Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater

[Weatherman2020]

One of my forks not taken in life was to be an architect. Went into engineering instead, but I still love architecture. FLW was my favorite.

You’re probably familiar with his 1935 design Fallingwater. Built for a wealthy family who loved the waterfalls there. I finally got to tour it. FLW is no longer my favorite.

Start with the exterior. Unique. But…
You can’t see the waterfalls from the house, only hear it. I would have built the house from where the photo is taken from.

FLW is famous for blending his designs with nature. Look at it. It’s in the woods of PA but the colors make it look like it’s in the desert of Phoenix. I would have used a dark brown or stone gray color.

Interior is interesting. I’d heard about his concept of trying to move you from transition areas like the entryway or hallway into the living area. He does this by making those areas tight. Very tight. 6-4 ceiling and a couple of feet wide. I’m 6-2 and found myself always instinctively ducking. Nope.

Rooms are like a labyrinth. Living area is nice open concept, cutting edge for the time. Then you’ve got to go up down and around to get to the bedrooms, which are not private, both from the interior and from anyone on one of the several patios. Nope.

 

[OhPleaseJustQuit]

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It was a nice gallery for the Japanese art.

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[pknopp]

So you would have made the most famous private residence in the United States differently. You would have made a house people from all around the world come to see differently.

O.K.

 

[Care4all]

Polished concrete floors was also innovative at the time....

 

[Weatherman2020]

So you would have made the most famous private residence in the United States differently. You would have made a house people from all around the world come to see differently.

O.K.

Why is it famous?
His name.

Nobody wants to live there, even the family that built it used it as a getaway.

 

[candycorn]

So you would have made the most famous private residence in the United States differently. You would have made a house people from all around the world come to see differently.

O.K.

the "guy on the internet" is smarter than actual geniuses dontchaknow.

 

[pknopp]

Why is it famous?
His name.

Why aren't your ideas famous?

Nobody wants to live there, even the family that built it used it as a getaway.

Yes, as that is what it was built for.

 

[DGS49]

Actually Falling Waters is a quick drive from my home. I've toured it a couple times and I love it, along with the other FLW homes I've seen in Chicago. Odd thing is, I don't know what it is that I Iike about his designs...the colors, the shapes, the integration of architecture with furniture.

FLW came of age in a time when you could not go to school to become an architect. It was personal study and an apprenticeship. The man was a genius. Kind of an ass-hole, as I understand it, but who cares?

 

[Weatherman2020]

Why aren't your ideas famous?




Yes, as that is what it was built for.

FLW had a couple of good ideas, and like all architects didn’t amount to much until his later years because he got lucky in landing a good gig to start a reputation.

 

[pknopp]

FLW had a couple of good ideas, and like all architects didn’t amount to much until his later years because he got lucky in landing a good gig to start a reputation.

He went into business for himself in 1893 but didn't build Fallingwater until 1939. He was approached to build Fallingwater because of his already established reputation.

I thought you said you used to be a fan?

 

[Weatherman2020]

He went into business for himself in 1893 but didn't build Fallingwater until 1939. He was approached to build Fallingwater because of his already established reputation.

I thought you said you used to be a fan?

Yes, like I said you’re not famous in the field until you’re an old man. And yes, I was a fan until I saw two of his homes in person.

 

[toobfreak]

Start with the exterior. Unique. But…

Actually, the whole place was built based on the use of cantilevers, unique for the time.

You can’t see the waterfalls from the house, only hear it. I would have built the house from where the photo is taken from.

But the spot the house was built on showcases the house itself better, and the waterfall runs UNDER the house, in fact, you can go down steps right to the water. That is how he and the Carnegies wanted it. Part of the beauty of the house is that it sits next to and above the Falls. Notice most every exterior photo shows it that way.

FLW is famous for blending his designs with nature. Look at it. It’s in the woods of PA but the colors make it look like it’s in the desert of Phoenix. I would have used a dark brown or stone gray color.

But the house IS stone gray and various shades of tan and brown to match the colors of the woods there, especially in the Fall.

Interior is interesting. I’d heard about his concept of trying to move you from transition areas like the entryway or hallway into the living area. He does this by making those areas tight. Very tight. 6-4 ceiling and a couple of feet wide. I’m 6-2 and found myself always instinctively ducking. Nope.

People were shorter then and you are a bit tall. When you commission your own house, you can build it anyway you want! The layout of the house was formatted so that everything would fit neatly within the symmetry of the exterior lines, and the low ceilings helped optimize the heat efficiency of the house where ability to heat it was rather limited. The house IS out is the deep woods.

Rooms are like a labyrinth. Living area is nice open concept, cutting edge for the time. Then you’ve got to go up down and around to get to the bedrooms, which are not private, both from the interior and from anyone on one of the several patios. Nope.

All personal choices made for a number of reasons. One thing I find interesting is that the guest quarters are in their own separate building up on the hill so to not only give privacy but to not affect the exterior lines of the building. The house was meant to be a work of art that you just could happen to be able to live in as well as a place to get away from the rat race of nearby Pittsburgh.

 

[pknopp]

Yes, like I said you’re not famous in the field until you’re an old man. And yes, I was a fan until I saw two of his homes in person.

He was a well established architect a long before becoming old.

Taliesin opened in 1932.

 

[pknopp]

People were shorter then and you are a bit tall. When you commission your own house, you can build it anyway you want! The layout of the house was formatted so that everything would fit neatly within the symmetry of the exterior lines, and the low ceilings helped optimize the heat efficiency of the house where ability to heat it was rather limited. The house IS out is the deep woods.

While he was not a fan of building a house for tall people he did build The Penfield House for a tall client.

 

[Weatherman2020]

Actually, the whole place was built based on the use of cantilevers, unique for the time.


But the spot the house was built on showcases the house itself better, and the waterfall runs UNDER the house, in fact, you can go down steps right to the water. That is how he and the Carnegies wanted it. Part of the beauty of the house is that it sits next to and above the Falls. Notice most every exterior photo shows it that way.


But the house IS stone gray and various shades of tan and brown to match the colors of the woods there, especially in the Fall.


People were shorter then and you are a bit tall. When you commission your own house, you can build it anyway you want! The layout of the house was formatted so that everything would fit neatly within the symmetry of the exterior lines, and the low ceilings helped optimize the heat efficiency of the house where ability to heat it was rather limited. THe house IS out is the deep woods.


All personal choices made for a number of reasons. One thing I find interesting is that the guest quarters are in their own separate building up on the hill so to not only give privacy but to not affect the exterior lines of the building. The house was meant to be a work of art that you just could happen to be able to live in as well as a place to get away from the rat race of nearby Pittsburgh.

The house is a southwest orange and I don’t want to go up and down outside stairs to see a pool of water. The falls are invisible from the top.

To each his own.

 

[Weatherman2020]

He was a well established architect a long before becoming old.

Taliesin opened in 1932.

Oh great. 65 and still working.
Nope.

 

[pknopp]

The house is a southwest orange and I don’t want to go up and down outside stairs to see a pool of water. The falls are invisible from the top.

To each his own.

The Kaufmann family loved the house.

 

[toobfreak]

The house is a southwest orange

The color of the leaves.

and I don’t want to go up and down outside stairs to see a pool of water. The falls are invisible from the top.

Actually, you can sit out on the terrace and look straight down at the Falls. And part of the idea of putting the house there was to capture the cool downward breeze of air following the creek to help cool the house in summer. You wouldn't have gotten that building the place across the way, nor was there a hill behind the house there to build the guest quarters on.

Don't get me wrong, I understand the house well, not that I ever find it any place I've ever thought "Gee, I want to live here!" But I think you are being pretty judgemental and unfair to the place (its 90 years old!) and to FLW. The fact that the place has been restored and preserved as an historic landmark speaks for itself.

 

[Weatherman2020]

The color of the leaves.


Actually, you can sit out on the terrace and look straight down at the Falls. And part of the idea of putting the house there was to capture the cool downward breeze of air following the creek to help cool the house in summer. You wouldn't have gotten that building the place across the way, nor was there a hill behind the house there to build the guest quarters on.

Don't get me wrong, I understand the house well, not that I ever find it any place I've ever thought "Gee, I want to live here!" But I think you are being pretty judgemental and unfair to the place (its 90 years old!) and to FLW. The fact that the place has been restored and preserved as an historic landmark speaks for itself.

His budget was $20,000.
End cost was $155,000.

I can create a lot of cool things too with that kind of spending in 2023 dollars

 

[toobfreak]

The house is a southwest orange

Actually, the colors were well-thought out to be reflective of the area. The stone of the house reflects the colors of the surrounding woods and what you call southwest orange is actually reflective of the color of the rocks in the Falls.

Here is a better photo more representative of the true look of the house:

Here is a sampling I took of the bark in the two notable trees at left:

Now here is a sampling of the cut stone the house is built from:

Basically, you just don't like the house, is the moral of this thread.