Collection context
Summary
- 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
Indexed terms
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 BarbaraSanta Barbara, CA 93106-7130, US
- Contact:
- (805) 893-2724