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Top 10 Sensational Facts about the Fallingwater House

Fallingwater is a house designed by the architect Frank Lloyd Wright in 1939 for the Kaufmann family as a weekend home. The main house uses 495 square meters (5,330 square feet) while the guest house uses 158 square meters (1,700 square feet).

It was built partly over a waterfall on Bear Run in the Mill-Run section of Stewart Township, Fayette County, Pennsylvania, located in the Laurel Highlands of the Allegheny Mountains. Wright described his architectural style as 鈥渙rganic 鈥溾�搃n harmony with nature.

It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1966. In 1991, members of the American Institute of Architects named the house the 鈥渂est all-time work of American architecture鈥� and in 2007, it was ranked 29th on the list of America鈥檚 Favorite Architecture according to the AIA.

Below are top 10 sensational facts about Falling Water house;

1. Fallingwater helped Frank Lloyd Wright make a career comeback

Frank Lloyd Wright – Wikipedia

Frank Lloyd Wright was considered as one of the greatest architects of all time during the 1867 to 1959 due to his creative architectural style.

However, during the time of the Great Depression, Wright could only build a few buildings, which made the critics say that he has lost his magical touch. While his younger peers considered his style to be anachronistic.

In 1935, Edgar Kaufmann commissioned Frank Lloyd Wright to construct a weekend home for his family in the hills of southwest Pennsylvania. With the construction of this architectural magnum opus, Wright proved the whole world wrong.

With the success of Fallingwater Wright regained his prominence in the architectural community.

2. It is rumored that Wright sketched Fallingwater鈥檚 design in only two hours

Sketch of Fallingwater – Flickr

According to legend, in 1943, Wright visited the home’s construction site and asked for an area survey. He then did absolutely nothing for nearly a year.

Kaufmann traveled to Milwaukee and called up Wright, announcing he鈥檇 be paying a surprise visit to his Wisconsin studio, Taliesin, to view the plans. Wright and his apprentices reportedly drew Fallingwater in the time it took his wealthy patron to drive to Taliesin.

However, one of Wright鈥檚 associates clearly remembered Wright and Kaufmann discussing that the house would be built on the falls months before the supposed rush of inspiration.

It is hard to believe such a spectacular awork of art took only two hours to sketch.

3. No one in the Kaufmann family knew the exact position the house would be build

Fallingwater in winter – Flickr

Kaufman had expected the house to be built below the falls to afford a view of the cascades. However, he was very surprised to see that Frank Lloyd Wright had decided to build the Falling Waters on a scenic waterfall.

This caused Kaufman to initially be very upset, but Wright explained that he wanted to integrate the house with the waterfall, so it would be an essential part of the structure instead of simply serving as a pretty backdrop. He liked the idea and thus agreed to its construction.

4. Wright wanted to cover the House in Golden Leaf

Golden Leaf – Flickr

When initially constructing the house, Wright had envisioned a more flamboyant aesthetic: He proposed that the home鈥檚 concrete exterior be coated in gold leaf.

The Kaufmanns thought that gold leaf would be too over-the-top for a country house, and after rejecting Wright鈥檚 proposal.

However, they both agreed the house should look closer to nature. This resulted in Wrights ideas to create a unified and organic composition, limiting the color palette at Fallingwater. Only two colors were used throughout: a light ochre for the concrete and his signature Cherokee red for the steel.

5. You Cannot See the Waterfall from the House

Inside Fallingwater House view – Wikipedia

Unfortunately, while inside the house you cannot actually see the waterfall, this is because of the location of the house. Wright designed the home above the waterfall. However, you can certainly hear the sound of water.

However, this does not diminish the experience as Wright used local sandstone to construct its walls and rooms, making the stay feel more natural and convenient.

6. Fallingwater鈥檚 construction site was originally a 鈥渟ummer camp鈥� for Kaufmann鈥檚 employees.

Fallingwater, Bear Run – Flickr

Edgar J. Kaufmann was a Pittsburgh businessman who owned and directed Kaufmann’s Department Store, in Pittsburgh. Before the Great Depression, the wooded area had been home to a small cabin where Kaufmann鈥檚 employees sought refuge from Pittsburgh鈥檚 pollution.

The site was a swath of wilderness near the villages of Mill Run and Ohiopyle, on a mountain stream called Bear Run.

However, with the onset of the Great Depression many employees could no longer afford to travel to the cabin, so Kaufmann decided to convert it into a country getaway.

7. Fallingwater has structural problems

Fallingwater floor plan – Wikimedia Commons

Its skylights leak, the waterfall promotes mold growth, and the builders didn鈥檛 use enough reinforcing steel to support the first floor鈥檚 concrete skeleton.

Over time, gravity caused the home’s first floor cantilever to sag, and in 2002, the structure鈥檚 foundation was reinforced to prevent a future collapse.

Kaufmann had initial doubts about the technical feasibility of Wright’s concept, and he hired consulting engineers to examine Wright’s plans. They discovered that the main floor’s girders needed additional reinforcement, but Wright dismissed this claim and forged ahead with construction.

8. Falling Waters Inspired several works of art

The Fountain Head, Ayn Rand – Wikipedia

鈥�The Fountainhead鈥� of Ayn Rand, is known to be inspired by both Frank Wright and Falling Waters. The main protagonist of the novel, Howard Roark, is an architect, just like Wright. In addition, he had constructed several architectural pieces, which resembles the country estate of the Kaufmanns鈥� quite strikingly.

Fallingwater inspired the fictional Vandamm residence at Mount Rushmore in the 1959 Alfred Hitchcock film North by Northwest.

Composer Michael Daugherty’s 2013 concerto for violin and string orchestra, “Fallingwater”, was inspired by the house.

The cover of Autechre’s EP Envane traces and stylizes parts of the building.

9. No photos allowed in the inside Fallingwater

Fallingwater sitting area – Wikipedia

The interior of the house is also quite phenomenal and enthralling, as it was designed to feel like the surrounding forest. Around half of the furnishings were built into the house, which Wright said made them 鈥渃lient-proof鈥�. Today, the house has its original furnishings and artwork.

Sadly, you are not allowed to take any photos inside the house as it is prohibited for two proper reasons. Firstly, Fallingwater’s Frank Lloyd Wright gets more than 150,000 visitors every year. Therefore, if everyone started clicking pictures, then the interior of the house would get cramped.

Secondly, while clicking pictures, all of your attention would be on your camera. Therefore, it will be difficult for you to savor the beauty of the house properly.

10. Many of us have been spelling the name wrong

Fallwater entrance – Flickr

It is not uncommon for people to write Falling Water as two seperate words, however it is actually Fallingwater, one word.

It is also known as the Edgar J. Kaufmann, Sr., residence, Pennsylvania.