The Frank Lloyd Wright Murder House – Bizarre Buffet Podcast
Frank Lloyd Wright is easily one of the most famous and influential architects that has ever lived. Some of his most notable creations being the Ennis House (can be seen in House on Haunted Hill, Blade Runner, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and more), The Guggenheim Museum in New York City, Falling Water in Pittsburgh, PA….the list goes on and on.
Aside from the incredible work designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, a lesser known element of this famous architects life is that he has his very own place amongst True Crime history…
In August of 1914 while away on business, tragedy would strike at Wrights famous Taliesen home where he had resided. A hired caretaker by the name of Julian Carlton would brutally murder Wrights wife Mamah Borthwick, along with her children and others present that day…seven people in total, before setting the home abalze. This story became known as one of the worst mass murders in Wisconsin history.
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” The Frank Lloyd Wright Murder House” – Episode Credits & Details
Original Cover Art & Story Concept By Mark Tauriello
Production By Marc Bluestein
S2E38
Released On July 18th, 2021
” The Frank Lloyd Wright Murder House ” – Episode Show Notes
About Frank Lloyd Wright
Leading American architect and designer of the 20th century, lived from June 9 1867-April 9 1959. His aesthetic is modern and ambitious, and became iconic for his philosophy called Organic Architecture. This could be best described as architecture that integrates with nature, and does not disrupt the natural land scape. He built homes, commercial spaces, schools, hotels, museums, and so on. Some of his most well known designs are Falling Water (which is a modernist home with a water fall that passes through it, the Guggenheim Museum in NYC, and the Ennis House which is an LA mansion used in films like House on Haunted Hill, Blade Runner, and more. His homes feature large flat plains, unusual angles, and lots of glass.
About Taliesen
Built in 1911 on a 600 acre piece of land in Jones Valley Wisconsin that belonged to his grandfather who was one of the first settlers in the area. The house sits next to the Wisconsin River. It was his primary home and studio for most of his life. The design of the original Talisen (ruined 2x due to major fires) consisted of multiple flat plains and natural limestong. The home had multiple wings, one being dedicated to agriculture.
One side of the home was his work studio and the other half was his home.
The house has been described as low wide and snug due to the wide to narrow features throughout, all 1 story. The home was built after he left his first wife and home in Oak Park Illinois for his mistress, Mamah (pronounced MAY-mah) Borthwick. She was always the talk of the town since she left her spouse and children, and was an American translator and feminist. Mamah was a not very nice woman, and treated you according to class. If you were the help in the home…you were treated as such.
Frank Lloyd Wright Affair
In 1911 when they had moved in, Wright continued to work on his commissioned architectural projects, even though he struggled to get work because of the negative publicity after his affair.
During his free time on the property he planted fruit trees and such. Mamah would also spend time with her 8 year old Martha and 12 year old John.
Julian Carlton
The Wrights had hired Julian Carlton was a 31-year-old man to work as a chef and servant at Taliesin for the summer. Carlton was an Afro-Caribbean of West Indian descent, ostensibly from Barbados.They were employed as servants earlier by a colleague and friend of Wrights, so were recommended by John Vogelsong Jr.
Day’s Leading Up To The Murders
Originally a friendly presence on the estate, Carlton grew increasingly paranoid, most likely due to mental illness.
It is said that he had stayed up late at night with a butcher knife, looking out the window and became argumentative and irritable towards residents. This behavior had been noticed by Wright and Borthwick, who issued an ad in a local paper for a replacement cook. Carlton was given notice that August 15, 1914, would be his last day in their employment.
7 People Were Murdered At Taliesen
The Victims At Taliesen
The massacre at Taliessen is considered the worst mass murder cases in Wisconsin history. 7 out of 9 residents were brutally murdered, leaving this home to be allegedly haunted. These 7 included included Mamah and her children, draftsman Emil Brodelle, gardener David Lindblom, handyman Tom Brunker, and Ernest Weston, the son of carpenter William Weston. August 15 1914 , Wright was away on business in Chicago .
Day Of Murder’s At Taliesen
On August 15, Carlton grabbed a shingling hatchet and began an attack. He started with the Borthwicks, who were waiting on the porch off the living room. Mamah Borthwick was killed by a single blow to the face, and her son John was slaughtered as he sat in his chair. Martha managed to flee, but was hunted down and slain in the courtyard. He then coated the bodies in gasoline and set them on fire, setting the house ablaze.[42]
Carlton then turned his attention to the other six residents, pouring gasoline underneath the door of the far end of the residence and setting it on fire. Draftsman Herbert Fritz managed to break open a window and escape,[43] though he broke his arm in the process. Carlton then entered the other dining room and killed Brodelle. He then hid, waiting for the other residents to try to escape. As foreman William Weston and his 13-year-old son Ernest ran through the door, Carlton attacked with the hatchet. The Westons escaped, but Ernest died from his wounds hours later.
Carlton sought out the final two residents, laborer Thomas Brunker and gardener David Lindblom. Brunker and Lindblom managed to fight off Carlton and escape, but died days later from their burns and injuries. With the house empty, Carlton ran to the basement and into a fireproof furnace chamber. He brought a small vial of hydrochloric acid with him as a fallback plan in case the heat became too much for him to handle. Carlton did attempt suicide by swallowing the acid, but it failed to kill him.[42][44]
Death Of Julian Carlton
He ended up dying in jail from starvation since he was unable to eat food due to his ingestion of the hydrochloric acid. As for his wife, she was sent to Chicago with $7 to her name and was never heard of again.
Taliesen II
Grief stricken, Wright was determined to move on and decided that in spring of 1915 to rebuild Taliesen, calling it Taliesen 2. In 1923 he married an eccentric woman, and the marriage went sour quickly, making life in Taliesen not so fun for Frank. They ended up divorcing in 1924.
Disaster Strike’s Again At Taliesen II
April 20 1925, Talisen 2 had a fire that wrecked a lot of the home… the fire was caused due to bad electric work that had been done inside of the home from a telephone that experienced an electric surge during a storm.
Taliesen III – The Final Chapter
Once again Frank rebuilds Taliesen III , making it bigger and better but still with the same design elements as the original. This eventually became his final resting place (until his daughter had him exhumed and moved) . This masterpiece stands this day as a national landmark, and is studied and admired by architect enthusiasts.
The Frank Lloyd Wright Murder House – Episode Transcript
Transcript
The Frank Lloyd Wright Murder House
Bizarre Buffet Intro
You’re listening to Bizarre Buffet , a podcast of all you can eat weird.
Mark – I’m your host Mark Tauriello
Jen – I’m Jen Wilson
Marc – And I’m Marc Bluestein
Vincent Price – There’ll be food , and drink, and ghosts, and perhaps even a few murders…you’re all invited.
Susan Atkins – When we first went in, one of the people said “ Who are you ?” And Tex said “ I’m the devil , and I’m here to do the devils business”
Mark – thank you so much for listening to bizarre buffet everyone
Jen – hi
Mark – we’re all excited
Jen – we’re just so jazzed tonight
Marc – so jazzed tonight we’re feeling good
Mark – I’ve got my cocktail
Jen -i’ve got my water
Marc – it’s hydrating it’s very hydrating
Jen – i feel like i’ve i just need to stay hydrated
Mark – well it’s so damn hot
Jen – i know oh my goodness this is like the most annoying time of year because i feel like sometimes i have to shower like more than once a day
Marc – yeah it’s annoying i know i get home from work and i’m just like just call a nurse for me
Mark – i hate when you can taste your own sweat
Jen – i don’t think i’ve ever tasted my own sweat but okay well la dee da
Mark – while we’re talking about sweat and glamour and heat i’m just so grateful to be in an air-conditioned environment
Marc – minus this room yes
Mark – minus the podcast room
Jen – Its not that hot in here
Jen – i know we were just discussing getting a fan or something for in here that doesn’t make noise but i’m i’m comfortable i mean the windows nice
Marc – and if you ever hear birds chirping
Jen – or an airplane flying by
Marc – welcome to new jersey , its everywhere
Jen – mm-hmm
Marc – so what are we doing
Mark – so since we’re talking about these beautiful architectural spaces at the bizarre buffet headquarters
Mark – i just want to know you know what is the most beautiful building or home that you’ve been inside of ?
Jen – i wouldn’t say beautiful, but i will say something that has stuck with me
was the Jewish Museum in Berlin, Germany. Not beautiful in like “ oh my god this is amazing “ but they the the designer really put a lot of thought into the building the interior itself.
The section about the Holocaust , there were no windows and the hallways
were very, very, narrow. To kind of give you that type of like …
Marc – this visceral response
Mark – very constricted
Jen – every single exhibition had a different type of feel and vibe. The walls were white and the floor was slanted.
Mark – Oh, so you’re walking down?
Jen – mm-hmm
Mark – I heard that that has a psychological effect on people .
Jen – exactly, exactly. That’s what I think this particular designer was going for. I even remember there was this one room, you felt like you were inside of a well.
Then they had these metal faces that you could walk across.
It wasn’t flat obviously, it was like you were walking over mounds of faces that were symbolizing the children lost in the Holocaust.
Marc- How dark
Jen – it’s very dark and i’m not saying “ oh my god this is amazing “, but it’s something that has sat with me.
I wouldn’t say it was necessarily beautiful, but it was more of that I appreciate going into buildings that are supposed to make you feel a certain kind of way.
I’m more about how it makes you feel, than how it looks.
Marc – yeah i mean i think that’s beautiful in itself
Mark – The design kind of tells you a story and a narrative.
Jen – Also, a lot of these buildings in europe, because of the war, were so badly
bombed, these cities had to rebuild and they’re very modernized now. Architecture in
Europe plays a big role in certain cities like Berlin, especially because of World War II , and because of the Cold War, and the Berlin Wall. It’s really, really fascinating.
Marc – That’s a very cool in the sense of the experience to be able to go through that set of emotions , or something as a result of a space.
I guess mine would be the Chelsea Hotel, not necessarily because of the architecture, but the architecture is very cool.
The Chelsea Hotel in New York is a place that i’ve stayed at many times with Mark as well as other people. It’s a place that has a great amount of history. From hauntings, to killings, to Andy Warhol.
Mark – different eccentric artists and characters
Marc- Yeah, people who live there, and who have continue to live there. To me that was always a very special place.
Jen – If i’m not mistaken our friend Anna Delvey spent some time at the Chelsea Hotel
Marc – oh god, who let her in, geez
Mark – she probably didn’t pay the bill
Jen – no
Marc- probably not. I took a lot of photographs in there of Mark, and of friends, and strangers who i met.
Mark – beautiful photos
Jen – i’m sure because they probably have your face on them
Marc – yeah that’s right
Mark – it was me 30 pounds ago and i had platinum blonde hair , white .
Marc- yeah he did. That place always elicited an emotional response from me it was inspiring. I didn’t have a haunting there, i kind of wish i did.
Jen- that’s what i love
about architecture. Coming from an artistic background, it’s more about how you feel in a space. It could visually be striking but it can have a cold vibe to it.
Marc- yeah most definitely, absolutely. And i feel like the Chelsea had all of that.
I guess that would be my example.
Mark- very nice
Marc- thank you. Maybe we’ll do an episode about it at a later date.
Mark – yeah, i think we should yeah because there’s a lot of …
Marc – there’s a lot of great things
Mark – i think you could probably do a whole podcast on the hotel
Mark – for me so i like that you guys kind of said “ oh you can sense a vibe or feel an emotion “ from it. It’s kind of like The Shining
Marc – yeah most definitely definitely
Jen – We were literally just talking about Stanley Kubrick
Marc – Jen started watching Full Metal Jacket
Jen – for the first time in my 31 years of life, and i decided to watch it at 11 o’clock at night. I was like “ Oh, shit, really not the best movie to watch.”
Mark – Jen’s gonna have like dreams of being in boot camp
Jen- In war
Marc – Yeah , in Vietnam. Stanley Kubrick comes out and he’s like “ Jen , you’re not holding that gun correctly!”
Jen- exactly
Mark – I like that you guys picked places that captured some sort of emotional energy. I get that too with certain places as well in terms of design and everything. I wish my answer was as deep and as intelligent as yours
Marc – oh, you’re flattering
Mark – one really cool thing that i got to experience, I was about 11 or 12 . My family
and i went on a vacation to Niagra Falls, Canada and there was this building that kind of looks exactly like the Seattle Space Needle. It’s called the Skylon Tower.
You know it i i love those futuristic structures so much, so i was so jazzed
that i got to go into it. We also ate in a restaurant that rotated .
Jen – oh i’ve never done one of those before
Marc – me either
Mark – it’s really cool
Jen – did you get dizzy
Mark – no it’s so slow, it’s very slow. But, if you get up and come back, your seat’s in a different place. You have to kind find where it was. It was beautiful because it’s a full 360 scope, so you see niagara falls, you see the river, you
kind of see the city of niagara. I was just like so fascinated that this big ass structure actually spun around.
Marc – that’s really cool
Mark – i know, i wish our home spun around.
Marc – Jen, how can we make that happen?
Jen – i don’t know
Marc – how do you make a condominium spin around? I guess everyone else who lives here has to agree to be spinning.
Jen – once we become famous
Marc – yeah we’re waiting
Jen – we’re waiting. When Mark and i become famous Forensic Scientists
Marc – yeah that’s right. Ballistic experts, and astrology, astronomer experts
Mark – we were recording another episode and jen and i had this discovery that we are
forensic people
Marc – yeah they truly are. they have a calling one could say.
Mark – Jen’s very factual about it, doing research and getting the facts.
i’m a little more abstract about it, so i think we would be a good combination
Jen – like i said, in another life i’m going to be a forensic scientist
Marc- maybe in this life baby who knows , you’re still young hun
Jen – i know
Marc – anything could happen, this could be your platform. Somebody
might hear this episode.
Jen – yes you never know but like somebody could
Marc – they could hear it , be like Jen Wilson, oh my god…or Mark Tauriello .
Mark – we had our Crack The Case episode
Marc – we did
Mark – And Jen was cracking those fucking cases left and right
Marc – i think you need to reevaluate your calling here
Jen – I should, maybe i need to
Mark You’re gonna be a forensic scientist and then you’re gonna tell Marc and i the dirt and then we’re gonna do podcast episodes on your cases.
Marc – could you still do it the podcast if you did that, would it be infringement? I guess we’d figure it out
Jen – probably wouldn’t be able to talk about what i’m working on
Marc – i know , we’d probably have to call you a different name
Jen – you probably have to call me a different name
Marc – Sheila Wilson
Jen – Sheila ?
Marc – i don’t know why, it’s just first name that came to me
Jen – okay
Marc – it’s not a particular emotional attachment or anything okay
Jen – i kind of like janiece
Marc- oh, i’m a fan. Why not ?
Marc – Janine
Mark – Genievive
Marc – or Jennifer with a g, although you can’t hear that
Jen – oh god, I hate people who spell Jennifer with a g. They’re probably like that actress Gennifer Goodwin, she’s not even a good actress.
Marc – i don’t even know who Gennifer Goodwin is exactly, so there you go there you go
Mark – there’s too many g’s
Marc – too many g’s
Jen – Or the jennifer’s spelled with two f’s, have you ever seen that ?
Jen – So , Mark, tell us about our topic .
Mark – as you guys know, i’m a huge architectural enthusiast and I love Frank Lloyd Wright. In another episode we talked about this fun experience where Marc and i got to spend the night in a Frank Lloyd Wright house in the middle of nowhere in Pennsylvania.
Marc – We did, It was kind of frightening.
Mark – scary as hell it was like gay bash city
Marc – yeah , we weren’t welcomed folk if you know what i mean. Saying it without saying it.
Mark – you got the
pitchforks and banjos
Jen – Its like Deliverance
Mark – alright, so let’s get into it
Frank Lloyd Wright , how does he fall into the world of Bizarre Buffet ? A lot of people know him for being this amazing architect but he also has a tragic past which involves murder ! So let’s get into a little bit of a breakdown of who he is , what his aesthetic was, so that way anyone that doesn’t know will
understand .
Jen – I also feel like people who don’t know who he is, know of his work
Marc – you have probably seen it somewhere, and then you might hear this and be like “ oh, shit !” i’ve seen one of his houses.
Mark – yeah, oh i’ve seen that museum before.
Mark – So, Frank Lloyd Wright was a leading American architect and designer of the 20th century and he lived from June 9, 1867 to April 9, 1959.
His aesthetic is very Modern, very ambitious , and he kind of became known for this
philosophy called Organic Architecture.
Marc- Granola, sounds very lovely.
Jen – did you just say quinona ?
Mark – Granola Architecture.
Mark – The best way to describe this architecture is that it’s kind of integrated with nature, and doesn’t really disrupt the natural landscape.
In some cases , it enhances the landscape.
Marc – beautiful
Jen m- i just have to say like the word organic used to piss me off. in college when like my acting professors would say “ that moment was just so organic”
Mark – oh god, cringe
Jen – Yeah , it’s cringe. I hate the word organic
Marc – that is cringey
Jen -even though like i do eat organic for the most part
Mark – but still but you’re never like everything’s organic.
Jen – yeah, it just happens so organically
Mark – so do bowel movements, if you’re lucky
Jen – i’ve always thought that, that was really fascinating
about Frank Lloyd Wright. How he just kind of combines architecture with
nature.
Mark – yeah, and he does it in a very beautiful way.
Mark – So, Frank Lloyd Wright , he built homes, he built commercial spaces , schools, hotels, museums, and so on. Some of his most well-known designs are Falling Waters which is a beautiful , beautiful , modernist home, with a waterfall that literally passes through it
Marc – oh it’s stunning
Mark- He designed the Guggenheim museum in New York City
Jen – Which in my 31 years i’ve never been to
Marc – I’ve never been either !
Jen – We should do a trip !
Marc – we’re gonna go
Jen – i’ve always wanted to go, and i never have anyone that wants to go with me
Marc – we’ll all go together, i’m about to embarrass myself and say i’ve never been to the MoMa either.
Mark – that’s okay
Jen – i actually just recently was at MoMa, but no i’ve never been to the Guggenheim. I feel like that’s a place when , that when I tell people I’ve never been, its like “ you’ve never been to the Guggenheim and you live in the tri-state area !?”
Mark – must be nice to have the time
Jen – exactly
Marc – exactly, sorry we work!
Jen – we do I
Mark – I was very fortunate i got to go but only one time, because there was an Art School trip. I was more into the actual architecture than the art that was there
Jen – oh i’m sure
Mark – The architecture was way cooler than the Kandinsky
Marc – Oh, Kandinsky !
Mark – Abstract cubist man holding a violin. Well, that would be Picasso
Jen – I Love Picasso
Mark – She’s using her degree right now
Mark – So, he did the Guggenheim Museum in New York City, and my personal favorite, the Ennis House, which is a los angeles mansion. It’s been used in films like House on Haunted Hill, which we have a clip of in our Bizarre Buffet intro.
Marc – We do ! “ There’ll be food, and drinks, and ghosts, and perhaps even a few murders, you’re all invited!”
Mark – The Ennis House was also used in Blade Runner
Jen – it was
Mark – Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Marc – oh god, it’s been everywhere
Mark – Mark Tauriello favorites. The Ennis House , it’s made out of all those cubes, and it’s just fabulous.
Marc – I would say that it’s kind of like a Greatest Hits album song. If you know Frank Lloyd Wright at all, or if you have a slight knowledge of him, you probably know him because of this house.
It’s also on YouTube, and there’s a really fun realtor who’s very pretty, and like likable and she’s like “ this
house could be yours for 27 million dollars”
Mark -She doesn’t blink
Marc – i know she doesn’t blink twice. It’s like she’s telling you your Taco Bell order is twenty dollars. Which is an expensive Taco Bell order, but still.
Mark – His homes also are known for featuring large flat planes, unusual angles, and a lot of glass
Jen & Marc – I love it
Marc – I would strangle ……I don’t know i’m not going to get into it, but i would do a lot of things for a Frank Lloyd Wright house.
Jen – If I were to come into a lot of money , the first thing I would do is buying an original Warhol
Marc – I love it i love it so much. Which one would you want?
Jen – that’s a hard one
Marc – i know there’s, a lot of good stuff. i want an electric chair
Jen – maybe what we can do is we’ll buy a Frank Lloyd Wright house, get an original Warhol, and put the electric chair inside.
Marc – exactly, and then we’ll have no furniture, and everybody will be forced to sit and look at the house, and the Warhol.
Jen & Marc – in the electric chair
Marc – i’m sold i’m ready to do it right now
Mark – So, with Frank Lloyd Wright we now know his greatest hit, and now we’re gonna go down the Bizarre Buffet
Jen – rabbit hole
Mark – the rabbit hole
Marc – i love that rabbit hole
Mark – one of his designs was a home that he built and called Taliesin, I hate saying Taliesn, it sounds weird and doesn’t feel right coming out of my mouth.
Jen – You know what, that’s what I say about the word heirloom, or ladle
Mark – Why is there an h in heirloom?
Mark – Well, Taliesin. Let’s get into it.
Mark – This beautiful home was built in 1911 on a 600 acre piece of land in Jones Valley, Wisconsin.
The land belonged to his grandfather who was one of the first settlers in the area, so already the land has a lot of meaning to Frank.
Jen – where did his family come from?
Mark – They were immigrants i know, i don’t remember where from, but they came to America.
Jen – okay
Mark – To live the American Dream
Marc – probably on the Mayflower
Marc – I mean we are talking 18 something right, I don’t know the Mayflower’s departure dates, you’ll have to forgive me historians.
Jen – Way before the 1800’s
Mark – maybe the Mayflower went to the Wisconsin
Marc – maybe they came on the June flower
Jen – well we should know by now that Mark Tauriello and Marc Bluestein know nothing
about Geography
Marc – or History
Jen – or history
Marc – exactly, but somehow we’ve been minorly successful
Mark – The Nina, the Pinta and the Santa Maria
Marc – oh yes, i know them
Mark – wait, is that ?
Jen – thats Christopher Columbus
Mark – Ok, we’re cancelling him right now!
Marc – he’s been done cancelled
Jen – Cancel Culture
Marc – nobody wants him in his tights, and his weird hats
Mark – so, apparently the Mayflower and the Titanic went to the Wisconsin river
Marc – with Frank Lloyd Wrights family on it
Mark – the house was built and it became his primary home and studio for most of his life.
Jen – now, is this home still standing today?
Mark – it is , it is still standing
Jen – ( sings ) I’m still standing, I’m so out of tune
Mark – I don’t know what that song was
Jen – Its Elton John
Mark – this home has kind of been through hell and back
Jen – i can’t wait
Mark – i guess you could say it’s Frank Lloyd Wrights hell house
Mark – it was his home and studio for a bulk of his life, unfortunately Taliesin
was ruined two times due to major fires.
Mark – just to describe what the house looked like , it’s multiple flat plains made out of natural limestone. The home has multiple wings. One of them was even dedicated to agriculture.
Mark – one side of the home was his work studio, and the other half was like his living space. The house has been described as low,
wide and snug, due to the narrow features throughout.
Mark – this is where we get salacious
Jen – I love salacious
Mark – someone call Jenny Jones !
Marc – 1900’s Jenny Jones
Mark – the home was built after he left his first wife in Oak Park, Illinois ,for his mistress. Her name was Mayma
Marc – Mayma ?
Mark – Mayma Borthwick
Jen – okay
Marc – wow, that’s a name
Mark – she kind of became the talk of the town
Marc – harlot
Mark – since she left her spouse and children, which is like, you know a big no-no. God forbid a woman makes up her mind he does something back then
Marc – But Frank Lloyd Wright can dick everyone in town and it’s fine
Mark – well she left her husband and kids to be with Frank Lloyd Wright
Jen – oh my god ! Those poor children. Mayma, what are you doing ?
Mark – i mean, good for Mayman
Marc – yeah that’s true
Mark – she was an American Translator, and a Feminist. Apparently Mayma was not a very nice woman and treated you according to your class.
Jen – so much for being a Feminist
Marc – exactly, asshole Mayma.
Mark – she was very rude, and she treated you according to the class that you were in. So, if you were the help in her home, she treated you as such.
Jen – Wow
Marc – lovely lady
Mark – so she wasn’t really that nice, allegedly
Marc – allegedly
Mark – so in 1911 they had moved in, and wright continued to work on his commissioned architectural projects, even though he was struggling to get work because of the negative publicity after this whole scandal and romantic affair that he had with Mayma.
Mark – during his free time on the property he planted fruit trees and such. Mayma would spend time with her eight-year-old Martha, and twelve-year-old John
Jen – Martha and John
Marc – Martha and John
Mark – so now we know what the family dynamic was kind of like, we know what Taliesin was all about
Marc – yeah
Mark – but, unfortunately not long after Taliesin was built , did this place just take a dark turn.
Mark – where there is murder
Marc – oh !
Jen – oh my god
Mark – and blood !
Mark – and beautiful homes
Marc – oh shit
Mark – and more scandal
Mark – so let’s just talk about the days leading up to the murder, because things are a little bit weird here now
Mark – so, the Wrights hired Julian Carlton , who was a 31 year old man to work as the chef and servant at Taliesin for that specific summer. Carlton was an Afro- Caribbean
of West Indian descent. Carlton was originally from Barbados
Mark – he employed as a servant by other colleagues and friends of Frank Lloyd Wright, he was recommended to work for the Wrights by Frank Lloyd Wrights friend, John Vogelson Jr.
Mark – I dont think the “ Jr “ is that important.
Mark – originally, Julian, the servant that they hired,
was a very friendly presence on the estate. Everything was fine at first
As time progressed, Carlton grew increasingly more and more
paranoid. It was most likely due to mental illness.
which as we all know, and have discussed several times on our show, is that that’s something that was not taken seriously back then
Jen – absolutely not
Marc – it wasn’t really known about, especially during this time…even less
Mark – it was also said that he had stayed up late at night with the butcher knife
Marc – oh no
Mark – looking out the window, he also became really argumentative and irritable
towards the residents. Taliesin was such a big space, they had a wing dedicated to anyone that they employed.
Mark – the behavior had been noticed by Wright and Borthwick. Essentially they were like “ okay, this guy , he’s acting weird, he’s acting crazy , we need to replace him.
They had issued an ad in local paper for a replacement cook, and Carlton was given notice that on August 15, 1914, would be his last day of employment with the Wrights.
Marc – oh shit, okay
Mark – so before he left, Carlton plotted to kill the residents of Taliesan. His primary target was draftsman Emil Brodel.
Mark – Emil had called Carlton
TRIGGER WARNING
quote-unquote black son of a [ __ ]
Mark – basically he got called that for not following an order, which is so stupid.
Mark – the massacre at Taliessin is considered one of the worst mass murders in Wisconsin history, where seven out of the nine residents were brutally murdered, leaving this home to allegedly be haunted
Marc – we loves hauntings
Jen – of course
Mark – out of the seven victims that were killed, it included Mayma and her children,
the draftsman Emil Brodel
Marc – sounds like he really had it coming, i’m sure the other ones did too
Mark – the gardener, Lin Balm, handyman Tom Bronker , and Ernest Weston. Ernest was the son of the carpenter William Weston.
Mark – basically, Frank Lloyd Wright dodged a bullet because when this was going on he happened to be away on a business trip in Chicago.
Jen – oh!
Marc – interesting, maybe he had them killed.
Mark – On August 15th, Carlton grabbed a shingling hatchet and began an attack. He started with the Borthwicks, they were waiting on the porch off the living room
Mayma Borthwick was killed by single blow to the face, and her son John
was slaughtered as he sat in his chair.
Mark – Maymas little girl managed to flee, but unfortunately was hunted down and slayed in the courtyard. He then coated the bodies in gasoline and set them on fire, ultimately setting the house ablaze.
Marc – that beautiful house
Mark – yeah
Mark – After that, Carlton then turned his attention to the other six residents. He started pouring gasoline underneath the floor of the far end of the residence, setting it on fire. Everyone was kind of trapped in the home.
Mark – as it went ablaze, one of the victims, the draftsman Herbert Fritz , managed to break open a window and escape . He did break his arm in the process.
Mark – while the house was burning down, Carlton also entered the dining room and killed Brodel.
Mark – he then, this part’s really creepy. He then hid waiting for other residents to try to escape
Jen – oh my god
Mark – so as they were getting out, he would like catch up to them and
kill them. As the foreman William Weston and his 13 year old son Ernest ran through the door, Carlton attacked them with the hatchet. The Westons escaped, but Ernest
eventually died from his wounds hours later.
Mark – So, theres a lot of shit going on. You have the house on fire, the first the first round of killing, Mayma and her children. Now he’s killing the rest of the staff.
Jen – The fact that he was hiding, and waiting for people to escape
Marc – I know. Thats fucked up.
Mark – Towards the end of this whole escapade, Carlton sought out the final two residents. Laborer Thomas Brunker, and the gardener, David Lin Baum. Thomas and David managed to fight off Carlton and escape, but died days later from their intense
burns and injuries.
With the house empty, Carlton ran in to the basement, into
a fireproof furnace chamber. He bought a small vial of hydrochloric acid with him as a fallback plan, because he was going to kill himself so in case the heat became too much for him to handle.
He was going to consume the hydrochloric acid. He attempted suicide, but failed. He ended up dying in jail from starvation since he was unable to eat food due to his ingestion of this hydrochloric acid.
So, it did catch up to him.
As for his wife , she was banished to Chicago, with only seven dollars to her name.
Jen – Wow, a whopping seven dollars.
Mark – She was never to be heard from again.
Jen – I would want to run away too if my spouse did that
Mark – i’d be embarrassed
Marc – it’s kind of the equivalent of how John Wayne Gacy has children that are still alive. You would never know because they all have different names. No one is going around being like “ oh yeah, let me just go around for the rest of my fucking human life being asked “ are you related to the killer clown ?“
I wouldn’t want to hear stupid-ass people people ask stupid questions, people do that enough as it is.
Mark – I mean, I would try to get a book deal
Marc – oh totally
Mark – or if oprah existed back then i would
Jen – try to do the tell-all
Mark – the tell-all yeah
Marc – well i think John Wayne Gacys sister was on Oprah, but anyway, let’s continue
Mark – we love a tell-all
Marc – we do
Mark – So Talissen got jacked the fuck up and burned down. People were killed, and Frank Lloyd Wright was very sad
Marc – yeah, and Mayma was an asshole, and so was that guy who made that nasty nasty comment
Mark – yeah, i feel like there was a lot of vile going on there
Mark – so now here’s the sequel, Taliesin part two.
Marc – oh, the remix
Mark – the remake, the remix
Mark – grief stricken, Frank Lloyd Wright was determined to move on and decide d that in the spring of 1915 , he would rebuild Taliesin. Calling it Taliesin Two
Marc – How clever
Mark – he married an eccentric woman, and the marriage went sour quite quickly. Making living at Taliesin not so fun for Frank , because he was with a real joy kill
they ended up getting divorced in 1924. Moving on to April 20th of 1925
Taliesin two had another fire
Marc – oh god , that house just does not want to exist
Jen – i’m sorry but if there was a mass murderer in a home i don’t think i would want to rebuild it.
Marc – well this is a subject that we could have a whole episode about, because i have many thoughts on this topic
Jen – i know, but still, i don’t think i would do it
Jen – because look, now we’ve got Taliesin two, let me guess, is there Taliesin three?
Mark – there is a Taliesin Three
Marc – of course, the Taliesin lives
Mark – It’s like the Poltergeist trilogy
Marc – yeah
Mark – but i think for for Frank, because him and i are on a first name basis
Marc – oh, Frankie , yeah
Marc – franklin
Jen – yeah
Mark – Frankie Wright ! He was probably thought, you know what,
this land has so much meaning to me because my ancestors owned it
Marc – who came over on the Mayflower part three, like Taliesin three
Jen – don’t forget the Titanic part three
Marc – that’s right
Mark – Taliesin had another terrible fire and this time the fire was not caused by murder but shoddy electric work that had been done inside of the home.
Jen – that’ll do it
Mark – it came from a telephone that experienced an electric surge during a storm. so now, Talliesin essentially burns down , and now we have to do it all over again
Marc – oh god, it’s a Groundhogs Day
Mark – yeah
Marc – murder edition
Mark – Taliessin part three is the one that is still standing today, no fires
Marc – wow, impressive
Mark – yeah, no fires yet. But if it burns down, i feel like we’re the oracle
Jen – yeah
Marc – you heard it here first
Mark – once again, Frank rebuilds Taliesin, making it bigger and better
Marc – of course, like you do in America
Jen – always
Mark – but still with the same design elements as the original. This eventually became his final resting place , until
Marc – he buried there ?
Mark – get this, he was buried there but his daughter insisted on having him exhumed.
Marc – for what ?
Jen – why ?
Mark – i don’t know
Marc – rich people i tell you
Jen – where is he now
Mark – i don’t know. Maybe in the ground ?
Jen – maybe floating somewhere on the Titanic four ?
Marc – and as a side, side note, i think we should do an episode on grave robbers, because you know i was reading all about how Charlie Chaplin’s corpse was stolen. Did you know that ?
Jen – i knew that, yeah
Marc – i want to get deeper into these stories
Mark – i had to spit my ice out, sorry
Jen – you didn’t know that ?
Mark – i heard that, but i just hear Benny Hill music for some reason with the corpse. I know Charlie Chaplin and Benny Hill are not the same.
Mark – So, Taliesin three, this beautiful masterpiece, it still stands till this day as a national landmark. Its studied and admired by architect enthusiasts
Marc – and murder
Mark – and murder
Marc – murder podcasts
Mark – I think that’s really fascinating because that is a big massacre you’re talking , seven or nine victims . They were pretty brutal deaths. it was like with
Marc – a hatchet
Marc – fun little fat , Lizzie Borden didn’t kill her family with an axe, it was with a hatchet
Mark – just the fact that this gruesome thing happened to such an iconic architect , in
a beautiful home. You don’t really ever hear about this story.
Marc – it’s fascinating because it’s just a different avenue. Somebody who is very famous for doing these amazingly beautiful homes, and buildings . I feel like your brain doesn’t normally associate these types of stories, with certain types of people.
Marc – he died in the 50’ s ? He was old as fuck, You don’t really think of Mass Murder, or True Crime related stories associated with people from that time. I think its really interesting.
Mark – so now that you guys know that it was , built burnt down, built again, burnt down again, and built again , do you think that it could be haunted ? Because now that the original structure is gone, do you think like the land is cursed ?
Jen – oh yeah, i would think so . I think it could be , but Taliesin three is still there today , so ….
Marc – she’s there in her glory
Marc – i’ve heard they’ve gotten the blood out
Marc – i mean now i’m just being silly, but no , i think it could definitely be
haunted. I think anytime something like that happens, truly ambush style. Damn.
Marc – fascinating story, Mark
Mark – thank you
Jen – yeah, that was really fascinating, thank you for sharing
Mark – sad
Marc – it is sad. but, you know what? Mayma wasn’t nice
Jen – no she wasn’t
Marc – and neither was that Emil
Jen – yeah, that Emil
Mark – she was probably like the mom from Titanic when she was like “are the lifeboats
seated according to class !? “
Mark – that was Mayma
Marc – i’m pretty sure that was Mayma, for sure
Marc – oh my god
Mark – well, that concludes our story folks.
Marc – oh, I hope you enjoyed it so much
Jen – yeah, i did. i enjoyed it
Mark – so, i think people should know how to find us
Marc – absolutely
Mark – on Instagram we’re Bizarre Buffet
Jen – and on Facebook too
Marc – yes, and on Patreon we are also a Bizarre Buffet
Marc – we want to thank all of you so much
Mark – thank you for listening
Mark – and i am Taliessin three
Jen – I am the Guggenheim
Marc – and i am the first Taliesin where all the murders happened
Mark – so oh dark
Marc – anyways
Mark , Jen , & Marc – bye
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