloyd, 1867-1959