Hex of the Widow part 3: Murderous Peak

In Part 3: Cha Cha Cabot lures Gordo to the Widow's elegant (and all-but-abandoned manor) -- Widow's Peak -- where the sinister seeds of a devilish double-cross are laid!

 

- - - - - - - - - - - -

The Widow's Peak, Taliesin of the Funny Pages! When first introduced, Artemisia Gonzales' stylish home was still percolating in Arriola's mind, largely depicted in shadows. But as far as grand edifices go in the pueblo of Del Monte, the Widow's notorious abode was also second only to the massive estate of haciendero Don Ramon del Monte, in terms of size and loveliness. 

When Arriola was given a chance to underline the Widow's wealth, success and self-inflicted isolation, Widow's Peak was his method. 

An early glimpse inside the Widow's elegant home (1946)

A 1954 invitation to dinner at Taliesin West jumpstarted a new vision of the Peak in Arriola's mind. While enjoying the meal, a musical performance and an open-air film in the company of Frank Lloyd Wright and his wife Olgivanna, Gus drank in the sprawling floorplan, the overhanging geometry, the organic elegance of Wright's signature structure -- and brought them home to Del Monte.

In the third chapter of Hex of the Widow, the reader is finally invited inside Widow's Peak, the ominous dark structure looming on the tallest hill in town (depicted here as a "Lloyd Lloyd Lloyd" design). The natural building materials and overhang recall similar structures at Wright's Arizona abode, accented by Arriola's playful sense of design and structure...

 

- - - - - - - - - - - -

(Part 3 of 5) August 29 - September 24, 1955

Continued tomorrow!