Fallingwater, Finally

I have wanted to visit Fallingwater for decades and feared I would never have the excuse to be in rural Pennsylvania. But when I realized that -- given several hours of driving after running my third half marathon in four days -- I could visit it and fly home from Pittsburgh, well, I could think of little else. 

One of the challenges of visiting Fallingwater is that it's rural and there aren't really many places to stay nearby. I found a cute old motel in the town of Ohiopyle and stayed there one night before visiting Kentuck Knob and then Fallingwater the next day. 

Ohiopyle was adorable, and crazy busy with thousands of people all wanting to get on the river or the bike trails on a hot day in early summer. I grabbed takeout and sat on the balcony of my motel and just relaxed in the sun. 

Then the next morning I was up early and headed to Kentuck Knob, a smaller, lesser-known FLW house in the area. I couldn't really imagine living in Fallingwater (okay, I could), but I could easily imagine living at Kentuck Knob. KK is a fine example of his Usonian style, built in 1954-56 for I.N. and Bernardine Hagan.

I took the first possible tour in the morning. It's a small, but gorgeous house that really highlights the Wright's "compress and release" design style. Small doors, narrow hallways, and suddenly big rooms. As such, there were no photographs permitted inside. But I did take some from the front:

And the two balconies: 

This image shows how the tiny dining room was extended out over the patio so that they had room for more than 2 people to dine at a time. 

The kitchen was very small, but had a double-height ceiling and a skylight. This photo comes from the Kentuck Knob website: 

After the house tour I walked back to the visitor center so I could see the artwork. Highlights for me were obviously the Andy Goldsworthy pieces: 

Floodstones Cairn, 1991 - 2003

Room, 1992

Room, 1992

Room, 1992

After making too many purchases at the gift shop, I drove on to Fallingwater. 

I checked in for my tour (a bit early) and then went to see the "Iconic View". Sometimes when you see something in real life it doesn't live up to the photos. But Fallingwater did. 

Built for the Kaufmann family who loved the waterfalls on their land, they expected a more conventional placement of the house -- facing the waterfalls. But Wright designed the house to sit on top of the waterfalls in a stacked grouping of cantilevered "trays". 

My photos will never do justice to the design, but here are some of my favorite details: 

The way the stones are grouped and stacked:

This staircase down to the water that can be slid open and closed:

This view to one of the many terraces, more glass than wall: 

The big fireplace and various nooks in the main living room:

The way the house was built around the rock:

This adorable natural spring pool up by the "guest quarters":

I wish I could have taken pictures of the upstairs rooms -- they get smaller and smaller but each had its own terrace. Such a perfect house! I especially loved the son's room which was essentially a greenhouse. Glorious. 

I would have loved to take one of the really in-depth tours, but was still thrilled to be able to see the house at all.

FLW "signature" tile at Kentuck Knob