"The truth has no defense against a fool determined to believe a lie." -Mark Twain
On our way to a little getaway in Ohiopyle, PA we stopped to visit one of Frank Lloyd Wright's most widely acclaimed works. Fallingwater represents his philosophy of organic architecture: the harmonious union of art and nature. The house is located in the mountains of Southwestern Pennsylvania, also known as the Laurel Highlands.
Fallingwater was designed in 1935 by Wright for the Kaufmann family, owners of Pittsburgh’s largest department store. He designed the home to rise above a waterfall on Bear Run. Local craftsmen quarried native sandstone and other materials from the property. The main house was completed in nine months and the house is celebrating 90 years in 2026. The guest house, and service wing were completed in 1939.
The Kaufmann family used the home as a vacation house during their lifetimes. In 1963, Edgar Kaufmann Jr. donated and entrusted the site and the surrounding 469 acres to the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy. Fallingwater is the only major Wright work to come into the public domain with its setting, artwork and original Wright-designed furnishings intact.
Today, the home is open to the public as a museum and surrounded by 5,100 acres of natural land known as the Bear Run Nature Reserve. In 2019 it became an UNESCO World Heritage Site and it's also designated as a National Historic Landmark and Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Treasure.
The house includes multiple outdoor terraces, which are cantilevered, extending outward from a chimney without support at the opposite end. The house is made of locally–quarried stone, reinforced concrete, steel, and plate glass. The first story contains the main entrance, the living room, two outdoor terraces and the kitchen. There are four bedrooms and additional terraces on the upper stories. Wright designed most of the house's built-in furniture. Above the main house is a guest wing with a carport, pool and servants' quarters.
Our first view of the house.
Looking at the house from the bridge that leads to the house. To the lower right is a plunge pool the family enjoyed each morning. The stairs come down from the living room and lead to the top of the falls.
The front door along with hallways are small and narrow. Wright did this to make you feel like you were part of nature.
Here is a look at the living room going clockwise around the room from the front door.
Stairs leading down to the creek.
Wright designed the ceilings low to force your eyes to focus on the view.
The stairs on the right lead up to the second floor.
The kitchen wasn't large but very modern for its time. The kitchen had the same beautiful view as the rest of the house.
Looking toward the windows in the kitchen and upstairs bedrooms.
Looking down past the falls from the west terrace.
The Sung Dynasty (960–1279 AD) Buddha head rests on the west terrace outside the living room.
My favorite part of the house was in Mrs. Kaufmann's bedroom. This Tiffany lamp is beautiful and I love the way the windows go around the corner. I could definitely live in this room.
Mr. Kaufmann's room.
Edgar Kaufmann, Jr. 's suite on the third floor.
A view of the west terrace from Mr. Kaufmann's terrace.
The guest house is up the hill from the main house. The view is pretty but nothing like the view from the main house.
The carport and service quarters are also above the main house next to the guest house and pool.
This is the iconic view everyone knows of this famous house.
A map of the Fallingwater buildings.
