Taliesin sees revenue bump after ‘Top Chef’
Over the past few weeks, “Top Chef” Season 21 has taken its “cheftestants,” and its viewers, all over Milwaukee and much of the state of Wisconsin.
The sixth episode of the season aired this week, but the team at Taliesin Preservation — which works to preserve and provide tours of legendary architect Frank Lloyd Wright’s 800-acre estate about an hour west of Madison — is still taking it all in after Episode 4.
The fourth episode, which aired April 10, took the chefs along the Frank Lloyd Wright Trail. They visited Wright’s Burnham Block homes in Milwaukee and Madison’s Wright-designed Monona Terrace before competing in their Elimination Challenge at Taliesin, Wright’s former home and studio in Spring Green.
Since the episode aired, interest in Taliesin — from social media engagement to web searches to tour reservations — has peaked in a way the Taliesin Preservation team says is unprecedented. Carrie Rodamaker, executive director at Taliesin Preservation, said this influx began the night before the episode aired.
Between April 9 and 17, Taliesin saw total revenue of over $27,100. The revenue generated in the period is nearly 2.5 times higher than that generated between March 9 and 17 — just under $11,300.
In the same time, on the website, “we saw 176 conversions,” Rodamaker said. “Conversions are where people actually visit the website and then make a purchase. So, that was an exciting thing for us to see.” This represents 57 more tour bookings than Taliesin saw during the same April 9-17 period last year.
Rodamaker said this peak in interest is especially exciting this time of year. Taliesin is only open for tours Friday through Sunday in April, before opening seven days a week May through October. So, April “tends to be pretty light,” she said. While some of the 176 bookings are in-advance for later in the summer, she said visitors have already shown up to tour after watching the episode.
“Overall, as a nonprofit organization, when we have a successful year, whether it’s because of ‘Top Chef’ or ... it’s just a strong year, it allows us to further invest into our mission” of educating the public on Wright’s ideas and architecture, as well as providing preservation resources across Taliesin’s natural environment and its numerous buildings spanning nearly every decade of Wright’s career, Rodamaker said.
Interest in Taliesin exploded following the ‘Top Chef’ episode
Although it was not quite to this scale, the last time Taliesin experienced a pop culture-fueled peak was following the release of Nancy Horan’s 2007 book “Loving Frank.”
“Because that book took place at Taliesin, we saw increased visitation that year, but also the subsequent years, as people reread the book,” Rodamaker said. She expects something similar to happen as people rewatch the episode.
Since its “Top Chef” feature, Taliesin Preservation has gained more than 100 Facebook followers and nearly 200 Instagram followers. Between April 9 and 17, its website visitation was 5.4 times higher than the same time last year.
“To have ‘Top Chef’ was such a wonderful thing for us,” Rodamaker said. “The more visitation, the more visibility we’re able to get, the more people are able to see and recognize this incredible asset to our state and the incredible part of our history.”
Taliesin began working with ‘Top Chef’ over a year ago
Taliesin’s journey to the “Top Chef” screen began about a year and a half ago when Rodamaker was approached by tourism executives with Destination Madison. They told her they were working with a group for a “culinary competition show” interested in seeing Wisconsin’s highlights.
Over the following months, as Rodamaker learned more, she said she knew “Top Chef” has a big following but wasn’t sure what to expect when it came to how that would impact Taliesin. A production team of hundreds spent a day and a half at the estate filming the episode.
“When I look back, I am even more pleased with how ... our episode was produced and directed,” Rodamaker said.
The team included “Top Chef’s” production company Magical Elves, as well
as local talent. “It was fun to talk to the people that were working here,” Rodamaker continued. “The fact that ‘Top Chef’ was here, Bravo was here, it is just so economically exciting for the state.”
How can I tour Frank Lloyd Wright’s Taliesin?
Taliesin Preservation offers a variety of tours, ranging in length from one to four hours and in price from about $40 to $100 per person.
A National Historic Landmark and UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Taliesin property features free nature trails and Wright-designed buildings from the 1890s through the 1950s. Visitors can also check out the Riverview Terrace Cafe, which was featured in the “Top Chef” episode, for free.
If you’re interested in seeing all the spaces included in the episode, Rodamaker suggests taking the four-hour Estate tour or the two-hour Highlights tour.
To learn more, purchase tickets and schedule a tour, visit taliesinpreservation.