Fallingwater House: History of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater

Fallingwater (1939) is an iconic home designed by American architect Frank Lloyd Wright. Located in Mill Run—a Springfield Township community in southwestern Pennsylvania—Fallingwater was built in the organic architecture style. This style prioritizes a harmonious relationship between building and nature. The house was designated as a United States National Historic Landmark in 1966.

Organic architecture is a style in which buildings are inspired by, built around, and blend in with their natural surroundings. Frank Lloyd Wright coined the term “organic architecture,” a design type that doesn’t infringe on nature but instead coexists with it, creating a composition that celebrates and is in conversation with the natural world.

Architectural historians often point to Fallingwater as Frank Lloyd Wright’s masterpiece and as an emblem of organic architecture, a style Wright championed. Fallingwater is built atop a waterfall, blends in with its surroundings, and features materials that speak to southwestern Pennsylvania’s nature, all of which represent the ethos of organic architecture.

Fallingwater was constructed during Frank Lloyd Wright’s twilight years; when construction began in 1936, he was already in his sixties and had cemented his status as one of the United States’ most famous architects.

• Commission: The job was commissioned by Liliane Kaufmann and Edgar J. Kaufmann—the owner of Kaufmann's Department Store, a Pennsylvania shopping chain. The Kaufmann family sought a weekend home somewhere near Pittsburgh, home to the department store’s flagship location. The family’s son Edgar Kaufmann Jr., a burgeoning architect, had an apprenticeship at the Taliesin Fellowship, a program started at Wright’s Wisconsin estate. Through that connection, the Kaufmanns met and hired Wright for the job.
• Inspiration: In 1934, Wright visited Bear Run, a tributary of the Youghiogheny River. Inspired by one of the river’s waterfalls, Wright requested a survey of the land around it.
• Features: The Kaufmanns’ weekend retreat would have a large living room, multiple bedrooms, and a welcoming, open-plan first floor. Wright used local stone from a nearby quarry for the house’s walls, used upside-down T beams to support the cantilevered floors, and scavenged for boulders near the construction site for the fireplace.
  
• Friction: The Kaufmanns had wanted the house built below the cascade, but Wright built atop it. This caused conflict between the family and the architect, as some of Wright’s plans did not match the Kaufmanns’ wishes. Skeptical of Wright’s bold cantilevered design plans, Edgar J. Kaufmann hired an outside engineering consultant, which caused further tension and led to Wright nearly leaving the project.
• Completion: Construction began in 1936; the main house was completed in 1938, and the guest house was finished the following year. The final cost for the entire project was $155,000, including finishings and furnishings.
• Western Pennsylvania Conservancy: In 1963, after decades of family use and hosting of celebrities and artists, Edgar Kaufmann Jr. donated the home to the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy, and it opened as a museum with guided architectural tours.
• Influence: In recognition of Fallingwater’s architectural achievement, the American Institute of Architects named the house the “best all-time work of American architecture” in 1991.
• Restoration: The house underwent an $11.5 million restoration in 2001, and in 2019, it was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Set in the scenic Laurel Highlands, Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater house features several notable architectural characteristics:

1. 1. Waterfall: No architectural tour of Fallingwater is complete without seeing its crown jewel—a gushing waterfall that’s part of Bear Run. The house sits on top of the waterfall, whose running water can be heard throughout the home, especially in the springtime when melting snow pours into the river.
2. 2. Horizontal and vertical lines: Straight, perpendicular lines are a fixture of Fallingwater. The vertical lines mirror the ascending trees that shoot up around the home, and the horizontal lines are seen in the many cantilevers that extend outward from the home and reach into nature.
3. 3. Waxed stone floors: Using locally sourced materials, Wright waxed the stone that would become the floor. The more rugged use of found boulders in the fireplace hearth juxtaposed the smoothness of the stone floors, but each nod to the materials found just beyond the home’s walls.
4. 4. Small bedrooms: The bedrooms in Fallingwater are practical, not luxurious. With the bedrooms smaller and their ceilings lower, guests and residents were encouraged to explore the larger areas, be it the nature outdoors or the larger, open-plan areas indoors, including decks and the living area.

Get the MasterClass Annual Membership for exclusive access to video lessons taught by the world’s best, including Frank Gehry, Will Wright, Annie Leibovitz, Kelly Wearstler, Ron Finley, and more.