Fallingwater: Milestone Design in Remote Pennsylvania

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Frank Lloyd Wright’s distinctive and daring cantilever design over a waterfall, using reinforced concrete, achieved not only a unique modern aesthetic but also safety over the falling water. Christopher Little/ Courtesy of the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy

While many of the United States’ most impressive cathedrals, buildings, and houses reside in major metropolitan areas, one of architect Frank Lloyd Wright’s (1867–1959) most notable works is in Mill Run, located in Pennsylvania’s Laurel Highlands area, 75 miles southeast of Pittsburgh. The Kaufmann family, who owned and operated Pittsburgh’s largest department store, commissioned Wright in 1935 to design their vacation house along a stream and over a waterfall. This house became known as Fallingwater.

Wright created for the Kaufmanns a 9,300-square-foot house, of which 4,400 square feet are terraces. Two terraces are dramatically cantilevered up and over a 20-foot waterfall. Local craftsmen quarried native sandstone and other natural materials from the property. By 1938, the one-of-a-kind house—integrated into the natural rock ledges of the wooded landscape—was completed.

The house’s interior includes low ceilings and dark passageways that lead to light-filled, expansive common rooms. Wright’s design intention for all of the interior areas of the house was to direct occupants toward outdoor sensory experiences and the overall beauty of the woodland site. Native rhododendron-inspired hues, such as a light ochre for the concrete, were selected. And the architect’s signature red was specified for the steel.

In 1963, Edgar Kaufmann Jr. donated his family’s vacation estate, including 469 acres of surrounding wilderness, to the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy.

To marry the landscape with the architecture, Wright specified natural materials for Fallingwater’s construction. As seen in the eastern elevation, these materials included native stacked stone for various piers, walls, walkways, and the centerpiece chimney. The architectural design intends to hug the surrounding forest. Christopher Little/Courtesy of the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy

Part of the living room at Fallingwater, the music space features Wright’s signature style of juxtaposing geometric shapes with natural textures, shown here in the combination of modern upholstery and stacked stone. The unique seating provides a place to sit and listen to music from the nearby record player, housed in a built-in cabinet. Christopher Little/Courtesy of the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy

Instead of wood paneling or drywall, the backdrop to many of Fallingwater’s rooms is hand-chiseled stacked stone from a quarry near the Pennsylvania mountain site. Other important details of this room—including the living and dining rooms in an open plan—are the large portrait of the house’s owner, family patriarch Edgar Jonas Kaufmann, and Wright-designed furnishings, such as the room’s table and chairs. Christopher Little/Courtesy of the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy

Wright designed the clean-lined furnishings to provide function and comfort but at the same time to not take away from the views of the surrounding woodland and stream just beyond the large windows and glass doors. The study, which was used by Edgar Kaufmann Jr., boasts a desk and floating shelves that blend seamlessly with the window and door frames. Christopher Little/Courtesy of the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy

Stone walls, floors, and natural light are the defining features of this room, designed as an open-plan concept that Wright is credited with pioneering. His architectural goal with this space was to encourage gathering and functionality, as the room includes a two-sided desk, as well as spacious seating areas, with the fireplace as a centerpiece. A symmetrical ceiling design draws the eye in this airy space. Christopher Little/Courtesy of the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy

This view of a corner of the expansive living room zeros in on how Wright was able to create intimate niches, despite the roominess of the overall space. Earthy hues of terracotta, cream, and gold compliment the general sandstone palette of the floor and wall. The Kaufmann’s collection of art and textiles, carefully displayed on shelves and various surfaces, enlivens the spaces with an eclectic modern aesthetic. Christopher Little/Courtesy of the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy

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