On August 15, 1914, one of Wright's recently hired domestic workers murdered Mamah, both her children, three of Wright's associates, and a son of one of the associates. He set fire to one wing of Taliesin, and murdered the seven people with an ax as they tried to escape the fire.

But one summer day in 1914, a servant in the home went on a murderous rampage, killing Borthwick, her two children, and several of Wright’s other employees before burning down the house. By the end of the spree, seven people were dead, and the perpetrator himself had swallowed acid in an attempt to take his own life.

Mamah Borthwick was hacked to death at the age of 45, and her body was left to burn in the flames that were engulfing the home Frank Lloyd Wright had built with her.