Falling Water

Falling Water

Falling water, one of Frank Lloyd Wright's most widely acclaimed works, was designed for the family of Pittsburgh department store owner Edgar J. Kaufmann. The key to the setting of the house is the waterfall over which it is built. The falls had been a focal point of the family's activities, and they had indicated the area around the falls as as the location for a home. They were unprepared for Wright's suggestion that the house rise over the waterfall, rather than face it. But the architect's original scheme was adopted almost without change.

Completed with guest and service wing in 1939, Falling water was constructed of sandstone quarried on the property and laid up by local craftsmen. The stone serves to separate reinforced concrete "trays," forming living and bedroom levels, dramatically cantilevered over the stream. Falling water was the weekend home of the Kaufmann family from 1937 until 1963, when the house, its contents, and grounds were presented to the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy by Edgar Kaufmann, Jr. Falling water is the only remaining great Wright house