FALLING WATER
I just recently
had the opportunity to visit the Falling Water house close to Donergal, Pennsylvania
for my first time. I have read quite a bit about it and spent some time
researching Frank Lloyd Wright, before ever getting to this point. This man
left a legacy of work unsurpassed by others and yet still way ahead of his time
making him a visionary that led architecture by his actions.
Pictures from
inside the house are forbidden so I guess you will have to rely on my
explanation as I walk you through the house. The first place you start your
visit at is outside the house and on the bridge leading up to the house. The
house is constructed on a bunch of boulders at a point in the stream where the
water cascades from springs further up the hill under the bridge the guide
gives you a list of things you can do and not do when going through the house. Handicapped
visitors are only allowed to view the main living room area. There is a hundred steps a handicapped person
has to be able to negotiate to fully see the house. Instead they allow you to
see the main living room and fireplace and then take you by the shuttle you arrived
in back to the visitor’s center where you can view the rest of the tour on dvd.
Features on this
floor include the view of the water running below you and a brief explanation
of how Mr. Wright designed the house to be cantilevered over the falls area and
at the same time blend in with the surroundings of the area. Also how each of
the terraces are becoming thinner as you rise up in the floors to the top of
the house. Another feature of the house is that is all reinforced concrete construction
with no steel reinforcement in terms of columns or girders, but instead
reinforcing rod and engineering that makes the house stand as it is. At one
point there were over seventy workers under Mr. Wright’s tutelage and this is
during the depression at a total cost of one hundred thirty five thousand
dollars for the Kauffman’s of Pittsburg to use as a summer home. These were the
same Kauffman’s who owned the Kaufman department stores.
From there you
progress on up through the levels of the house till you reach Edgar juniors
rooms on the third floor of the house. The ceilings are low but Mr. Wright felt
this was a feature of his design as it forced one to look outside and Mr. Wright
was forever trying to crowd in window spaces where he could to take advantage
of the beautiful forest scenes and the waterfalls just outside the living
spaces within. Tales of Mr. Wright and the Kauffman’s as they went through the
building process abound, but one in particular that seemed funny to me was over
Mr. Wright refusing to make Edgar Seniors desk larger as it interfered with the
window system. When Mr. Kauffman complained about the small size of the desk he
made mention that he may need more space to write out the check for the work
done by Mr. Wright, it was only them that Mr. Wright acquiesced and made the
desk larger.
When looking at
the overall design, what appears to be the upper level to the house is actually
the guest house which was built on later which included a servant quarters at
the highest point of the complex. All rooms feature built-ins including
bookshelves and the whole place is furnished with period furniture which you
are not allowed to touch. Special instructions on what side of a staircase may
be touched when ascending or descending is allowed to minimize the damage
caused by tours. Some priceless works of
art are displayed. The house is supposedly in a state much the same as it was
when the Kauffman’s last used it. it was under Edgar Junior’s rule that he
donated the house to the foundation to perpetuate it into the future around
1962 to be used as an example of Frank Lloyd Wright’s awesome genius in
designing. The house was once featured on the cover of Life magazine, around
that same time.
I would recommend
this trip to anyone who likes modern architecture of any kind. Wright was definitely
thinking outside the box at this time. His style of designing was under
criticism at that time but has since been understood as a forerunner of modern
house design since. His other houses all feature similar design components that
were employed in the building of the Falling Water house but not to the extent
which was used there. One to put on your bucket list. As well this area
provides plenty of things to see and do including enjoying the beautiful vistas
of fall foliage as it is in full peak now.
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