Day 33, All is Wright with the Day

Fallingwater is amazing. It is easy to understand how this building, cantilevered over a waterfall, reignited Frank Lloyd Wright's career when it appeared on the cover of Life magazine in 1938.

The Kaufmann Family owned the property and would camp on it. When the cottage they used fell into disrepair, they contacted Frank Lloyd Wright to design a "modest" home they would use mostly on weekends. They had hoped to have a view of the waterfall. Frank Lloyd Wright decided that instead of merely looking at the water, they should " live with the waterfall." As you walk through the home, there is the sound of the water rushing and tumbling over the rocks. There is a hatch off the living room that took the family down to a plunge pool beside the waterfall. Wright even designed the living room around some of the boulders. The windows are designed to "vanish." There are no frames, even where the corners join. 


When Kaufmann senior was very old, he told his son that he wanted the home to be open to the public so that they could see and appreciate the architectural marvel. It was turned over to the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy, along with 175 acres. Aside from the house, there are hiking trails, some with beautiful views of the area. There is no charge to hike most of the 20 miles of trails.


Not satisfied with one Wright home, we spent the afternoon at another very different home designed 20 years later. This was designed during his Usonian period when he turned his interests to building "more affordable" homes. This one came in at $96,000 on 1953! 


Kentuk Knob is one story, built into the hillside, and is smaller. Wright designed only some of the original furnishings. The home was built by a family that owned a local dairy and ice cream company. They lived in the house full time until it was sold. The home is now owned by a baron in England. He has purchased some Frank Lloyd Wright pieces from various places and has put them in the house. He also is a collector of art and there are about 20 different outdoor sculptures, mostly English artists, around the property. There is also a piece of the Berlin Wall, which is pictured here. I had no idea how imposing it was.


There are other homes designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in the area. You can even spend the night in one if you like. But for us, we'll choose the campground.

Location: Fallingwater, 1491 Mill Run Rd, Mill Run, PA 15464, USA

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Day 9, Rockin' n Rollin' all Night Long

Image
Our crash wrap survived the night. The forecast called for a high wind warning with gusts up to 50 miles an hour. We are pretty sure that wasn't an exaggeration. That was accompanied by heavy rains. Our RV developed a small leak around where the slide comes out but it only required a rag on the floor to keep the water from spreading in the night. We were really relieved and thankful that the temporary fix held.  Ardith and Jim decided to head back to Ashland today. They'd planned to stay an additional night. Tomorrow we would continue north and theywould head back inland and south. If the night's storm and the forecast for continued rain, wind, and chilly temperatures (as I write this at 6 pm it is 46°) wasn't enough to convince them to leave, the standing water in their campsite was. We didn't have too much on our list of things to do given the weather but we headed out to Oceanside Beach. We got there during a break in the rain. Luckily, it was low tide. A walk do...
Read more

Day 7, The Long and Lonely Road

Image
March 28, 2023 Death Valley, at 3.4 million acres, is the largest national park in the contiguous 48 states. More than 90% is protected wilderness. As we left the park, we made sure we had gas since we'd be driving for a long time with not more much besides vast expanses. We drove through Death Valley Junction. Pretty much at all that is there is the Amargosa Opera House and Hotel. It was originally built by the borax company but was abandoned in 1925. In 1957, Marta Becket came across the abandoned building and felt it was asking her to ressurect the building. She moved from NYC and began offering dance and mime performances but the audiences were small so she began to paint an audience on the walls. It took her four years. There were no tours anytime close to when we passed through so the image is from the web. From Death Valley to the Mohave. We are outside Barstow tonight. It is about halfway to our next stop. I found a Harvest Host at Slash X Cafe, abou...
Read more

Day 1, On the Road Again. Destination Olivia

Image
Since our big adventurer, we've only been out in the pod on a few occasions and then only for a few days at a time. Even though I made lists of what we'd taken on our long trip, it took a while to assemble it all together. We also need to sanitize the fresh water tank. When we finally drove away, the planning and packing already seemed all worth it Driving to our first stop was a bit unremarkable. We made one rest stop at the Dunnigan Rest Area. It has lots of eucalyptus trees which makes it a nice rest stop by California standards. Our first night is at MoonBeam Farms, a lavender and loofah farm. It's a Harvest Host, meaning RVs can stay one night but you must have your own water, power, and there are no trash facilities. In return, you are asked to support the host by spending $20-40. Caz gave us a tour. She currently has ten different varieties of lavender. Some are culinary, others are more fragrant and provide buds and oils for her many products. As we walk...
Read more