Fallingwater 2013

While attending a friends wedding just south of Pittsburgh I took the opportunity to visit Falling Water with E- and Mandy.  Falling Water is the architectural masterpiece by Frank Lloyd Wright.  The tours are super popular and you should book ahead if you want to see the inside.   We did the 2 hour tour with brunch afterward and it was a real treat.

If you want to get the 'money shot' without people on the terraces, arrive early and take the nature trail.

But I also recommend the trail to the bird's eye view and other viewpoints of the outside.

Don't forget to look at the natural beauty which is why the Kaufmann's wanted the house here in the first place.

There are a couple of neat tricks to bring the outside inside.  Where there is a natural seep, cover it with an almost roof.  

Or if it the natural seep is inside make it an artistic focal point.

Bring in maximum light and air through windows

that come directly out of the wall

or where the glass opens out and the screens open in

or that are on all sides.  

Build stairs that look like water cascades and those overhangs that look like the natural rocks.

Wright designed all the furniture and dictated where it belonged.  Some of it was obviously from the 60's, except for the fact that it was make in 1939.

Even fantastic art houses need practical items like bottle openers

and lamps!