Fallingwater

Last week, while on our own little "spring break," we suddenly found ourselves in the the quaint little town of Farmington, Pennsylvania, quite by accident, I think, and then we saw a sign that pointed us in the direction of Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater (9 miles ahead).  So the next step was naturally to stop at the nearest gas station, buy the kids some Lunchables to munch(able?) and then proceed in the direction of Fallingwater.  Which we did, indeed find (9 miles ahead).

And now for a history lesson (taken from the brochure we were given for our "Self-Guided Walk"):



In 1935, Frank Lloyd Wright designed a modern vacation house for the Edgar J. Kaufmann family (yes, of the no-longer-in-existence Kaufmann's deparment store), boldly extending it over a waterfall in a beautiful (rhododendrons! everywhere!) forest.  (Sidebar:  If we ever go back, I want to go when the rhododendrons are in bloom: "Their white blossoms dot the landscape in midsummer.")



Today, Fallingwater is a famous National Historic Landmark visited by over 135,000 people every year.  (Including our family and that guy in the next photo in the fabulous yellow pants.  He ended up following us around quite a bit, speaking some language which I must assume was Swedish.  I imagine he was drawn to my kids' yellow coats.)



Fallingwater is a house dedicated to outdoor living - a retreat from the hectic lifestyle that the Kaufmanns led in Pittsburgh.

Local laborers built the main and guest houses between 1936-39, under the direction of a self-taught builder and three of Wright's apprentices.

Immediately hailed as a modern masterpiece, its reinforced concrete cantilevers extending out from a masonry core expressed a new freedom in structure.



The family used Fallingwater until 1963, when Edgar Kaufmann, Jr., entrusted it to the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy.

Lex and I on the bridge, looking at the falls of Bear Run.

This photo was entirely Connor's idea. 

"Mom, wait!  Take my picture," he said, and then he posed like this.