Tucked away in the southwestern corner of Pennsylvania is an architectural masterpiece that ranks number 29 in an American Institute of Architects (AIA) poll of America’s Favorite Architecture – Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater. Polls have also shown that visitors travel at least 4 hours to get to this spectacular house on top of a waterfall.

Wright was commissioned to design and build a “mountain retreat” for Edgar J. Kaufmann, Sr. (E.J.) and his wife Liliane – from Pittsburgh and founder of Kaufmann’s Department Store – near their favorite summer vacation location, a waterfall on the stream known as Bear Run. In 1934 Wright surveyed the site and soon after asked the Kaufmann’s where they spent their time when on the property. They pointed to a rock that they loved to picnic on. After much back and forth communication regarding the design plans between Kaufmann and Wright – some of it quite terse – a phone in Wright’s Wisconsin studio rang. It was E.J.; he was at the Milwaukee airport and was heading over to “look at the plans for my house”. Wright’s apprentices were frantic. There were no designs on paper – only in Wright’s head. Edgar Tafel, then an apprentice, later reported, "Just before noon (140 minutes after the phone call), Mr. Kaufmann arrived. As he walked up the outside stone steps, he was greeted graciously by the Master. They came straight to the drafting table. `E.J.,' said Mr. Wright, `We've been waiting for you.'"

Kaufmann was as much a visionary as Wright however, when he saw the plans to build not near their favored picnic spot but right on top of it he merely said…"I thought you would place the house near the waterfall, not over it." Mr. Wright said quietly, "E.J., I want you to live with the waterfall, not just to look at it, but for it to become an integral part of your lives," according to another of Wright’s apprentices, Bob Mosher.

The strict budget Mr. Kaufmann set forth in 1935 was $20,000-$30,000, with the desire to see the house completed at the lower end of the scale. In typical Wright fashion, the finished product came in at around $250,000 – no small number in the depression days of the 1930’s.

The house, completed in 1937, was well lived in by the E.J. and Liliane until their deaths in 1955 and 1952, respectively. Sadly, Liliane died of a sleeping pill overdose at Fallingwater. Their only son, Edgar, Jr. – a Frank Lloyd Wright Taliesen fellow in his younger days – inherited the home and continued to enjoy it until he, as agreed upon with his father, passed it to the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy in 1963.

Visitors from around the world can now tour this magnificent masterpiece. Be prepared to be speechless – this historic house is as breathtaking inside as out.

Wright designed “a building to the music of the stream.” Multiple concrete terraces are cantilevered over the stream. These cantilever planes are anchored into the rock of the hillside and pinned down by the massive stone chimney and walls at the back of the house. This technique was unheard of and after much discussion, argument and added steel, the cantilever gracefully projected nearly 17 feet over the falls with a drop of only one inch as the wooden supports were removed. Throughout the years cracks have appeared and in 2002 the WPC completed a $6 million preservation project at Fallingwater.

As you step through the door you’ll notice the walls of windows, allowing the beauty of the outdoors into the living space. The ceilings are low and the furniture - just as Wright had designed it - is built in, locally quarried stone is used in the walls, and the prominent hearthstone of the large fireplace is the same one they loved to picnic on in the past. As you enter the living room your eye will be drawn to a glass "hatch" that opens to steps leading down to the stream. No landing at the bottom of the steps – just the stream – amazing. From the inside of the house guests may explore the terrace off the living room. The flowing water from the stream and falls below can be heard throughout the house.

This building lives and breathes Wright’s philosophy of “organic design” – the blending of structures with their surroundings. There are several tours offered at Fallingwater from the standard 55 minute tour to the 2 hour in-depth tour to a brunch or sunset tour. Regardless of which you choose, you’ll walk away in awe.