Fallingwater

Template:Short description Template:Good article {{#invoke:other uses|otheruses}} Template:Use mdy dates Template:Use American English Template:Infobox historic site

Fallingwater is a house museum in Stewart Township in the Laurel Highlands of southwestern Pennsylvania, United States. Designed by the architect Frank Lloyd Wright, it is built partly over a waterfall on the Bear Run stream. The three-story residence was developed as a weekend retreat for Liliane and Edgar J. Kaufmann Sr., the owner of Kaufmann's Department Store in Pittsburgh. The Western Pennsylvania Conservancy (WPC), which has operated Fallingwater as a tourist attraction since 1963, maintains Template:Convert surrounding the house.

Edgar Kaufmann Sr. had established a summer retreat at Bear Run for his employees by 1916. When employees stopped using the retreat, the Kaufmanns bought the site in July 1933 and hired Wright to design the house in 1934. Several structural issues arose during the house's construction, including cracked concrete and sagging terraces. The Kaufmanns began using the house in 1937 and hired Wright to design a guest wing, which was finished in 1939. Edgar Kaufmann Jr., the Kaufmanns' son, continued to use the house after his parents' deaths. After the WPC took over, it began hosting tours of the house in July 1964 and built a visitor center in 1979. The house was renovated in the late 1990s and early 2000s to remedy severe structural defects, including sagging terraces and poor drainage.

The house includes multiple outdoor terraces, which are cantilevered, extending outward from a chimney without support at the opposite end. Fallingwater 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 (including a study) and additional terraces on the upper stories. Wright designed most of the house's built-in furniture. Many pieces of art are placed throughout the house, in addition to objects including textiles and Tiffany glass. Above the main house is a guest wing with a carport and servants' quarters.

Fallingwater has received extensive architectural commentary over the years, and it was one of the world's most discussed modern–style structures by the 1960s. The house has been the subject of books, magazine articles, films, and other media works over the years. Fallingwater is designated as a National Historic Landmark, and it is one of eight buildings in "The 20th-Century Architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright", a World Heritage Site.

Site

Fallingwater is situated in Stewart Township in the Laurel Highlands of southwestern Pennsylvania, United States,<ref name="Toker p. 78">Template:Harvnb</ref><ref name="Heyman g090">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> about Template:Convert southeast of Pittsburgh.<ref name="Silman p. 88">Template:Harvnb</ref><ref name="Wald w809">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The house is located near Pennsylvania Route 381 (PA 381),<ref name="Sommers c954">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="Kraft 1990" /> between the communities of Ohiopyle and Mill Run in Fayette County.<ref name="Toker p. 78" /><ref name="Kraft 1990">Template:Cite news</ref> It is variously cited as being either in Bear Run, the stream that runs below the house, or in Mill Run,<ref name="Toker p. 78" /><ref name="Maslin2003">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> though the building's deeds give the locale as Stewart Township.<ref name="Toker pp. 258–259">Template:Harvnb</ref> Nearby are the Bear Run Natural Area to the north, as well as Ohiopyle State Park<ref name="Ecenbarger 1992">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="The Daily American 1993">Template:Cite news</ref> and Fort Necessity National Battlefield to the south.<ref name="Toker p. 84">Template:Harvnb</ref> The nearest city is Uniontown, to the west.<ref name="Sommers c954" /> Fallingwater is one of four buildings in southwestern Pennsylvania designed by the architect Frank Lloyd Wright. The others are Kentuck Knob, about Template:Convert to the southwest,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="Centre Daily Times 2014">Template:Cite news</ref> as well as Duncan House<ref name="Centre Daily Times 2014" /><ref name="Lancaster New Era 2007">Template:Cite news</ref> and Lindholm House at Polymath Park in Acme, Pennsylvania.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Geography and structures

Fallingwater is named for the location of the main house,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Toker p. 260">Template:Harvnb</ref> which is oriented roughly south-southeast.<ref name="McCarter p. 212">Template:Harvnb</ref> It sits above the Bear Run stream, a tributary of the Youghiogheny River, which has an upper falls about Template:Convert high (where the main house is situated) and a lower falls about Template:Convert high.<ref name="Kraft 1990" /><ref name="Toker p. 155">Template:Harvnb</ref> At the house, Bear Run is Template:Convert above sea level;<ref name="NPS p. 2">Template:Harvnb</ref><ref>Template:Harvnb</ref> contrary to common perceptions, it does not pass through the house.<ref name="Toker p. 155" /> The stream sometimes freezes during the winter and dries up during the summer.<ref name="Fulford 2015">Template:Cite news</ref> There is a layer of buff and gray sandstone under the site, which is part of the Pottsville Formation.<ref name="Toker p. 81">Template:Harvnb</ref><ref name="Hoffmann p. 5"/> Prior to Fallingwater's construction, several sandstone boulders were scattered across the grounds.<ref name="Hoffmann p. 5">Template:Harvnb</ref> In contrast to other country estates, Fallingwater is not located on a geographically prominent site and is not easily visible.<ref name="McCarter p. 211">Template:Harvnb</ref> Canopy cover from the surrounding forest hangs above the house.<ref name="Waggoner p. 190" />

Atop a hill to the north of the main house is Fallingwater's guest wing,<ref name="Fales 1977" /><ref name="Waggoner p. 209" /> which is about Template:Convert away from the main house.<ref name="Hoffmann p. 82">Template:Harvnb</ref> The guest wing, an "L"-shaped building, is connected to the main house by a curved outdoor walkway (see Template:Section link).<ref name="Waggoner p. 209" /> The house's visitor pavilion, which is not visible from the main house,<ref name="Haurwitz 1981" /> includes five open-air wooden structures with connecting pathways.<ref name="Haurwitz 1980" /> The pavilion includes glass-walled wings with bathrooms, exhibit areas, and a child-care center, in addition to an open-air ticket office.<ref name="Haurwitz 1981" /><ref name="Miller 1981" /> Approximately Template:Convert from the main house is the Barn at Fallingwater, which consists of two barns built Template:Circa and in the early 1940s.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>

The grounds include a small mausoleum for Edgar and Liliane Kaufmann, which has doors designed by Alberto Giacometti.<ref name="Ecenbarger 1992" /><ref name="Pitz 2015">Template:Cite news</ref> Edgar Jr. was cremated after his death, and his ashes are spread around the house.<ref name="Pitz 2015" /> There are paths throughout the grounds, including a pathway to the waterfall.<ref name="Bell 1995">Template:Cite news</ref> Wright designed a set of gates for the house's driveway, though these were never installed.<ref name="Pittsburgh Post-Gazette 2005" /> George Longenecker designed a gate that was used at Fallingwater from 1995 to 2005;<ref name="Pittsburgh Post-Gazette 2005" /><ref name="The Evening Sun 2005">Template:Cite news</ref> it weighed Template:Convert and measured Template:Convert across.<ref name="The Evening Sun 2005" /> Wright also designed several unbuilt structures for the estate, including a gatehouse, farmhouse, and various expansions.<ref name="Toker p. 105">Template:Harvnb</ref>

Previous site usage

In the 1890s, a freemasonry group from Pittsburgh developed a country club on a plot of land that includes the Fallingwater site. By 1909, this clubhouse had been acquired by another group of masons who turned it into the Syria Country Club.<ref name="Hoffmann p. 7">Template:Harvnb</ref> The club went bankrupt in 1913.<ref name="Hoffmann p. 7" /><ref name="Toker p. 92">Template:Harvnb</ref> A map from that year shows that the grounds included the clubhouse, the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad's Bear Run station, and 13 other buildings (none of which are extant). One of the structures was a cottage on the site of Fallingwater's guest wing, while the clubhouse was about Template:Convert to the southeast.<ref>Template:Harvnb</ref>

Edgar J. Kaufmann Sr., the president of Kaufmann's Department Store in Pittsburgh,<ref name="Hoffmann p. 7" /><ref name="Toker pp. 36–37">Template:Harvnb</ref> had established a summer retreat at Bear Run for his employees by 1916.<ref name="Toker p. 92" /><ref name="Hoffmann pp. 8–9">Template:Harvnb</ref> Up to one thousand employees used the retreat each summer.<ref name="Toker pp. 92–93">Template:Harvnb</ref> In 1922, Edgar and his wife Liliane built a simple summer cabin on a nearby cliff, which was nicknamed the "Hangover" and lacked electricity, plumbing, or heating.<ref name="Hoffmann pp. 8–9" /><ref name="Toker p. 94">Template:Harvnb</ref> The Kaufmanns' permanent residence, at the time, was La Tourelle in Fox Chapel.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Kaufmann's employees eventually bought the Bear Run site in 1926,<ref name="Hoffmann pp. 8–9" /><ref name="Toker pp. 92–93" /> and the Hangover was expanded in 1931.<ref name="Hoffmann pp. 8–9" /><ref name="Toker p. 94" /> After Kaufmann's Department Store employees stopped using the summer retreat,<ref name="Cass 1995">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Toker p. 95">Template:Harvnb; Template:Harvnb</ref> the Kaufmann family bought the site in July 1933.<ref name="Toker p. 98">Template:Harvnb; Template:Harvnb</ref>

Development

Edgar and Liliane Kaufmann became familiar with Wright's work through their only child, Edgar Kaufmann Jr..<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>Template:Efn The younger Edgar had studied in Europe under the artist Victor Hammer from 1930 to 1933.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Harvnb</ref> After returning to the United States, in September 1934, Edgar Jr. traveled to Wright's Wisconsin studio, Taliesin,<ref name="Waggoner p. 178">Template:Harvnb</ref><ref name="Hoffmann p. 11">Template:Harvnb</ref> and began apprenticing under Wright.<ref name="Hoffmann p. 12">Template:Harvnb</ref><ref>Template:Harvnb</ref> Edgar Jr.'s parents met with Wright that November while visiting their son.<ref name="Toker p. 123">Template:Harvnb; Template:Harvnb; Template:Harvnb</ref>Template:Efn The architectural historian Paul Goldberger credits Edgar Jr. as the second-most influential figure in Fallingwater's development, behind Wright himself.<ref name="Goldberger y314">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Planning

File:FallingwaterEaves.jpg

Fallingwater's facade includes sandstone, reinforced concrete, metal, and glass.<ref name="Ecenbarger 1992" /><ref name="Hartzok 1992">Template:Cite news</ref>

Fallingwater was one of three major buildings that Frank Lloyd Wright designed in the 1930s, along with the Johnson Wax Building in Racine, Wisconsin, and Herbert Jacobs's first house in Madison, Wisconsin.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> When Wright was hired as Fallingwater's architect in late 1934, he was 67 years old,<ref name="Ecenbarger 1992" /><ref name="Hoffmann p. 11" /> and he had designed only two buildings in six years.<ref name="Toker p. 161">Template:Harvnb; Template:Harvnb</ref><ref name="Storrer p. 236">Template:Harvnb</ref> Wright wanted to select a site "that has features making for character",<ref name="Dorsey 1967">Template:Cite news</ref> and Edgar Jr. recalled that when Wright visited Bear Run, he had been excited by the landscape he had seen.<ref name="Reif a665">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The Kaufmanns wanted Wright to design a building set far back from the road.<ref name="Hoffmann p. 13" /> In late December 1934, Wright visited Bear Run and asked for a survey of the area around the waterfall.<ref name="Hoffmann p. 13" /><ref name="Toker pp. 138–139">Template:Harvnb</ref> His team drew up models of the house and site in Arizona,<ref name="Hoffmann p. 13" /><ref>Template:Harvnb</ref> and Wright asked the Kaufmanns to list every tree species on the site.<ref name="Hornby d823">Template:Cite news</ref> A map of the site's boulders, trees, and topography was completed and forwarded to Wright on March 9, 1935.<ref name="Hoffmann p. 13">Template:Harvnb</ref>

The Kaufmanns asked Wright to include a large living–dining space, at least three bedrooms, a dressing room, and a guest and servant wing.<ref name="Hoffmann p. 13" /> Edgar Sr. wanted to pay between $20,000 and $30,000 for construction.<ref name="Hoffmann p. 15">Template:Harvnb</ref><ref name="Lowry 2005">Template:Cite news</ref> Wright's apprentices Edgar Tafel and Robert Mosher were the most heavily involved in the building's design, while his employees Mendel Glickman and William Wesley Peters were the structural engineers.<ref name="Silman p. 90">Template:Harvnb</ref> Wright postponed his sketches for Kaufmann's country home while designing another project for Kaufmann.<ref name="Hoffmann p. 15" /><ref name="Toker p. 141">Template:Harvnb</ref> Concurrently, Wright continued to formulate plans for the house's orientation, materials, and general shape and size.<ref name="Toker p. 150">Template:Harvnb</ref> Edgar Sr. called Wright on September 22, 1935, to inform the architect that he would visit Taliesin.<ref name="Hoffmann pp. 16–17">Template:Harvnb</ref><ref name="Tafel p. 3">Template:Harvnb</ref> Wright's apprentices disagree on what exactly happened next, but the sketches were complete when Edgar Sr. arrived two hours later.<ref name="Hoffmann pp. 16–17" /><ref name="Toker pp. 181–182">Template:Harvnb</ref> Contrary to common claims that Wright had ignored the design for nine months before hurriedly sketching it, he had already devised the plans mentally<ref name="Hoffmann p. 15" /><ref name="Lowry 2005" /><ref name="Taylor s692">Template:Cite news</ref> and had written about them to Edgar Sr. multiple times.<ref name="Hoffmann p. 14">Template:Harvnb</ref><ref name="Toker p. 140">Template:Harvnb</ref>

Wright's plan called for a structure with exposed cantilevers.<ref name="Hoffmann p. 18">Template:Harvnb</ref><ref name="Toker p. 152">Template:Harvnb</ref> The house was to be placed on Bear Run's northern bank, oriented 30 degrees counterclockwise from due south, so that every room would receive natural light.<ref name="Hoffmann p. 18" /><ref name="Toker pp. 183–184">Template:Harvnb</ref> It also included terraces that resembled rock ledges.<ref name="Hoffmann p. 18" /> Edgar Sr. had expected that the house would be downstream from Bear Run's waterfalls, allowing the Kaufmann family to see the cascades.<ref name="Mooney 1990">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="McCarter p. 214">Template:Harvnb</ref> This meant that the house would have faced north, with suboptimal amounts of natural light,<ref name="McCarter p. 214" /> so Wright instead designed the home above the waterfall.<ref>Template:Harvnb</ref><ref>Template:Harvnb</ref> As he explained to Edgar Sr.: "I want you to live with the waterfall, not to look at it."<ref name="Hoffmann pp. 16–17" /><ref name="Kamin 2002">Template:Cite news</ref> Wright sent preliminary plans to Edgar Sr. for approval on October 15, 1935, after which Wright visited the site again.<ref name="McCarter, page 12">Template:Harvnb</ref><ref name="Hoffmann p. 21">Template:Harvnb</ref> The Kaufmanns were impressed with the design, which Wright continued to work on.<ref name="Toker p. 199">Template:Harvnb</ref>

File:Falling water - panoramio (1).jpg

View of Fallingwater from across Bear Run

By January 1936, Wright's team had completed detailed drawings,<ref name="Hoffmann p. 23">Template:Harvnb</ref><ref name="Toker p. 199" /> which were largely unchanged from the initial sketches.<ref name="Hoffmann p. 23" /><ref name="McCarter p. 205">Template:Harvnb</ref><ref name="Keeran 1997">Template:Cite news</ref> The next month, Wright's team sent the plans to Edgar Sr. for review, and workers began building a sample wall.<ref name="Hoffmann p. 23" /> Edgar Sr. asked engineers in Pittsburgh to review the blueprints for the highly experimental design.<ref name="McCarter p. 206">Template:Harvnb</ref><ref name="McCarter, page 12" /><ref name="Hoffmann p. 23" /> The engineers recommended against constructing a building on the site,<ref name="Hoffmann p. 24">Template:Harvnb</ref><ref name="Toker pp. 200–201">Template:Harvnb</ref> citing at least eight structural issues.<ref name="Bramson 1984">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Toker pp. 200–201" /> Either Wright or Edgar Sr. reportedly ordered the report to be sealed inside the building,<ref name="McCarter, page 12" /><ref name="Hoffmann p. 24" /><ref name="Guilfoil 1997">Template:Cite news</ref> though Edgar Sr. is known to have kept a copy of the report.<ref name="Toker p. 202">Template:Harvnb</ref> By early 1937, Wright's team was on its eighth set of drawings.<ref name="Toker p. 195">Template:Harvnb</ref> In the final plans, Wright added a third floor and rearranged some rooms.<ref name="Toker p. 186">Template:Harvnb</ref>

Construction

Edgar Sr. wrote that he constantly thought about the house, "which has become part of me and a part of my life".<ref name="Bell 1995" /><ref name="Toker p. 203">Template:Harvnb</ref> Wright visited every four to six weeks,<ref name="Sancetta 1999">Template:Cite news</ref> appointing Mosher as his on-site representative.<ref name="McCarter, page 12" /><ref name="Hoffmann p. 33" /> Wright hired Walter J. Hall, a contractor from northern Pennsylvania.<ref name="Hoffmann p. 26">Template:Harvnb</ref><ref name="Nark 2024">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Toker pp. 208–209">Template:Harvnb</ref> Hall's former employee Earl Friar was hired as a reinforced-concrete consultant.<ref name="Toker pp. 208–209" /> Edgar Jr. was heavily involved with the project and acted as an intermediary between his father and Wright,<ref name="Waggoner p. 183">Template:Harvnb</ref> and several Kaufmann's employees and extended family members also worked on site.<ref name="Toker p. 204">Template:Harvnb</ref> Work was carried out by local laborers,<ref name="Hoffmann p. 33" /><ref name="Story 1999">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Beers 1974">Template:Cite news</ref> many of whom were inexperienced;<ref name="Toker p. 204" /><ref name="Wardle i378">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> they were paid between 35 and 85 cents an hour depending on their skill level.<ref name="Bramson 1984" /><ref name="Hoffman p. 52">Template:Harvnb</ref>Template:Efn The project was characterized by conflicts between Wright, Kaufmann, and the contractors,<ref name="Nark 2024" /><ref name="McCarter, page 12" /> as Wright prioritized the house's esthetics over any structural concerns.<ref name="Puente 1999">Template:Cite news</ref> Due to Hall's careless attitude and clumsiness, Mosher ended up supervising most of the work.<ref name="Hoffmann p. 33" />

Concrete and masonry work

A disused rock quarry nearby was reopened in late 1935 to provide stone for the house,<ref name="McCarter, page 12" /><ref name="Hoffmann p. 21" /><ref name="Toker p. 203" /> although actual work on the foundation did not begin until April 1936.<ref name="Toker p. 204" /> By then, construction was behind schedule.<ref name="Hoffmann p. 26" /> The masonry contractor, Norbert James Zeller, began building the house's access bridge shortly thereafter; he was later fired following disputes with Wright and Kaufmann.<ref name="Toker p. 205">Template:Harvnb</ref><ref>Template:Harvnb</ref> During a visit to the site shortly afterward, Mosher inquired where the main level of the house would be located, and Wright directed Mosher to use one of the boulders on site as a datum reference.<ref name="Sancetta 1999" /><ref name="Hoffmann p. 27">Template:Harvnb</ref><ref name="Toker p. 206">Template:Harvnb</ref> By June 1936, workers had completed the access bridge and the footers for three of the house's "bolsters", or piers.<ref name="Hoffmann p. 29">Template:Harvnb</ref><ref name="Toker p. 207">Template:Harvnb</ref> However, Mosher ordered that the bolsters be rebuilt after receiving revised plans from Taliesin.<ref name="Toker p. 207" /> Despite delays in delivering wood from Algoma, Wisconsin, workers had excavated the basement by that July.<ref name="Hoffmann p. 33">Template:Harvnb</ref>

Workers began pouring concrete formwork for the first-floor terrace in August 1936,<ref name="Hoffmann p. 33" /><ref name="Toker p. 210">Template:Harvnb</ref> and masonry work reached the second story that month.<ref name="Hoffmann p. 37">Template:Harvnb</ref> As the first-floor terrace was being poured, Kaufmann asked the engineering firm Metzger-Richardson to draw up plans for extra rebar to the concrete.<ref name="McCarter, page 12" /><ref name="Toker p. 215">Template:Harvnb</ref><ref name="feldman">Template:Cite magazine</ref> Wright rejected these plans because he believed the extra steel would overload the terraces,<ref name="Silman p. 91">Template:Harvnb</ref><ref name="Hirsch 2014">Template:Cite magazine</ref> and he also dismissed the idea of constructing additional supports in Bear Run's streambed.<ref name="Hirsch 2014" /><ref name="Silman pp. 91–92">Template:Harvnb</ref> Contractors secretly added the rebar anyway,<ref name="Silman p. 91" /><ref name="feldman" /> and when Wright heard about the increased rebar, he told Mosher to return to Taliesin.<ref name="Hoffmann p. 37" /><ref name="McCarter pp. 12-13">Template:Harvnb</ref><ref name="Toker p. 218">Template:Harvnb</ref> Wright wrote angrily to Kaufmann: "I have put so much more into this house than you or any other client has a right to expect, that if I don't have your confidence—to hell with the whole thing".<ref name="Silman p. 91" /><ref name="Toker p. 218" /><ref name="Saffron 1999">Template:Cite news</ref> Despite Kaufmann's expressions of confidence in Wright's work, the extra steel remained in place.<ref name="Puente 1999" /><ref name="Silman p. 91" /> The second-floor terrace was poured in October 1936,<ref name="Toker p. 220">Template:Harvnb</ref> and Tafel replaced Mosher as the construction supervisor afterward.<ref name="Storrer p. 236" /><ref>Template:Harvnb</ref>

The contractors neglected to incline the formwork slightly to account for settling and deflection.<ref name="McCarter pp. 12-13" /><ref name="Civil Engineering 1999">Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref name="Hoffmann p. 34">Template:Harvnb</ref> Soon after the concrete was poured, the parapet cracked at two locations.<ref name="Hoffmann p. 41">Template:Harvnb</ref><ref name="Silman pp. 91–92" /> Wright attempted to reassure Edgar Sr. by saying that cracked concrete was normal and safe, but Edgar Sr. remained skeptical.<ref name="Toker p. 220" /><ref name="Hoffmann p. 42">Template:Harvnb</ref> Once the formwork was removed, the first-floor terrace sank about Template:Convert.<ref name="Silman p. 91" /> Glickman, contacted by Mosher, reportedly confessed that he had forgotten to account for the compressive forces of the concrete beams,<ref name="Hoffmann p. 42" /><ref name="Silman p. 91" /> though the historian Franklin Toker disputes that this happened.<ref name="Toker p. 215" /> Wright attributed the sagging to the parapets' weight,<ref name="Hoffmann p. 48">Template:Harvnb</ref> and he drew up plans to reinforce the western second-floor terrace and the roof above the eastern second-floor bedroom.<ref name="Hoffmann p. 49">Template:Harvnb</ref> Meanwhile, structural issues continued to arise: By December 1936, five major cracks had been detected.<ref name="Hoffmann p. 48" /><ref name="Toker p. 221">Template:Harvnb</ref> Mosher was reinstated as the project's supervisor, and Kaufmann's engineer installed a stone wall under the western second-floor terrace in January 1937.<ref name="Toker p. 222">Template:Harvnb</ref> When Wright discovered the wall, he had Mosher remove the top course of stones;<ref name="Hoffmann p. 49" /><ref>Template:Harvnb</ref> the wall was later disassembled entirely.<ref name="Toker p. 226">Template:Harvnb</ref>

Completion

File:Fallingwater - obývací pokoj 6.png

The hatch for the living-room stairs (pictured) was manufactured by Hope's Windows Inc.<ref name="Hoffmann pp. 50–51" />

By early 1937, the installation of interior finishes had begun.<ref name="Toker p. 223">Template:Harvnb</ref> Hope's Windows Inc. of Jamestown, New York, manufactured the window sashes and the hatch for the living-room stairs,<ref name="Hoffmann pp. 50–51">Template:Harvnb</ref><ref name="Toker p. 224">Template:Harvnb</ref> while Pittsburgh Plate Glass made the windows themselves.<ref name="Toker p. 224" /> Wright also suggested covering the exteriors with gold leaf;<ref name="Hoffman p. 52" /><ref name="Waggoner p. 28">Template:Harvnb</ref><ref name="Milao p. 9">Template:Harvnb</ref> it is unclear whether Wright had made his suggestion jokingly or seriously.<ref name="Storrer p. 237">Template:Harvnb</ref> In either case, Edgar Sr. hired a gold-leaf contractor, who rejected the idea,<ref name="Bell 1995" /><ref name="Storrer p. 237" /> and Wright subsequently suggested finishing the facade in white mica.<ref name="Hoffmann p. 53">Template:Harvnb</ref> Wright reportedly decided on the final color, a shade of ocher, after picking up a dried rhododendron leaf;<ref name="Hazell 2001">Template:Cite news</ref> he ordered waterproof paint from DuPont.<ref name="Toker p. 224" /><ref name="Hoffmann p. 53" /> At Kaufmann's request, Wright added a plunge pool at the bottom of the living-room stairs, and he retained the large boulder on the living room's floor.<ref name="Hoffmann pp. 55–56" />

Through mid-1937, workers continued to lay floor tiles, and they conducted tests on the terraces.<ref name="Hoffmann pp. 55–56">Template:Harvnb</ref><ref name="Toker pp. 225–226">Template:Harvnb</ref> In addition, the contractors refined plans for details such as the paint colors and metalwork.<ref name="Hoffmann p. 58">Template:Harvnb</ref> The cork tiles in the bathrooms were particularly problematic, since they had to be installed on curved surfaces.<ref name="Hoffmann pp. 62–63">Template:Harvnb</ref> Wright hired the Wisconsin–based Gillen Woodworking Corporation to produce furniture for the house.<ref name="Hoffmann p. 65">Template:Harvnb</ref><ref name="Waggoner p. 218">Template:Harvnb</ref><ref name="Toker p. 237">Template:Harvnb</ref> The Kaufmanns moved into the house in November 1937,<ref name="Toker p. 226" /> but the main house's furnishings were not completed until 1938.<ref name="Toker p. 239">Template:Harvnb</ref> Wright came up with the Fallingwater name around the same time;<ref name="Kamin 2002" /><ref name="Toker p. 260" /> previously, the house had been known as the E.Template:NbspJ. Kaufmann Residence or E.Template:NbspJ. Kaufmann House.<ref name="Toker p. 258">Template:Harvnb</ref> Even though some other American country estates (such as Biltmore, Monticello, or Mount Vernon) also used nicknames, the Kaufmanns did not use the Fallingwater name.<ref name="Toker pp. 259-261">Template:Harvnb</ref>

Wright began drawing out plans for a guest wing, replacing an existing cottage on a hill behind the main house.<ref>Template:Harvnb</ref> Wright had completed blueprints for the guest wing by May 1938, but the Kaufmanns initially objected to the interior layout and the bridge between the main and guest wings. After Wright presented final plans for the guest wing in April 1939, Edgar Jr. modified the main house's decorations and furnishings. By that September, the guest wing was being finished.<ref name="Hoffmann p. 78">Template:Harvnb</ref> Fallingwater exceeded its budget significantly.<ref name="Glancey 2001">Template:Cite news</ref> The final cost for the home and guest house was $155,000 (equivalent to about $Template:Inflation million in Template:Inflation-year).<ref name="Wardle i378" /><ref>Template:Harvnb</ref><ref name="AP-WrightTrinity">Template:Cite news</ref> The total cost was nearly four times Kaufmann's original budget, which in turn was ten times the average cost of a four-bedroom house in Pennsylvania at the time.<ref name="Kraft 1990" /> From 1938 through 1941, more than $22,000 was spent on additional details and modifications.<ref name="Hoffman p. 52" />

Use as house

Early years

File:Fallingwater - Gallery at stair to below - HABS PA,26-OHPY.V,1-80.jpg

Edgar Jr.'s bedroom in the third-story gallery

The Kaufmann family used Fallingwater as a weekend home for 26 years.<ref name="Cass 1995" /> The family took the train to the Bear Run station, where a chauffeur drove them to the house.<ref name="Cass 1995" /> Herbert Ohler was the property's caretaker until 1939, when he was replaced by Jesse Hall.<ref name="The Morning Herald 1959">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="The Daily Courier 1959">Template:Cite news</ref> Relatively few changes occurred after the guest wing was completed.<ref name="Hoffmann p. 88">Template:Harvnb</ref> The Kaufmanns sometimes invited small numbers of people to Fallingwater.<ref name="Hoffmann p. 90">Template:Harvnb</ref> It hosted guests such as the artists Diego Rivera and Pablo Picasso,<ref name="Beers 1974" /> the scientist Albert Einstein<ref name="Pitz 2015" /> and the artist Peter Blume.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Over the years, the family also added artwork.<ref name="Hoffmann p. 85">Template:Harvnb</ref> Part of the Kaufmanns' Bear Run estate caught fire in 1941, although the house itself was undamaged.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The estate's dairy barn burned down in 1945, but the main house again avoided damage.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref>

Fallingwater showed signs of deterioration after its completion.<ref name="Silman p. 88" /> The house originally leaked in 50 places,<ref name="Ecenbarger 1992" /> though later investigations found that the leaks had arisen from errors made by the builders.<ref name="Reif a665" /><ref name="Hoffmann p. 48" />Template:Efn The worsening condition of Fallingwater's terraces prompted Edgar Sr. to hire a surveyor in 1941.<ref>Template:Harvnb</ref><ref name="Bernstein j609">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Contravening his own surveyor's advice, Edgar Sr. did not expand the wall under the western terrace.<ref name=":0">Template:Harvnb</ref> The terraces were surveyed 16 more times between 1945 and 1955.<ref name="Waggoner pp. 262–263">Template:Harvnb</ref> Despite subsequent repairs to the parapet, the cracks there periodically reappeared.<ref name="Civil Engineering 1999" /> Fallingwater's problems were so numerous that Edgar Sr. referred to it as "Rising Mildew".<ref name="Heyman g090" />

After World War II

After World War II, the family spent winters at the Kaufmann Desert House in Palm Springs, California.<ref name="Hoffmann p. 88" /><ref>Template:Harvnb</ref> Wright expanded the kitchen in 1946,<ref name="NPS p. 5">Template:Harvnb</ref><ref name="Hoffmann pp. 88–90">Template:Harvnb</ref> and he drew up plans for never-built expansions of the dining area and foyer.<ref name="Hoffmann p. 90" /> Elsie Henderson was hired as the house's chef in 1947, working there for the next sixteen years.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In 1950, and again in 1953, workers installed posts under the second floor to prevent it from sagging.<ref name="Hoffmann p. 91">Template:Harvnb</ref> Edgar Sr. observed that some windows had begun to crack and that some of the doors no longer opened easily.<ref name="Hoffmann p. 91" /> Furthermore, Edgar Sr. and Liliane's marriage had become strained, and Liliane wanted to build a house nearby in Ohiopyle.<ref name="Waggoner p. 187" /> In the long run, the family wanted to donate Fallingwater.<ref name="Frost 1986">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Waggoner p. 187">Template:Harvnb</ref>

Liliane died in 1952, and her husband died three years later.<ref name="Miller 1996">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Harvnb</ref> Edgar Jr. continued to use the house after his parents died.<ref name="Frost 1986" /><ref name="AP-WrightTrinity" /> He discontinued Fallingwater's annual structural surveys<ref name=":0" /><ref name="Pittsburgh Post-Gazette 1997">Template:Cite news</ref> and instead had his chief of maintenance monitor the terraces.<ref name="Waggoner p. 263">Template:Harvnb</ref> Edgar Jr. abandoned the estate's farm and mill, planting 100,000 pine trees there,<ref name="The Morning Herald 1959" /> and he strengthened the living-room hatch.<ref name="Hoffmann p. 92">Template:Harvnb</ref> The eastern section of the house's roof was rebuilt in 1954.<ref name="NPS p. 5" /><ref name="Hoffmann p. 91" /> The living room was flooded during a storm two years later; while the furniture was severely damaged, the house experienced no structural damage.<ref name="Reif a665" /><ref name="Hoffmann p. 92" /> By then, the sagging terraces had caused the window frames to warp, and workers had to add supports to the terraces, repair the roof, and rebuild the staircase between the living room and Bear Run.<ref name="Frost 1986" /> Jesse Hall retired as Fallingwater's superintendent in 1959.<ref name="The Morning Herald 1959" /><ref name="The Daily Courier 1959" />

Use as museum

1960s and 1970s

Edgar Kaufmann Jr. announced in September 1963 that he would donate the house and about Template:Convert to the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy (WPC).<ref name="Huxtable t942">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="Pittsburgh Post-Gazette 1963">Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> In exchange, the WPC agreed to open the house to the public as a house museum.<ref name="Pittsburgh Post-Gazette 1963" /> At the time, many of Wright's houses were being demolished or altered significantly.<ref name="Huxtable t942" /> The conservancy took over the house on October 29, 1963,<ref name="Storrer p. 238">Template:Harvnb</ref> with a speech by Pennsylvania governor William Scranton.<ref name="Barcousky 2013">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Edgar Jr. gave the WPC $500,000 for the house's maintenance, as well as five annual payments of $30,000 for educational programs.<ref name="Huxtable t942" /><ref name="Barcousky 2013" /> One local newspaper wrote: "We are indeed fortunate, here in Fayette County, to have such beauty."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The museum was dedicated in memory of Edgar and Liliane Kaufmann.<ref name="Hoffmann p. 92" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In subsequent years, the WPC's holdings were expanded to Template:Convert, becoming the Bear Run Natural Area.<ref name="Miller 1996" />

In accordance with Edgar Jr.'s request, the WPC attempted to recreate the house's original appearance, furnishing the rooms with the family's possessions.<ref name="Ecenbarger 1992" /><ref name="Wardle i378" /> Edgar Jr. moved some of the house's artwork to his homes in New York, acquiring other work for the museum.<ref name="Waggoner p. 241">Template:Harvnb</ref> Guided tours began in July 1964,<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> running from April to November of each year.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="The Morning Herald 1975">Template:Cite news</ref> Visitors were allowed to enter most of the rooms<ref name="Forgey c799">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Newsday 1968">Template:Cite news</ref> but had to reserve tickets in advance.<ref name="Pittsburgh Post-Gazette 1964">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Edgar Jr. remained involved with the WPC and Fallingwater for the rest of his life,<ref name="Goldberger y314" /><ref name="Sharpe 1990">Template:Cite news</ref> visiting the house twice annually until his death in 1989.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The house began hosting scholars-in-residence during 1967,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and Edward A. Robinson was appointed as the museum's supervisor in 1970.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> WPC members received free admission twice annually starting in 1973.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref>

The facade was repainted in mid-1972,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and the WPC added a gift shop to the museum next year.<ref name="The Morning Herald 1975" /><ref name="Gigler 1974" /> The WPC began planning a visitor center in the early 1970s,<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> and it hired the landscape architect William G. Swain to design renovations to the property.<ref name="Gigler 1974">Template:Cite news</ref> The conservancy constructed new paths, repaved the existing trails with dark gravel, and added a small crafts store.<ref name="Gigler 1974" /> Fallingwater was repainted repeatedly over the years,<ref name="Hoffmann p. 92" /> and the WPC undertook a major exterior renovation in 1976.<ref name="Southwick 1976">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="The Pittsburgh Press 1976">Template:Cite news</ref> Mildew and repeated freeze-and-thaw cycles had caused damage over time.<ref name="The Pittsburgh Press 1976" /><ref name="Storrer p. 238" /> Afterward, the WPC began repairing the facade every three to four years.<ref name="Citizens' Voice 1985">Template:Cite news</ref> The visitor pavilion was still being developed by 1977;<ref name="Fales 1977">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Rohlf 1977">Template:Cite news</ref> the new structure was to contain a shop, reception center, and child-care center.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The original pavilion, designed by Grant Curry Jr.,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> opened in April 1979 and burned down two days later.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref>

1980s and early 1990s

The WPC rebuilt the visitor pavilion,<ref name="Haurwitz 1980">Template:Cite news</ref> obtaining an $800,000 grant from the Edgar J. Kaufmann Foundation.<ref name="Haurwitz 1981">Template:Cite news</ref> The conservancy hired the architect Paul Mayén, along with Curry, Martin & Highberger to redesign the pavilion.<ref name="Miller 1981">Template:Cite news</ref> The pavilion partially reopened in July 1980<ref name="Haurwitz 1981" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and was rededicated in June 1981.<ref name="Haurwitz 1981" /><ref name="Miller 1981" /> In addition, the trellises at the front entrance were replaced in 1982 following a storm.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The WPC began hosting limited wintertime tours in January 1984.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="NYT 1984 i421">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> By then, the museum's annual expenses amounted to $400,000; despite high visitation, the WPC was breaking even.<ref name="NYT 1984 i421" /> Lynda Waggoner was appointed as the house's curator the next year,<ref name="WESA 2018 o043">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> later being promoted to director.<ref name="Sharpe 1990" /> A restaurant also opened at the visitor center in 1985.<ref name="Citizens' Voice 1985" /> During the late 1980s, the WPC spent at least $500,000 on repairs.<ref name="n160798792">Template:Cite news</ref> The organization restored 182 pieces of furniture for the house's 50th anniversary,<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> and it hired a contractor from Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania, to add waterproofing.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The woodwork and terraces were also repaired, and the windows were replaced.<ref name="n160798792" />

File:FallingwaterCantilever570320cv.jpg

The cantilevered terraces at Fallingwater were sagging significantly by the late 1980s.

By the late 1980s, acid rain and freeze-and-thaw cycles had caused deterioration.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Preservation">Template:Cite news</ref> The house was vulnerable to water damage because the site was always humid.<ref name="n160799528">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Harvnb</ref> Even though most of the leaks had been repaired, rain and snow still pooled on the terraces and roof,<ref name="Aeppel 1994">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="n160799528" /> and water came in through the walls.<ref name="n160798792" /> In addition, the ends of the terraces had sagged by Template:Convert,<ref name="Wald w809" /><ref name="Silman pp. 90–91">Template:Harvnb</ref> tilting almost two degrees.<ref name="Bernstein j609" /> In 1992, the WPC hired John Seekircher to fix the living room's glass hatch, which had not been opened in two decades.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Waggoner also planned to repaint the house, which was complicated by strict environmental regulations regarding Bear Run.<ref name="Aeppel 1994" />

1990s and 2000s renovations

An engineering student, John Paul Huguley, first identified issues with the terraces in the mid-1990s.<ref name="Kamin 2002" /><ref name="Saffron 1999" /> The WPC hired the engineer Robert Silman to assess the terraces and design a permanent fix.<ref name="Bernstein j609" /><ref name="FallingDown" /><ref name="Miller 1999">Template:Cite news</ref> Silman's company confirmed that the terraces' cracks were growing.<ref name="Silman p. 91" /><ref name="Sullivan p. 96">Template:Harvnb</ref> Though Silman's computer models also indicated that the terraces were at risk of collapsing,<ref name="Toker p. 213">Template:Harvnb</ref><ref>Template:Harvnb</ref> the WPC's chief executive, Larry Schweiger, said the terraces were not in danger of collapse.<ref name="Miller 1999" /> Waggoner recalled that the terraces were so brittle that visitors could actually feel them bounce.<ref name="Snyder t680">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Workers installed temporary girders in 1997<ref name="Bernstein j609" /><ref name="FallingDown">Template:Cite news</ref> at a cost of $140,000.<ref name="Aeppel 1997">Template:Cite news</ref> The girders were intended to help relieve stresses on the cantilevers.<ref name="AR-1998-09">Template:Cite magazine</ref> The WPC cut out a section of the floor,<ref name="Bernstein j609" /><ref name="Broughton 1999">Template:Cite news</ref> adding a glass opening;<ref name="Contract 2001">Template:Cite magazine</ref> the living room's sofa was removed as well.<ref name="Pittsburgh Post-Gazette 1997" /><ref name="The Daily American 1997">Template:Cite news</ref> Temporary footings were installed in the streambed,<ref name="Aeppel 1997" /> and the stream was diverted to allow crews to access the terraces,<ref name="The Daily American 1997" /> In addition, two terraces were closed temporarily.<ref name="Civil Engineering 1999" />

The engineering firm Wank Adams Slavin Associates was hired to design a large-scale restoration.<ref name="Engineering News-Record 1999">Template:Cite magazine</ref> Silman devised plans to post-tension the slabs by pulling high-strength steel cables through the beams.<ref name="Broughton 1999" /><ref name="AR-1999-05">Template:Cite magazine</ref> The idea of jacking up the house was deemed infeasible because it would have exacerbated the cracks.<ref name="AR-1998-09" /> A panel of engineers and architects endorsed Silman's proposal in early 1999,<ref name="Engineering News-Record 1999" /><ref name="AR-1999-05" /> and the WPC began raising $6 million for structural repairs that year.<ref name="Civil Engineering 1999" /><ref name="Bernstein j609" /><ref name="AR-1998-09" /> The WPC also discussed the structural issues with engineers, historians, and architects from around the world, including Wright's grandson Eric.<ref name="Saffron 1999" /> The work was postponed by two years while the WPC raised money.<ref name="Wald w809" /><ref name="Contract 2001" /> The Getty Foundation provided the WPC with a $70,000 grant to investigate the structural issues,<ref name="Civil Engineering 1999" /> and Fallingwater received approximately $900,000 through the federal Save America's Treasures program.<ref name="Story 1999" /><ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> Additionally, Pennsylvania governor Tom Ridge provided $3.5 million,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Mamula 2000">Template:Cite news</ref> and private donors provided another $7.2 million.<ref name="Pitz 2000">Template:Cite news</ref>

Work began in late 2001, at which point the restoration was estimated to cost $11.5 million.<ref name="Wald w809" /><ref name="Contract 2001" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The outer end of the first-floor terrace was raised by approximately Template:Convert.<ref name="Spangler 2002">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Gonchar 2002">Template:Cite magazine</ref> The post-tensioning phase cost about $4 million<ref name="Wald w809" /><ref name="Spangler 2001">Template:Cite news</ref> and was completed in six months.<ref name="Kamin 2002" /> Though the terraces still had a noticeable sag,<ref name="Toker p. 214">Template:Harvnb</ref> the post-tensioning prevented further damage to the terraces.<ref name="feldman" /><ref name="Preservation" /> The WPC also planned to strengthen one of the terraces using carbon fiber, rebuild the staircase from the living room to Bear Run, and repair water damage.<ref name="Mamula 2000" /><ref name="Sullivan p. 96" /> Pamela Jerome of Wank Adams Slavin drew up plans to install roof membranes to improve drainage.<ref>Template:Harvnb</ref><ref name="AR-1999-05" /> Due to acid rain and emissions from a coal-fired power station nearby, the exterior also had to be repainted.<ref name="Rosenbaum 2003">Template:Cite news</ref> Workers relocated some outbuildings and replaced the visitor center's sewage system.<ref name="Wald w809" /><ref name="Contract 2001" /> Signage, paths, and landscape features were rehabilitated as well.<ref name="Contract 2001" /><ref name="Wisconsin State Journal 2000">Template:Cite news</ref> The house was connected to a municipal water system for the first time.<ref name="Wisconsin State Journal 2000" /> Visitation increased after the renovations,<ref name="Rosenbaum 2003" /> which were largely completed in 2003.<ref name="Spangler 2002" /><ref name="Rosenbaum 2003" /> Fallingwater received $100,000 for landscaping in late 2003;<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> the next year, the entrance roadways were reconfigured,<ref name="Pittsburgh Post-Gazette 2005">Template:Cite news</ref> and the sewage system was finished.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Mid-2000s to present

File:Fallingwater 20200718 2.jpg

The house as seen from the access bridge

After the renovation was completed in 2005,<ref name="Ecenbarger 2009">Template:Cite news</ref> the WPC began removing invasive species from the Fallingwater grounds that year.<ref name="Lowry 2005a">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Additionally, the WPC replaced 319 windows at the house after PPG Industries donated glass panes in 2010.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> The WPC hired a firm from Peekskill, New York, to help restore the windows.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> In the mid-2010s, one of Fallingwater's volunteer landscapers created a pottery terrace in one of the house's planters.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> One of the statues on the grounds was toppled and damaged during a rainstorm in 2017, and some trees were damaged as well.<ref name="CBS Baltimore 2017">Template:Cite news; {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Waggoner announced in 2017 that she would retire as the museum's director,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and Justin W. Gunther was appointed to replace her.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="Bernstein m222">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> After becoming Fallingwater's director, Gunther devised plans for a $3 million waterproofing project, which was supposed to have begun in 2019.<ref name="Bernstein m222" /><ref name="Hughes t848">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The museum was temporarily closed in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Pennsylvania; the outdoor spaces reopened for self-guided tours that June.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="Herald-Standard 2020 o735">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The same September, the Pennsylvania government gave Fallingwater nearly $240,000 to offset financial losses from the pandemic.<ref name="Herald-Standard 2020 o735" /> In addition, a photovoltaic power array was installed at Fallingwater in 2022 to help power the main house and guest wing.<ref name="Hickman 2022">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Due to the pandemic, the waterproofing project's cost doubled to $6 million.<ref name="Bernstein m222" /><ref name="Hughes t848" /> During 2024 and 2025, the WPC spent $7 million to patch leaks; by then, much of the waterproofing added during the 1990s had worn away. Scaffolding was placed around the house, which remained open for tours during the repairs.<ref name="Bernstein m222" /><ref name="Hughes t848" /><ref name="Thomas i001">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Architecture

Fallingwater has been described as an example of Wright's organic architecture.<ref name="Netto 2011">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Decker a056">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Though the house is also sometimes described as a Modern–styled building, The Wall Street Journal wrote that the design was "a kind of streamlined, handmade, organic architecture" not emulated by other architects.<ref name="Netto 2011" /> The site's natural setting may have been inspired by Japanese architecture, a style Wright liked.<ref name="Zengerle 1989">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Forgey n216">Template:Cite news</ref> Fallingwater's design shares elements with Wright's earlier Prairie houses<ref name="McCarter pp. 205–206">Template:Harvnb</ref><ref name="Toker p. 165">Template:Harvnb</ref>Template:Efn and his later Usonian houses.<ref name="Fazzare l597">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Elements such as trellises are derived from Italian architecture, while the kitchen is inspired by New England colonial architecture.<ref name="Toker p. 165" /> Wright's design for the facade also shares similarities with an unbuilt villa designed by Mies van der Rohe,<ref name="Toker p. 172">Template:Harvnb</ref> and the cantilevers resemble those in three structures designed by Rudolph Schindler.<ref name="Toker pp. 174–175">Template:Harvnb</ref> Wright tried to preserve natural features; for example, he installed braces and trellises around existing trees.<ref name="Cass 1995" /><ref name="Citizens' Voice 1985" /><ref name="Ruddock 1981">Template:Cite news</ref>

The main house is three stories high.<ref name="NPS p. 2" /><ref name="Keyes 1938">Template:Cite news</ref> Wright sought to blur the distinction between the exterior and interior, using the same materials indoors and outdoors.<ref name="Toker p. 231">Template:Harvnb</ref><ref name="O'Brien 1980">Template:Cite news</ref> He also wanted breezes to be felt, and the waterfalls to be heard, throughout the house.<ref name="Decker a056" /> Wright built Fallingwater out of Pottsville sandstone,<ref name="Centre Daily Times 1995">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Storrer p. 237" /> in addition to reinforced concrete, steel, and plate glass.<ref name="Ecenbarger 1992" /><ref name="Hartzok 1992" /> The concrete is a mixture of sand, cement, and gravel from the streambed.<ref>Template:Harvnb</ref> All the woodwork in the house is made of black walnut from North Carolina,<ref name="Storrer p. 237" /><ref name="Waggoner p. 80">Template:Harvnb</ref> which was selected because it did not warp as other types of wood did.<ref name="Fales 1977" /> Decorative motifs, such as courses of stone and wood grains, are oriented horizontally.<ref name="Ruddock 1981" /><ref>Template:Harvnb</ref> Several of the design features—including the corner windows, foam-rubber seats, and indirect lighting—were uncommon when Fallingwater was completed.<ref name="Beers 1974" /><ref name="Mooney r683">Template:Cite news</ref>

Exterior

Template:Multiple image The facade uses three colors: gray for the sandstone, a light-ocher "dead rhododendron" color for the concrete, and Cherokee red for the steel.<ref name="Bell 1995" /><ref name="Salant n929">Template:Cite news</ref>Template:Efn Red was used because Wright believed that the hue was an "invincible" color of life<ref name="Hoffmann p. 14" /><ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>Template:Efn and because it was the color of burning metal.<ref name="Hoffmann p. 58" /><ref name="Waggoner p. 54">Template:Harvnb</ref> The house's windows have metal casings,<ref name="Podger 1991" /> which are painted Cherokee red.<ref name="Ecenbarger 1992" /><ref name="Hartzok 1992" /> The windows are embedded directly into the facade, with no visible vertical mullions; they only contain horizontal transom bars.<ref name="Southwick 1976" /><ref name="Ruddock 1981" /> Some of the house's corners have windows that open inward.<ref name="Podger 1991">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Hoffmann p. 56">Template:Harvnb</ref>

The roof has rolled edges<ref name="Sullivan p. 95">Template:Harvnb</ref> and is covered with beige gravel, blending in with the color of the facade.<ref name="Milao p. 9" /><ref name="Hoffmann pp. 50–51" /> The northern elevation of the house's facade contains masonry walls with setbacks, which were intended to replicate the textures of the cliff opposite it.<ref name="Waggoner p. 40">Template:Harvnb</ref> The house's chimney is covered in striated sandstone<ref name="Fazzare l597" /> and rises Template:Convert above the first story.<ref name="Hoffmann p. 27" /><ref name="Ruddock 1981" />

The house is accessed by a Template:Convert bridge across Bear Run.<ref name="Hoffmann p. 27" /> At either end of the bridge are planters made of rough stone.<ref name="Waggoner p. 28" /> There is a rectangular concrete panel at the middle of the bridge deck, with square, inlaid lights.<ref>Template:Harvnb</ref> Heading north from the bridge, the pathway curves to the west.<ref name="McCarter p. 213">Template:Harvnb</ref> The entrance is reached via a driveway with horizontal trellises overhead, which doubles as a porte-cochère.<ref name="Waggoner p. 40" /><ref name="McCarter p. 213" /> The main doorway is recessed from the facade.<ref name="Ecenbarger 1992" /><ref name="Forgey c799" /> There is a small fountain next to the entrance,<ref name="Ecenbarger 1992" /><ref>Template:Harvnb</ref> where the Kaufmanns could wash their feet after going into Bear Run.<ref name="Deitz u452">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Terraces

Fallingwater has many cantilevered terraces,<ref name="Keyes 1938" /><ref name="Silman pp. 90–91" /> which are made of concrete.<ref name="NPS p. 2" /><ref name="Frost 1986" /> The terraces are supported only at one end, extending outward from the house's chimney.<ref name="Ecenbarger 1992" /><ref name="Frost 1986" /> All the terraces have parapets with rounded tips, which are covered with stucco<ref name="Milao p. 9" /> and were intended to strengthen the terraces.<ref name="Fales 1977" /><ref name="Toker pp. 216–217">Template:Harvnb</ref> The parapets are Template:Convert high, much shorter than what is allowed under modern building codes.<ref name="Bernstein m222" /> At the time of the house's construction, neither cantilevers nor reinforced concrete were commonplace.<ref name="Sullivan p. 95" /> Wright likened the terraces to tree branches<ref name="Frost 1986" /> and, as one Associated Press writer described it, "a tray balancing on the fingers of a waiter".<ref name="Sancetta 1999" /> The terraces have also been compared to horizontal trays<ref name="O'Hara 1964">Template:Cite news</ref> and to a treehouse.<ref name="NPS p. 3">Template:Harvnb</ref> The horizontal axes of the terraces also contrasts with the vertical axis of the darker-gray chimney.<ref name="McCarter p. 211" />

File:Fallingwater - DSC05600.JPG

The living-room cantilever as seen from the bridge leading to the house. The staircase from the living room to Bear Run is also visible here.

The primary section of the main house, which includes the living room, runs perpendicular to the stream<ref name="McCarter p. 212" /> and is carried on an enclosed terrace.<ref name="Kamin 2002" /> The underside of the terrace is made of a reinforced-concrete slab<ref name="Silman p. 90" /><ref name="Sullivan p. 96" /> and is supported at one end by four "bolsters" or piers.<ref name="Silman p. 90" /><ref name="Toker p. 150" /><ref name="Hirsch 2014" /> There is a grid of cantilevered beams and joists above the slab, which is similar in shape to an inverted coffered ceiling.<ref name="Sullivan p. 96" /><ref name="Toker p. 212">Template:Harvnb</ref> Above the grid are wooden planks, which are covered by the living room's stone floor tiles.<ref name="Silman p. 90" /> Additional outdoor terraces run to the east and west of the living room;<ref name="NPS p. 2" /><ref name="Silman p. 91" /> the western terrace protrudes past the kitchen's western wall.<ref name="Hoffmann p. 32">Template:Harvnb</ref>

Each of the bedrooms has its own outdoor terrace.<ref name="Reif a665" /><ref name="Mooney r683" /> On the second floor's southern side is another terrace,<ref name="Kamin 2002" /> which extends further outward than the living room below it.<ref name="Silman p. 91" /><ref name="Hirsch 2014" /><ref name="Toker p. 216">Template:Harvnb</ref> The terrace was missing rebar at key points,<ref name="Toker p. 216" /> so it instead rested partially on four vertical mullions along the southern wall of the living room.<ref name="Wald w809" /><ref name="Silman p. 91" /><ref name="Sullivan p. 96" /> On the eastern end of the second floor are eight trellis beams and a glass canopy above the living room.<ref name="Hoffmann p. 40">Template:Harvnb</ref> On the western side of the house, there is another terrace above the second floor,<ref name="Hoffmann p. 40" /> with stairs to Edgar Sr.'s second-floor bedroom and Edgar Jr.'s third-floor study.<ref name="McCarter p. 219">Template:Harvnb</ref><ref>Template:Harvnb</ref> The second floor's eastern terrace, serving the guest bedroom, is the only one in the house with a canopy.<ref name="Waggoner p. 84">Template:Harvnb</ref>

Interior

File:Fallingwaterfloorplan.jpg

Second-floor plan

Fallingwater's asymmetrical floor plan was loosely derived from the cruciform plan of the Prairie houses.<ref name="McCarter p. 206" /> It has a floor area of Template:Convert,<ref name="Centre Daily Times 2014" /><ref name="Kamin 2002" /> of which Template:Convert is composed of outdoor terraces.<ref name="Toker p. 150" /><ref name="Kamin 2002" /><ref name="Salant n929" /> The remaining Template:Convert is indoors.<ref name="Toker p. 150" /><ref name="Salant n929" /> Including the guest wing and terraces, there is about Template:Convert of space.<ref name="Centre Daily Times 1995" /> The walls, chimney, and piers are made of sandstone from the surrounding area.<ref name="NPS p. 2" /> The house's superstructure does not use any steel I-beams,<ref name="Toker p. 152" /> but it does use folded slabs of reinforced concrete for structural support.<ref name="Hartzok 1992" /> Steel was used for the windows and doors. The floors have black-walnut millwork as well as sandstone finishes.<ref name="NPS p. 2" /> The terraces' subfloors are made of redwood timbers.<ref name="Hoffmann pp. 50–51" /><ref name="Toker p. 212" />

The house has four bedrooms.<ref name="Beers 1974" /><ref name="Puente 1999" /><ref name="Waggoner p. 84" />Template:Efn Fallingwater has smaller spaces leading to larger rooms, an example of Wright's compression-and-release principle;<ref name="Fazzare l597" /><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> one source described the interiors as "spaces of varying sizes and shapes that seem to flow from one to the other".<ref name="Keeran 1997" /> The hallways have low ceilings to prevent loitering<ref name="Mooney 1990" /> and to create a cave-like atmosphere.<ref name="Cass 1995" /><ref name="Hartzok 1992" /> There are windows at the ends of the hallways.<ref name="Toker p. 233">Template:Harvnb</ref> Wright also shrank the bedrooms to encourage occupants to use the terrace.<ref name="Mooney 1990" /><ref name="Hoffmann p. 59">Template:Harvnb</ref> Wright, who was Template:Height tall, designed the house based on the assumption that the average person was his height, so some ceilings are as low as Template:Convert.<ref name="Dorsey 1967" /><ref name="Glancey 2001" /><ref name="Toker p. 228">Template:Harvnb</ref> The highest ceilings are Template:Convert.<ref name="Glancey 2001" /> The three rooms in the chimney—the first-floor kitchen and two bedrooms above—are the only rooms in the house with identical dimensions.<ref name="Toker p. 192">Template:Harvnb</ref> Although the first story is wheelchair-accessible, the other stories are not,<ref name="Story 1999" /><ref name="Forgey c799" /> and there is no space for an elevator in the house.<ref name="Beras r285">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Interior decorations, including lights with dentils and shields, were intended to contrast with the exterior design.<ref name="Waggoner p. 218" /> Some interior design elements (such as furniture, shelves, and the beam on which the kitchen kettle is hung) are cantilevered,<ref name="Forgey c799" /><ref name="Centre Daily Times 1995" /> while others (including niches and stairs) incorporate circular arcs.<ref name="Mooney r683" /><ref name="Hoffmann p. 59" /> The spaces are illuminated by indirect lighting, a novelty for residential buildings at the time of Fallingwater's completion.<ref name="Dorsey 1967" /><ref name="Reif a665" /><ref name="Puente 1999" /> The illumination is primarily composed of fluorescent lights covered by shields, though there are also desktop and tabletop lamps,<ref name="Reif a665" /><ref name="O'Hara 1964" /> which are made of bronze with wooden shields.<ref name="Toker pp. 240–241">Template:Harvnb</ref> Wright placed the house's toilets about Template:Convert above the floor,<ref name="Wald w809" /> as he believed that a squatting position was healthier than sitting atop a standard American toilet.<ref name="Kraft 1990" /><ref name="Ecenbarger 1992" /> In addition, he clad the bathrooms with cork tiles,<ref name="Cass 1995" /><ref name="O'Hara 1964" /><ref name="Hoffmann p. 62">Template:Harvnb</ref> and he ordered industrial-sized shower heads to make visitors feel like they were under a waterfall.<ref name="Kraft 1990" /><ref name="Mooney 1990" />

First story

File:Fallingwater - obývací pokoj.png

Furniture in the living area

The ground or first story contains the main entrance, the living area (which is cantilevered above the waterfall), and the kitchen.<ref name="NPS p. 2" /><ref name="Keyes 1938" /> The first story has a waxed stone floor, an allusion to the stream flowing below it.<ref name="Hartzok 1992" /><ref name="Forgey c799" /><ref name="Waggoner p. 190">Template:Harvnb</ref> The bolsters divide the house into four bays from west to east,<ref name="Hoffmann p. 30">Template:Harvnb</ref> each of which measures Template:Convert wide.<ref name="Hoffmann p. 32" /> The main entrance, within the easternmost bay,<ref name="Hoffmann p. 30" /> leads to a small foyer with stone walls.<ref name="Waggoner p. 47" /> There is a niche for storing coats and scarves.<ref name="Deitz u452" /> Three steps ascend from the foyer to the living room.<ref name="McCarter p. 213" /><ref name="Waggoner p. 47">Template:Harvnb</ref>

The living area occupies the center two bays.<ref name="Hoffmann p. 30" />Template:Efn The room also functions as a study and dining area<ref name="Hartzok 1992" /> and, as such, has been described as a great room.<ref name="McCarter p. 206" /><ref name="Cohn 2005">Template:Cite news</ref> A niche on one wall was intended as a music area.<ref name="Waggoner p. 54" /> On the western wall,<ref name="Toker p. 234">Template:Harvnb</ref> another Template:Convert niche includes a fireplace,<ref name="Waggoner p. 76">Template:Harvnb</ref> whose hearth is made of boulders from the site.<ref name="Mooney 1990" /><ref name="Keyes 1938" /> In the niche is a cast iron kettle suspended from a swinging arm.<ref name="Hoffmann p. 58" /><ref name="Waggoner p. 76" /><ref name="McCarter p. 218">Template:Harvnb</ref> In front of the fireplace, a Template:Convert boulder protrudes from the floor.<ref name="Frost 1986" /> Wright had wanted to shave the top of the boulder, but Edgar Sr. insisted that it be kept.<ref name="McCarter p. 214" /><ref name="Sancetta 1999" /><ref name="Hoffmann p. 56" /> A dining area, on the living room's northern wall,<ref name="Toker p. 233" /><ref name="Waggoner p. 80" /><ref name="McCarter p. 218" /> adjoins a stone staircase to the upper stories.<ref name="McCarter p. 218" /><ref name="Waggoner p. 82">Template:Harvnb</ref> The eastern wall has a small library. Two stone piers, in the middle of the room, support a coved ceiling.<ref name="Toker p. 234" />

There are windows on three sides of the living room,<ref name="Cass 1995" /><ref name="Hartzok 1992" /> as well as doors to the western and eastern terraces.<ref name="NPS p. 2" /> From the eastern terrace, a stairway ascends to the second floor.<ref>Template:Harvnb</ref> The living area also has a glass-enclosed hatch,<ref name="Hartzok 1992" /><ref name="Mooney 1990" /><ref name="McCarter p. 214" /> which covers a concrete stairway descending into Bear Run.<ref name="Keyes 1938" /><ref name="Waggoner p. 209">Template:Harvnb</ref> Despite Edgar Sr.'s doubts about the hatch, Wright and Edgar Jr. had insisted that the stair was "absolutely necessary from every standpoint".<ref name="Waggoner p. 183" /><ref name="Hoffmann p. 34" /> The stairs are mostly underneath a canopy,<ref name="Hoffmann p. 40" /><ref name="Waggoner p. 56">Template:Harvnb</ref> except the lowest steps, which are beneath a semicircular lightwell.<ref name="Waggoner p. 56" /> The stairs end at a landing just above the stream.<ref name="Waggoner p. 209" /> There is a shallow plunge pool at the bottom of the stairway,Template:Efn which is fed by a reservoir.<ref name="Hoffmann p. 29" /><ref name="Waggoner p. 32">Template:Harvnb</ref> The Kaufmanns kept the hatch open during the summer.<ref name="Reif a665" />

A doorway connects the living area with the kitchen,<ref name="Waggoner p. 76" /><ref name="McCarter p. 218" /> which occupies the house's westernmost bay.<ref name="Hoffmann p. 30" /> Unlike the other rooms in the house, the kitchen is a utilitarian space;<ref name="Mooney r683" /><ref name="Waggoner p. 79">Template:Harvnb</ref> one writer described it as having a cave-like atmosphere.<ref name="McCarter p. 218" /> An annex adjoins the kitchen to the west.<ref name="Hoffmann p. 90" /> When the Kaufmanns lived there, Liliane seldom used the kitchen.<ref name="Waggoner p. 76" /><ref name="Toker p. 234" />

Other stories

File:Fallingwater - Southwest corner of Guest Bedroom - HABS PA,26-OHPY.V,1-60.jpg

The guest bedroom

From the main staircase's second-story landing, steps lead up and down to the various rooms and terraces.<ref name="Hoffmann p. 59" /> The second floor contains two bedrooms.<ref name="NPS p. 2" /> There is a master bedroom above the middle of the living room.<ref name="NPS p. 2" /><ref name="Hoffmann p. 30" /> The master bedroom has custom movable shelves and bedside lighting,<ref name="Hartzok 1992" /> glass doors to the master-bedroom terrace,<ref name="McCarter p. 219" /> and an ornate fireplace mantel with three large rocks.<ref name="Hoffmann p. 62" /><ref>Template:Harvnb</ref> There is a dressing room above the kitchen,<ref name="NPS p. 2" /><ref name="Hoffmann p. 30" /><ref name="McCarter p. 219" /> as well as a second bedroom (originally used by guests) above the eastern portion of the living room.<ref name="NPS p. 2" /><ref name="Bell 1995" /> These rooms have simpler fireplaces.<ref name="Hoffmann p. 62" /> The bedroom ceilings decrease in height from wall to wall.<ref name="Hoffmann p. 41" /><ref name="Ruddock 1981" /> A gallery connects with a footbridge over the house's driveway, which leads to the guest wing<ref name="NPS p. 2" /><ref name="Hoffmann p. 83">Template:Harvnb</ref> and is covered by a terrace.<ref name="Hoffmann p. 85" /> There is a moss garden and part of a cliff face next to the footbridge.<ref>Template:Harvnb</ref>

The third story's concrete floor slab is folded for additional strength.<ref name="Hoffmann p. 41" /> There is a bedroom directly above the second-story dressing room,<ref name="NPS p. 2" /><ref name="Hoffmann p. 30" /><ref name="McCarter p. 219" /> which Edgar Jr. used as a study.<ref name="Waggoner p. 121">Template:Harvnb</ref> The study's fireplace mantel is made of red stone from the site.<ref name="Hoffmann p. 62" /><ref>Template:Harvnb</ref> Liliane used the third-story terrace as a roof garden with herbs.<ref name="Hartzok 1992" /> On the third floor is a dead-end gallery, which was originally intended to connect with the footbridge over the driveway,<ref name="Hoffmann p. 88" /><ref name="Waggoner p. 122">Template:Harvnb</ref> but instead functioned as a bedroom for Edgar Jr.<ref name="Waggoner p. 122" /> A set of stairs descends to the western second-story terrace.<ref name="NPS p. 2" /><ref name="Hoffmann p. 83" />

The house also has a cellar with space for a partial bathroom, storage, and a boiler room,<ref name="Reif a665" /><ref name="Hoffmann p. 33" /> in addition to a wine cellar.<ref name="Toker p. 150" /> There are exposed pipes and boilers in the cellar,<ref name="Reif a665" /><ref name="Citizens' Voice 1985" /> and heat pipes are embedded in the walls.<ref name="Citizens' Voice 1985" />

Guest wing

File:Fallingwater walkway cover.jpg

Path from main house to guest wing

The footbridge from the main house connects to a curved breezeway or open-air walkway,<ref name="Dorsey 1967" /><ref name="Hoffmann p. 59" /><ref name="NPS p. 5" /> which in turn connects with a guest and servant wing.<ref name="Waggoner p. 209" /><ref name="Storrer p. 239">Template:Harvnb</ref> The walkway runs underneath a stepped concrete canopy,<ref name="Hoffmann p. 83" /><ref name="Creager 2012">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Waggoner p. 136">Template:Harvnb</ref> supported by steel posts along one side.<ref name="Hoffmann p. 85" /><ref name="Waggoner p. 136" /> The path curves around the site of a large oak tree that was removed in 2001.<ref name="Lowry 2005a" /> The walkway includes a small rock pool with a sculpture and a boulder that has water cascading down it.<ref name="Mooney 1990" /><ref name="Hartzok 1992" /> The cascade was not part of the original plans but was added after workers discovered a hidden spring near the boulder.<ref name="Hartzok 1992" />

The guest wing's ceilings are typically Template:Convert tall,<ref name="Toker p. 228" /> and it has a lounge, bedroom, and bathroom.<ref name="Bell 1995" /><ref name="NPS p. 5" /><ref>Template:Harvnb</ref> The lounge has a stone fireplace mantel,<ref name="Hoffmann p. 82" /> a hidden wardrobe, clerestory windows and shelves on one wall,<ref>Template:Harvnb</ref> and a bench that doubles as a bed.<ref name="Hoffmann p. 82" /><ref>Template:Harvnb</ref> The adjoining guest room is adjacent to an outdoor swimming pool.<ref name="Waggoner p. 152">Template:Harvnb</ref> The guest pool, measuring Template:Convert long<ref name="Hoffmann p. 82" /> and Template:Convert deep, is fed by water from a spring.<ref name="Hartzok 1992" /><ref>Template:Harvnb</ref> The guest wing's bathroom has a mirror designed by Edgar Jr.<ref name="Waggoner p. 152" />

Adjacent to the guest house is a carport with four parking spots, which is accessed from the house's driveway<ref name="Waggoner p. 209" /><ref name="Hoffmann p. 78" /> and has a tall concrete wall.<ref name="Waggoner p. 161">Template:Harvnb</ref> The carport and guest wing are connected by a chimney and recessed stair.<ref name="Hoffmann p. 78" /><ref>Template:Harvnb</ref> There are three bedrooms and a bathroom above the carport, which are used by staff.<ref name="Hoffmann p. 78" /><ref name="NPS p. 5" /><ref name="Storrer p. 239" /> These rooms contain the same finishes as the main house.<ref name="NPS p. 5" /><ref name="Waggoner p. 161" /> Extending southeast of the guest wing is a terrace with a cantilevered canopy.<ref name="Hoffmann p. 82" /> A garage on the upper story was designed in 1947 but not built.<ref name="Hoffmann p. 90" /><ref name="Storrer p. 239" />

Collection

Fallingwater's collection includes over 1,000 objects.<ref name="Wari 2017">Template:Cite news</ref> Until the 2000s renovation, the house had no air conditioning or curtains. This, along with high humidity and high levels of ultraviolet light, has made the collection particularly vulnerable to damage.<ref name="WESA 2018 o043" />

Furnishings and furniture

File:Fallingwater sitting area.jpg

The interior of Fallingwater, showing a sitting area with furnishings designed by Wright

Half of the house's furniture is built-in, while the other half is movable.<ref name="Toker p. 237" /> Wright, who believed that his clients should not arbitrarily swap out decoration,<ref name="NPS p. 3" /><ref name="Toker p. 237" /> designed most of Fallingwater's built-in furniture.<ref name="NPS p. 2" /><ref name="Podger 1991" /> There are nearly 200 pieces of furniture,<ref name="Hornby d823" />Template:Efn including wooden wardrobes, chairs, cabinets, tables, and backboards.<ref name="Hoffmann p. 66">Template:Harvnb</ref> Many objects have walnut finishes to prevent moisture buildups, and many of the walls have wooden shelves and trim.<ref name="Ecenbarger 1992" /><ref name="Hoffmann p. 66" /> Among the original furnishings are sheepskin rugs, a sheepskin couch,<ref name="Keyes 1938" /> foam-rubber seats,<ref name="Hoffmann p. 68">Template:Harvnb</ref><ref name="O'Hara 1964" /> and cantilevered tables.<ref name="Ecenbarger 1992" /> Edgar Jr. helped Wright design sliding shelves for some of the cabinets.<ref>Template:Harvnb</ref> The WPC owns the trademarks to the pieces of furniture that Wright designed.<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref>

The living room's expandable dining table, which could seat about 18 people,<ref name="Waggoner p. 80" /> conceals a pier underneath.<ref name="McCarter p. 206" /> Each bedroom's headboard is located on the room's eastern wall so the Kaufmanns would not wake up with sun in their eyes.<ref name="Southwick 1976" /> Some of the furniture, including a desk in Edgar Sr.'s study,<ref name="Forgey c799" /><ref>Template:Harvnb</ref> has rounded cutouts to accommodate the corner windows, which swing inward.<ref name="Hoffmann p. 66" /><ref name="Toker p. 240">Template:Harvnb</ref> The house also has wooden radiator cases,<ref name="Hartzok 1992" /> and the kitchen has metal cabinets and a stove.<ref name="Hoffmann p. 65" /><ref name="Waggoner p. 79" /> The Kaufmanns bought other objects for the house, including Tiffany lamps.<ref name="Hartzok 1992" /><ref name="Podger 1991" /> The family also acquired objects through trips to Mexico and through Edgar Jr.'s connections with New York's Museum of Modern Art (MoMA).<ref name="Waggoner p. 236">Template:Harvnb</ref> Most of the Kaufmanns' furnishings remain in place,<ref name="Ecenbarger 1992" /><ref name="Wardle i378" /><ref name="Forgey n216" /> though some objects, such as rugs and pillowcases, have been replaced over the years.<ref>Template:Harvnb</ref>

The Kaufmanns occasionally rejected some of Wright's suggested decorations and furnishings.<ref name="Waggoner pp. 221–230">Template:Harvnb</ref> For instance, Edgar Sr. refused Wright's designs for custom rugs, floor lamps, and chairs.<ref name="Waggoner pp. 221–230" /><ref name="Hoffmann p. 69">Template:Harvnb</ref> The Kaufmanns, unhappy with Wright's original barrel-shaped seats, bought three-legged stools, which provided more stability on the irregular stone floors.<ref name="Podger 1991" /><ref name="Hoffmann p. 69" /> For the most part, the windows did not have drapes or shades,<ref name="Dorsey 1967" /> since Wright wanted the windows to be unobstructed.<ref name="Mooney 1990" /> Liliane ordered privacy blinds for the guest bedroom's windows,<ref name="Mooney 1990" /><ref name="Shoup 1982">Template:Cite news</ref> and shelves were installed across the living room's windows.<ref name="Keeran 1997" /><ref name="Waggoner p. 75">Template:Harvnb</ref> In another case, a local newspaper described a rumor that the Kaufmans hid a set of tables whenever Wright came over, because he disliked them.<ref name="Southwick 1976" />

Art

When Fallingwater was finished, Wright gifted the Kaufmanns six Japanese woodblock prints by Hiroshige and Hokusai.<ref name="Wari 2017" /><ref name="Waggoner p. 238">Template:Harvnb</ref> The rest of Fallingwater's art was selected by the Kaufmanns, who liked collecting art from a variety of cultures.<ref name="Wecker s764" /> The multicolored artwork in the house contrasts with the ocher, gray, and red tones of the exterior.<ref name="Waggoner p. 218" /> The main house contains artwork from countries such as Japan, Morocco, and Mexico,<ref name="Wari 2017" /> as well as religious artworks.<ref name="Wecker s764">Template:Cite magazine</ref> During visits to the house, Wright sometimes recommended artwork for the Kaufmanns to acquire.<ref name="Waggoner p. 238" />

The art collection includes pieces such as Diego Rivera's El Sueño and Pablo Picasso's The Smoker and The Artist and his Model.<ref name="Wari 2017" /> The mural Madonna and Child, painted in the 18th century by an unknown artist, is placed at the second-floor staircase landing.<ref name="Wecker s764" /> Liliane's bedroom features a niche with a wooden sculpture of Madonna and Child, which was carved Template:Circa,<ref name="Wecker s764" /><ref name="Shaw m548">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> while Edgar Sr.'s room includes two busts by Richmond Barthé.<ref name="Wari 2017" /><ref name="Shaw m548" /> Edgar Jr.'s study includes a marble sculpture by Jean Arp and an abstract landscape by Lyonel Feininger.<ref name="Shaw m548" /> A portrait of Edgar Sr. by Victor Hammer hangs next to the dining area.<ref name="Waggoner p. 82" /><ref name="Wari 2017" /><ref name="Shaw m548" /> The bottom of the house's plunge pool contains Jacques Lipchitz's sculpture Mother and Child.<ref name="CBS Baltimore 2017" /><ref>Template:Harvnb</ref> One of the house's original artworks, The Horseman by Marino Marini, was destroyed in a 1956 flood.<ref name="Waggoner p. 241" />

The outbuildings and grounds have other pieces of art. The guesthouse includes woodblock prints and an 1877 landscape painting by José María Velasco Gómez, while the guest wing's pool has an abstract sculpture by Peter Voulkos.<ref name="Shaw m548" /> The grounds also contain three sculptures by Mardonio Magaña,<ref name="Wari 2017" /> and there are also items such as a Hindu god's head and a Buddha statue.<ref name="Fulford 2015" /><ref name="Wecker s764" /> Other artworks included a silk screen by Marcel Duchamp.<ref name="Southwick 1976" /> After the WPC took over Fallingwater, the collection was expanded with murals and sculptures by Picasso, Lyonel Feininger, Luisa Rota, and Bryan Hunt.<ref name="Waggoner p. 241" /> Edgar Jr. also donated some of his own books to the museum.<ref name="Goldberger 1986" />

Management

Tours and programs

File:Fallingwater from the guest house.jpg

Fallingwater as seen from its guest wing

The Western Pennsylvania Conservancy maintains Fallingwater, as well as the Template:Convert Bear Run Natural Area surrounding it.<ref name="Story 1999" /><ref name="Centre Daily Times 1995" /> The WPC hosts tours of the house,<ref name="Cass 1995" /><ref name="Mooney 1990" /> which typically run between March and November of each year.<ref name="VisitPA i621">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="Citizens' Voice 2004">Template:Cite news</ref> In addition, during December, there are tours on weekends and during the last week of the year.<ref name="VisitPA i621" /> There are several types of tours, which cover different parts of the house.<ref name="Fazzare l597" /> Standard tours cover only part of the house and do not allow photography;<ref name="Cass 1995" /><ref name="Creager 2012" /> however, photographs are permitted on extended tours through the whole house.<ref name="Cass 1995" /> There are also pre-recorded tours for non-English speakers.<ref name="Zengerle 1989" /> Every year in late August, the WPC hosts a "twilight tour" in which visitors can go on self-guided tours before attending a picnic and concert at sunset.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}; {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

The conservancy operates the visitor pavilion.<ref name="Mooney 1990" /><ref name="Flint 2009">Template:Cite news</ref> Young children, who cannot tour the house, stay at the visitor pavilion's child-care center.<ref name="The Daily American 1993" /><ref name="Forgey c799" /><ref name="Flint 2009" /> Starting in the 1990s, the WPC sold furnishings based on the designs of Fallingwater's furniture;<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> these include chairs, coffee tables, and desks.<ref name="Toker p. 240" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Additionally, in the 2000s, the WPC sold jewelry with pieces of concrete that were removed from Fallingwater during its restoration.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> During the Christmas and holiday season, the Fallingwater Museum Store operates a temporary outpost in Downtown Pittsburgh.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The WPC operates several educational programs for students and teachers as well.<ref name="Citizens' Voice 2004" /> Starting in 2010, the WPC hosted sleepover events for adults at nearby Mill Run, which included private tours of Fallingwater.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Attendance

In its first two years as a museum, Fallingwater had 117,000 visitors from 66 countries and nearly every U.S. state.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Initially, the busiest months for the house were September and October,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> in part because people came to see the foliage during the autumn.<ref name="Rohlf 1977" /> Many of the visitors are fans of Wright's architecture.<ref name="Cohn 2005" /> The museum's visitors over the years have included U.S. second lady Joan Mondale,<ref name="Rohlf 1977" /> as well as the actors Anne Baxter,<ref name="Rohlf 1977" /> Brad Pitt, and Angelina Jolie.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

The house accommodated 250,000 total visitors during the 1960s,<ref name="The Daily Herald 1970">Template:Cite news</ref> and Fallingwater recorded a lifetime attendance of more than half a million by 1975, when it accommodated 62,000 visitors per year.<ref name="The Morning Herald 1975" /> One million people had visited the house by 1982;<ref name="Shoup 1982" /> at the time, the house accommodated 120,000 visitors a year.<ref name="O'Brien 1980" /> One reporter estimated in 1989 that 15% of the house's visitors were from foreign countries.<ref name="Zengerle 1989" /> Fallingwater continued to record nearly 130,000 annual visitors through the 1990s,<ref name="Podger 1991" /> and an Associated Press article from 1999 estimated that over 2.7 million people had visited the building ever since it opened to the public.<ref name="Story 1999" /> Contract magazine said in 2001 that the house saw 140,000 visitors annually,<ref name="Contract 2001" /> though other sources from the 2000s put the annual visitor numbers at around 120,000.<ref name="Lancaster New Era 2007" /><ref name="Flint 2009" /> By the 2010s, annual visitation had reached 160,000.<ref name="Polier w637">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="Hopey c469">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> A 2022 article from The Architect's Newspaper wrote that Fallingwater had seen 5 million visitors ever since its opening.<ref name="Hickman 2022" />

Impact

Fallingwater was one of the world's most-heavily-discussed modern–style structures by the 1960s,<ref name="Huxtable t942" /> and it has been described as the world's most famous private residence not belonging to a member of royalty.<ref name="Storrer p. 236" /><ref name="Toker p. 299">Template:Harvnb</ref> Though it is unknown whether Wright had an active role in publicizing Fallingwater,<ref name="Toker pp. 248–249">Template:Harvnb</ref> its fame helped revitalize Wright's career.<ref name="Snyder t680" /> He went on to design 200 additional structures,<ref name="Lancaster New Era 2007" /> though the Kaufmann family never rehired him.<ref name="Toker p. 132">Template:Harvnb</ref>

Reception

Mid-20th century

Upon Fallingwater's completion, it received near-universal praise from American media publications as diverse as New Masses and Town & Country.<ref name="Toker p. 269">Template:Harvnb</ref> A writer for The Christian Science Monitor in 1938 wrote that the use of contrasting materials, shapes, and tones "add so much enchantment to the interior",<ref name="Keyes 1938" /> while Time called Fallingwater Wright's "most beautiful job".<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> Town & Country likened the horizontal terraces to an airplane and described the house as "solid and sensible [...] aerated with imagination, with the spirit of the woods".<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> Fallingwater was even praised by critics who disliked modern architecture, such as Talbot Hamlin,<ref name="Toker p. 269" /> as well as in foreign publications.<ref name="Toker p. 272">Template:Harvnb</ref> Only two architecture magazines—Charette and The Federal Architect—are known to have reviewed the house negatively upon its completion.<ref name="Toker p. 278">Template:Harvnb</ref> For Fallingwater's design, Wright received a silver medal from the Pan-American Congress of Architects in 1940.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}; Template:Cite news</ref>

The Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph wrote in 1941 that Fallingwater "was for several years the prime example of modernism".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Olgivanna Wright regarded Fallingwater as "the most dramatic home my husband designed",<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> saying that the house was the only Wright–designed building that many people could name.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Nearly two decades after the house's completion, The Baltimore Sun described Fallingwater as "a handsome and daring house" in its own way but a "monumental profanity" with relation to the natural setting.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> When the house was turned over to the WPC, a writer for the Pittsburgh Press described the home as having a "deeper beauty".<ref name="O'Hara 1964" /> Newsday praised the "sheer poetry of" the house's existence, saying that the house blended with its natural surroundings,<ref name="Newsday 1968" /> while a Baltimore Sun writer said "it could only have been built by an American, for an American".<ref name="Dorsey 1967" /> The Evening News wrote in 1974 that the house "seems like it was built yesterday".<ref name="Beers 1974" />

Late 20th century to present

A Baltimore Sun writer, in 1981, praised both the house's architecture and furnishings, regarding the Kaufmanns' possessions as giving Fallingwater a homey feel.<ref name="Atwater 1981">Template:Cite news</ref> The Patriot-News said that Fallingwater retained the character of a mountain lodge,<ref name="Bramson 1984" /> and Thomas Hine of The Philadelphia Inquirer regarded the house as being simultaneously comfortable and rustic.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The New York Times described Fallingwater in 1991 as "probably the most widely acclaimed modern residence in America".<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> A writer for The Philadelphia Inquirer observed that the house was unusually cozy for a modern–styled house and that the rooms were not "pretentious, grand or even luxurious".<ref name="Cass 1995" /> The Wall Street JournalTemplate:'s architecture critic Ada Louise Huxtable wrote that the house "surprises and inspires" and that images of the house's cantilevered terraces were iconic.<ref name="Huxtable 2006">Template:Cite news</ref> A New York Times writer and Edwin Heathcote of the Financial Times both described Fallingwater as a rejoinder to the Bauhaus movement,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> while a writer for the National Post characterized the house as a summary of Wright's design philosophy.<ref name="Fulford 2015" /> Critics have also likened Fallingwater to an art piece,<ref name="Kraft 1990" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and the art historian Vincent Scully called it "one of the complete masterpieces of twentieth-century art".<ref name="NPS p. 3" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Several critics have written about the house's relationship with nature. For example, writers for the Indiana Gazette and The Washington Post described the house as interpreting and adapting to its surroundings and to nature.<ref name="Forgey c799" /><ref name="Ruddock 1981" /> The Hartford Courant said that, despite mixed reviews of Wright's design philosophy, the house itself "feels organic and inevitable",<ref name="Hazell 2001" /> and The Guardian said that Fallingwater combined the natural environment and modern-style architecture.<ref name="Glancey 2001" /> Blair Kamin wrote for the Chicago Tribune that the house "appears to be in complete harmony with nature yet it also appears distinctly man-made".<ref name="Kamin 2002" /> David Taylor of The Washington Post said the design "gives fresh meaning to the phrase 'living on the landTemplate:'",<ref name="Taylor s692" /> while Americas magazine called the house "a universal icon of the persistent effort to achieve harmony with nature".<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> Another writer for The Globe and Mail said that the house was "abstract, bold, intellectually rigorous, formally unnatural", counterbalancing its surroundings.<ref name="Mays l126">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Smithsonian magazine said that the house "evokes the American desire to exalt nature and dominate it, to claim modernity and reject it",<ref name="Snyder t680" /> while McCarter said the house "appears to us to have grown out of the ground and into the light".<ref>Template:Harvnb</ref>

Not all commentary was positive. In 1997, The Baltimore Sun wrote that the house "reeks of the architect's arrogance, from the low ceilings (Wright himself was short) to the uneven floors" and questioned whether the house's high maintenance costs were worth it.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> William Thorsell wrote for The Globe and Mail that the house "turns its back to the landscape" and that the terrace parapets, the built-in furniture, and the use of rock and dark wood gave the house "a basement feeling".<ref name="Thorsell 1997">Template:Cite news</ref> Thorsell felt that the house was in the wrong place because the waterfall, the site's primary attraction, could not readily be seen from the house itself.<ref name="Thorsell 1997" /> A writer for the Detroit Free Press, viewed the house largely positively but regarded the house as being impractical for families, with little closet space.<ref name="Creager 2012" />

Architectural recognition

American architects deemed Fallingwater one of "seven wonders of American architecture" in a 1958 survey.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> A 1976 poll of American-architecture experts ranked Fallingwater among the top four structures in the U.S.,<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> while a 1982 poll of Architecture: the AIA journal readers ranked Fallingwater as the country's best building.<ref name="Frost 1986" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In a survey of 170 American Institute of Architects (AIA) fellows the next year, the building was ranked second on a list of the "most successful examples of architectural design".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> AIA members voted Fallingwater the "best all-time work of American architecture" in 1991,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and the AIA dubbed it the "building of the century" in 2000.<ref name="Taylor s692" /><ref name="Huxtable 2006" /> AIA members also ranked Fallingwater 29th on the society's "America's Favorite Architecture" list in 2007.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Architectural Record named Fallingwater "the world's most significant building of the 20th century",<ref name="Ecenbarger 2009" /> and Smithsonian listed the house among its "Life List of 28 Places to See Before You Die" in 2008.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="Pittsburgh Post-Gazette 2008">Template:Cite news</ref> The New York Times said that architects considered Fallingwater "one of Wright's supreme creations".<ref name="Sommers c954" />

Media

File:Fallingwater, also known as the Edgar J. Kaufmann, Sr., residence, Pennsylvania, by Carol M. Highsmith.jpg

Fallingwater as seen from Bear Run farther downstream

Even before its completion, Fallingwater attracted sightseers<ref name="Zengerle 1989" /> and was the subject of news articles and photographs.<ref>Template:Harvnb</ref><ref name="Toker pp. 250–253">Template:Harvnb</ref> The first newspaper articles to mention Fallingwater were published in Wisconsin in January 1937.<ref name="Toker p. 222" /> The house gained more prominence in early 1938 following a MoMA exhibition and extensive media coverage,<ref name="Heyman g090" /><ref name="Lancaster New Era 2007" /><ref>Template:Harvnb; Template:Harvnb</ref> particularly in publications controlled by Henry Luce and William Randolph Hearst.<ref name="Heyman g090" /><ref name="Toker p. 267">Template:Harvnb</ref> The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette wrote that the house attracted notice because of its unusual site.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Over the years, there have been many books, articles, and studies on Fallingwater.<ref name="Bramson 1984" /> NBC produced a television episode about Fallingwater in 1963,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}; Template:Cite news</ref> and the house appeared in an episode of the TV show American Life Style<ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> and the PBS television special Walt Harper at Fallingwater in 1972.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Fallingwater was also the subject of a 1994 documentary film. produced by Kenneth Love and the WPC,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and another documentary in 2011, also produced by Love.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}; {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Several books have been written about Fallingwater, including Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater (1978) by Donald Hoffmann,<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> Fallingwater: A Frank Lloyd Wright Country House (1986) by Edgar Kaufmann Jr.,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}; Template:Cite news</ref> Fallingwater: Frank Lloyd Wright's Romance with Nature (1996) by the WPC,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and Fallingwater Rising (2001) by Franklin Toker.<ref name="Maslin2003" /><ref>Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> To celebrate the house's 75th anniversary, another book about its history was published in 2011.<ref name="Polier w637" /><ref>Template:Cite news; {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Photographs from downstream have been widely circulated.<ref name="Mays l126" /> In addition, blueprints and letters from the house's development have been sold over the years.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Virtual tours of Fallingwater have been created as well.<ref name="Beras r285" /> One such tour was released in CD format in 1997,<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> and Love created a 3-D virtual tour of the house in the mid-2010s.<ref name="Beras r285" /><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The house has been commemorated in other media, such as a postage-stamp issue from 1982.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}; Template:Cite news</ref> Fallingwater has been depicted in several creative works. For example, it inspired the fictional Vandamm residence in the 1959 film North by Northwest,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> in addition to buildings in Ayn Rand's 1943 novel The Fountainhead and its 1949 film adaptation.<ref name="Toker pp. 294–295">Template:Harvnb</ref> The conclusion of Greg Sestero's 2021 film Miracle Valley was shot inside of Fallingwater; according to Sestero, it was the first feature film to be shot in the house.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}; {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Landmark designations

Fallingwater became a National Historic Landmark in 1966,<ref name="Polier w637" /><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and the house was separately added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1974.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission installed a historical marker in 1994<ref name="PHMC"/> and named Fallingwater as a "Commonwealth Treasure" in October 2000.<ref name="Pitz 2000" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Fallingwater was deemed eligible for inclusion on UNESCO's World Heritage List in 2008,<ref name="Pittsburgh Post-Gazette 2008" /> and the United States Department of the Interior nominated Fallingwater to the World Heritage List in 2015, alongside nine other buildings.<ref name="Hopey c469" /><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}; {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> UNESCO ultimately added eight properties, including Fallingwater, to the World Heritage List in July 2019 under the title "The 20th-Century Architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright".<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}; {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Exhibits and architectural influence

File:Fallingwater miniature model at MRRV, Carnegie Science Center.JPG

Replica of Fallingwater at the Miniature Railroad & Village at the Carnegie Science Center in Pittsburgh

There have also been museum exhibits about Fallingwater.<ref name="Bramson 1984" /> Among them was a MoMA exhibit in 1938,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> which was organized when MoMA curator John McAndrew visited the house shortly after its completion.<ref>Template:Harvnb; Template:Harvnb; Template:Harvnb</ref> MoMA hosted other exhibits featuring Fallingwater, including a scale model in 1940,<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> an image showcase in 1959,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and another model in 2009.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> New York's Columbia University hosted a symposium on the structure in 1986,<ref name="Fulford 2015" /><ref name="Goldberger 1986">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and Pittsburgh's Carnegie Museum of Art<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> and the State Museum of Pennsylvania have hosted exhibits about Fallingwater.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}; {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In addition, the Miniature Railroad & Village at Pittsburgh's Carnegie Science Center displays a model of Fallingwater.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Despite Fallingwater's renown, its design was seldom copied.<ref name="Netto 2011" /> At the time of the house's completion, modernist architects were turning away from organic designs, such as Fallingwater, in favor of more industrial designs, such as New York's Seagram Building.<ref name="Netto 2011" /> Among the structures inspired by Fallingwater are an office in Philadelphia;<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> a gas station in the Washington metropolitan area;<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> a home in Ross Township, Allegheny County;<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Paul Mayén's home in Garrison, New York;<ref>Template:Cite news; {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and a house in North Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

See also

• List of Frank Lloyd Wright works
• List of National Historic Landmarks in Pennsylvania
• List of World Heritage Sites in the United States
• National Register of Historic Places listings in Fayette County, Pennsylvania

References

Sources

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Further reading

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External links

• Template:Official
• Western Pennsylvania Conservancy website

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