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| Fallingwater |
Great, now that that is out of the way, let's talk about Fallingwater, arguably the most famous home in the United States after the White House. This residence is probably the best known Frank Lloyd Wright building, and was built in the late 1930s for the Kaufmann family. For any non-locals, the Kaufmanns were the owners of probably the best department store EVER- Kaufmann's- that opened in 1871 but was bought out by Macy's in 2006. It was a big part of Pittsburgh culture. "Meet me under the Kaufmann's clock" is probably one of the most said phrases in the city (even though technically it's the Macy's clock now...), and has been a gathering place for residents since 1913. Obviously, to have had this much influence over the city, these folks had to have been wealthy. And one of the things they did with their money was to commission Mr. Wright to design a weekend home for them far from the city where they could be rejuvenated from all the smoke and pollution urban Pittsburgh suffered with due to steel making. They used this home for roughly 25-30 years, and then Edgar Kaufmann, Jr. donated the home to the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy to be turned into a museum for the public.
Which bring us to my Sunday afternoon visit to Fallingwater with two of my coworkers. It was about an hour drive from the city to the site. As the Queen of Public Transportation, let me tell you now there is NO way to get here unless you drive. NONE. We passed plenty of cows and fields on the way there. Not a bus stop sign in sight! And if you don't drive, good luck trying to find a bus tour out there- before my coworkers decided to go, I tried to Google tours from the city to the premises. I found ONE company that only does tours sporadically. Not very convenient, although it does include the nearby Kentuck Knob- another Wright home seven miles from Fallingwater that often gets overlooked by tourists (like us).
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| Inside the Visitor's Center |
Anyway, once you get to the Visitor Center, you are told to listen for your tour number but to feel free to use the restrooms and browse the shop and cafe in the meantime. Once you are called, you are directed to a path after being told "the rules" of visiting the home, and you walk down a nature trail of sorts, making a right at a waterfall where your tour guide will be standing waiting for you with a giant walking stick in hand. Our tour guide was amazing- Eric Kobal. He was excited (but not crazy), knowledgeable (but not snooty), and friendly (but not fake). Seriously he knew details about EVERYTHING in the house- the plants in the gardens, the art on the walls, the books on the shelves, the design highlights, everything! I'm sure they probably go through some intense training in order to know so much, but I enjoyed that he didn't sound rehearsed and encouraged us to ask questions. Thankfully our group was engaging and excited to be on the tour.
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| Eric our tour guide! The guides carry the sticks as a sort of homage to Kaufmann, Sr. who has a portrait in the living room holding one of these. |
He had lots of quirky stories and factoids to share with us, but probably my favorite was the one about the color scheme of the home. The home is painted in a beige-y peach color called ocher and accented with Wright's favorite color, Cherokee red. This is actually the second choice of Wright- who thought the home should be covered in gold leaf! Imagine how that would have looked in depression era America-- one family being so rich they could afford to build a house covered in gold while just a few miles away their employees practically starved. Thankfully the Kaufmann's saw this was a terrible idea and the current color scheme was used instead.
After the main house tour (you go through both the main house and the guest house), you are taken to what used to be the car port but is now a sort of movie room where a different person (our was a woman named Bonnie) explains the ways the organization keeps the building maintained, discusses a little about how much it costs, and then does a strong push for membership and donations without coming across as a used car salesman. Seriously, if I had an extra hundred bucks in my pocket that day they could have had it- that's how positive the entire experience (even being solicited!) was. From there you are allowed to go back to the outside area and take pictures, but NOT the inside (more on that later) and then you head back to the Visitor Center. On the way back there is a side trail that takes you to a great spot to take the "iconic" Fallingwater pic that everyone always sees in magazines and books. I honestly had an awesome time here (history and arts nerd that I am!) and would love to come back.
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| The oldest piece of art in the home. A Hindu goddess statue dating to around 700 AD Taken from outside so as not to break the rules! |
Now, some tips and random tidbits. Don't even think about wearing non-flat, feet exposing shoes. Most of the surfaces we walked were either uneven stone, gravel, or dirt and wood chips so wear something sturdy and protective on your feet. If you've never been and aren't sure you'll like it, take the regular tour. It's $22 for adults. But if you already know you are a Wright fan or want a VIP experience, go ahead and shell out the $65 for the in-depth tour (I know I will next time!). What's the difference? Well, you get a tour that's twice as long in a smaller group (a maximum of ten) AND you'll get to take pictures inside of the house (which we were not allowed to do) and go to areas the general public isn't allowed. AND you won't have to worry about other tours bunching up in spaces with you as the VIP tours are pretty much isolated from everyone else.
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| A gathering of walking sticks and a donation box. |
Whichever tour you take, I beg you to please ask questions about the art and sculpture you see around you. Why? Well, where else can you be super close and personal with original, authentic Picassos? There are Japanese woodcuts, Riveras, and Khalos mixed in with ancient art from around the world. And there are beautiful antique books that belonged to Junior of some of the most celebrated titles in the history of literature. Another highlight was learning that the Kaufmann's cook, Elsie Henderson, is alive and well at 100 years of age and was recently at the home signing copies of her cookbook (they didn't have any signed copies for me to purchase, otherwise I would have!)
Thank you so much for reading my blog and for following me on my adventure! Feel free to check out my Facebook page (and hit that like button!), and follow me on Twitter to find out where I'm headed next!
