Fallingwater facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Fallingwater |
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| Location | Stewart Township, Fayette County, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Nearest city | Uniontown |
| Built | 1936–1939 |
| Architect | Frank Lloyd Wright |
| Architectural style(s) | Modern architecture |
| Visitors | about 135,000 |
| Governing body | Western Pennsylvania Conservancy |
| Criteria | Cultural: (ii) |
| Designated | 2019 (43rd session) |
| Part of | The 20th-Century Architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright |
| Reference no. | 1496-005 |
| Region | Europe and North America |
| Designated | July 23, 1974 |
| Reference no. | 74001781 |
| Designated | May 23, 1966 |
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Pennsylvania Historical Marker
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| Designated | May 15, 1994 |
Fallingwater is a famous house designed by the architect Frank Lloyd Wright in 1935. It is located in Stewart Township, Pennsylvania, in the United States. What makes it special is that it is built partly over a real waterfall on the Bear Run river!
The house was created as a weekend getaway for a family named Kaufmann. Edgar J. Kaufmann owned a big department store in Pittsburgh. After it was finished, Time magazine called Fallingwater Wright's "most beautiful job." It's also on Smithsonian magazine's "Life List of 28 Places to See Before You Die."
Fallingwater was named a National Historic Landmark in 1976. This means it's a very important historical place in the U.S. In 2019, Fallingwater and seven other buildings by Frank Lloyd Wright became World Heritage Sites. This is a special title given by UNESCO to places that are important to everyone in the world.
Contents
Fallingwater's Story: How It Was Built
Frank Lloyd Wright was 67 years old when he got the chance to design Fallingwater. This house, along with two other buildings he designed around the same time, helped him become famous again in the world of architecture.
The Kaufmann Family and Wright
Edgar J. Kaufmann was a successful businessman from Pittsburgh. His wife, Liliane, loved being outdoors and had a great eye for beauty. Their son, Edgar Kaufmann Jr., was the reason his father met Frank Lloyd Wright.
In 1934, Edgar Jr. read Wright's autobiography. He then traveled to meet Wright and soon became an apprentice at the Taliesin Fellowship. This was a special architecture program started by Wright. Edgar and Liliane Kaufmann met Wright when they visited their son at Taliesin.
The Kaufmann family owned a small cabin near a waterfall in Pennsylvania. They used it as a summer retreat. When the cabin started to fall apart, Mr. Kaufmann asked Wright for help. In December 1934, Wright visited the waterfall. He asked for a detailed map of the area, showing all the rocks, trees, and hills.
Designing and Building Challenges
Nine months after their first meeting, Mr. Kaufmann called Wright. He said he was coming to visit that day. Wright hadn't actually started the plans yet! But he calmly drew the entire design in just two hours while Kaufmann drove to his home.
Wright decided to build the house above the waterfall. Mr. Kaufmann had expected it to be below the falls, so he could look up at them. It's said he was quite surprised by Wright's choice at first.
The Kaufmanns wanted a large house to entertain many guests. Wright used a special building method called a cantilever to make parts of the house stick out over the waterfall without support from below. This made the house look like it was floating. Wright worked with his engineers, Mendel Glickman and William Wesley Peters, on this bold design.
Construction started in April 1936. Wright didn't visit often. He had his apprentice, Robert Mosher, stay on site to oversee the work. Building Fallingwater had some arguments between Wright, Kaufmann, and the builder. Kaufmann was worried about using reinforced concrete in such a daring way. He even had other engineers check Wright's plans. Wright got upset and threatened to quit the project. Kaufmann gave in, and the engineer's report was hidden inside a stone wall of the house.
The builder also added more rebar (steel bars inside concrete) than Wright had planned. This was done without Wright's full approval. Later, during a restoration, it was confirmed that extra steel had been added. The main house was finished in 1938, and the guest house was completed the next year.
How Much Did It Cost?
The house was first expected to cost $35,000. But the final cost for the house and guest house was $155,000. This included the house itself, furnishings, the guest house, garage, and even Wright's fee.
Living at Fallingwater
Fallingwater was the Kaufmann family's weekend home from 1937 to 1963. They went there to escape the hot, smoky city of Pittsburgh. Liliane Kaufmann loved to swim and collect modern art. Famous artist Diego Rivera was even a guest at the house!
[Wright] understood that people were creatures of nature, hence an architecture which conformed to nature would conform to what was basic in people. For example, although all of Falling Water [sic] is opened by broad bands of windows, people inside are sheltered as in a deep cave, secure in the sense of the hill behind them.
—Edgar Kaufmann Jr.
The name "Fallingwater" was given by Frank Lloyd Wright in 1937. Before that, it was just called the Kaufmann Residence. The new name quickly became popular, but the Kaufmanns themselves didn't really use it.
Fallingwater's Unique Design
Fallingwater is a great example of Wright's "organic architecture." This means the building was designed to blend in with its natural surroundings. Wright loved Japanese architecture, and you can see some of its ideas in Fallingwater. A famous Japanese architect, Tadao Ando, said that Wright learned how to use space from Japanese design.
The house was meant to be a peaceful nature retreat. It's built right on top of a waterfall! Wright used only two main colors: a light yellow for the concrete and a reddish-brown for the steel. The stone walls came from local quarries, and the cantilevered terraces were made to look like the natural rock formations nearby. The windows and balconies reach out into the forest, making you feel connected to nature.
Inside the living room, the fireplace hearth (the area around the fireplace) has real boulders from the site. One large rock even sticks up through the floor! This was a favorite sunning spot for the family, so they asked Wright to leave it. The stone floors are shiny, but the hearth rocks are left plain, making them look like dry rocks in a stream.
Wright wanted the inside and outside to flow together. Where glass windows meet stone walls, the glass seems to disappear into the stone. From the living room, a staircase goes straight down to a platform right by the stream. In another part of the house, a natural spring drips water inside, which is then channeled back outside. The bedrooms are small, which was meant to encourage people to go out to the larger social areas, decks, and the outdoors.
Up the hill from the main house, there's a garage, servants' quarters, and a guest house. These were built two years later with the same care and materials. The guest house even has a swimming pool fed by a spring! After Fallingwater was opened to the public, some of the garage bays were closed off. Now, visitors can watch a video about the house there.
Taking Care of Fallingwater
After his father passed away in 1955, Edgar Kaufmann Jr. inherited Fallingwater. He used it as a weekend home for a few more years. Then, in 1963, he gave the house and about 1,500 acres of land to the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy. He wanted to make sure Fallingwater would be preserved for everyone to enjoy. Public tours started in 1964. Today, more than 160,000 people visit Fallingwater every year.
Keeping Fallingwater Safe
Fallingwater has been exposed to weather for over 80 years. The humidity, sunlight, and freezing and thawing in Pennsylvania have caused some wear and tear. The outside stone walls need to be cleaned regularly.
The house's six bathrooms have cork tiles on the floor. These tiles were waxed to make them shiny and waterproof. Over time, the cork has shown water damage, so it needs frequent repairs.
The most challenging part of the house to maintain has been the concrete cantilevers. These are the parts of the house that stick out over the waterfall. Soon after the house was built, these cantilevers started to sag a little. This sagging increased over the years.
In 1995, engineers studied the house's structure. They found that the cantilevers were not strong enough. The concrete and the steel inside were almost at their breaking point. In 2002, the house was permanently repaired using a method called post-tensioning. This involved feeding strong steel cables through the concrete and tightening them. This made the cantilevers much stronger. The floors and walls were put back exactly as they were, so the house still looks the same. As of 2011, the cantilevers are stable, and the sagging has stopped. The Conservancy continues to watch them closely.
See also
In Spanish: Casa de la cascada para niños
- Kaufmann Desert House, another Kaufmann family home
- Kentuck Knob, another house designed by Wright in the same area
- List of Frank Lloyd Wright works
