Adventures of the Molinological Museologist

In this new section of the blog page I would like to take some time to look further into the industry of early wind power. Over the last few hundred years there have been countless designs, styles, and manufacturers of windmills, wind-pumps, or any iteration thereof. Excuse the mouthful of a title to this section but I felt like being over grandiose just for the sake of it, if only for my own ego. Molinology is the study of windmills. Technically it is the study of mills or other mechanical devices that utilize the power of the wind or water to accomplish their specific task. Mostly this is used to describe the study of European style mills such as those found in Holland, Germany, and Poland. Likewise, museology is the study of museums and museum curation. Sure looks a lot better on a business card than most other titles, doesn't it? Anyway, on with the good stuff!

 Romeo & Juliet pictured from Hillside II on the original stone footing.

In this first "Adventures of..." post I would like to highlight one of my favorite windmills designed by one of my favorite designers. Although this was not a mass-produced factory windmill it is still one of the coolest looking I have ever come across. The windmill I'm talking about is none other than Romeo & Juliet which was designed by the one and only Frank Lloyd Wright. Wright designed and built this windmill at his Taliesin Fellowship in 1896. The windmill gets its name from the two towers combined together that make up the main structure. The shorter diamond-shaped tower is "Juliet" and the larger octagon-shaped section with the windmill head on top of it is "Romeo". The original commission for this windmill was made by Wright's aunts who had started the Hillside Home School in Spring Green, Wisconsin. The windmill was initially used to provide water to the school and was covered in shingles to match the rest of the buildings at the school. The original structure was demolished in 1990 but a replica was erected shortly thereafter. 

Photo of the windmill with the original wooden wheel ca. 1900

Standing 60 feet in the air Wright's design was not the most practical or cheap for the location but his aunts that asked him for it were adamant about having something on the hill that would look pretty. The structure originally cost $975 in 1896, which was over $600 more than if they had just assembled a standard steel tower windmill in its place. 

Romeo & Juliet can be seen in its original location in Spring Green, WI along with buildings from the first Hillside Home School and Taliesin. For more information on this interesting piece of wind power history check out the Taliesin Preservation  Society website. Keep watching this blog for more updates in the future and may your blades always catch the wind!