FEATURE Fallingwater, Mill Run GO VISIT To commemorate 150 years since Frank Lloyd Wright’s birth, Fallingwater will celebrate with an exhibition and lecture series during the 2017 season. Details and tickets are available at fallingwater.org or by calling 724-329-8501. NO HOUSE SHOULD EVER BE ON A HILL OR ON ANYTHING. IT SHOULD BE OF THE HILL. BELONGING TO IT. HILL AND HOUSE SHOULD LIVE TOGETHER EACH THE HAPPIER FOR THE OTHER. 1 — FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT FALLINGWATER Edgar Kaufmann envisioned a modern weekend house with a view of the waterfall on Bear Run, a mountain stream in the Laurel Highlands, southeast of Pittsburgh. The owner of the namesake Pittsburgh department store and his wife Liliane, tastemakers of modern art and design, commissioned Frank Lloyd Wright to design a home that would pay tribute to their beloved mountain locale. Wright dramatically cantilevered the house over the falls because, as he explained, “I want you to live with the waterfall, not just to look at it, but for it to become an integral part of your lives.” Place the house directly over a liquid piano, Wright said, “where forest and stream and rock and all the elements of structure are combined so quietly that really you listen not to any noise whatsoever… but you listen to Fallingwater the way you listen to the quiet of the country.” No matter the number of images one has seen of Wright’s tour de force, it is a marvel to walk to the house from the visitors center and first to hear Bear Run nourishing the surroundings, but then to see it: Fallingwater, as it hovers above a 30-foot waterfall. From the outside, the house appears to merge with the hillside, framed with native rhododendron, but it is the tour that leaves a profound impact — a glimpse into Wright’s genius. Wright determined the height of the main floor by using Kaufmann’s favorite boulder — originally a favored spot for lying in the sun and listening to the falls. The stone became Wright’s focal point for the home’s living room and hearth. Floating horizontal levels inserted among rock In honor of Frank Lloyd Wright’s 150th Birthday Year, Kentuck Knob is planning Farm-to-Table Dinners from June through September. For more information and ticket purchases for tours and Farm-to-Table Dinners, visit kentuckknob.com or call 724-329-1901. 2 To tour or spend the night at a Frank Lloyd Wright home, visit franklloydwrightovernight.net or call 877-833-7829. 3 Explore the National Historic Landmark synagogue with a tour on Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays, or take a virtual tour at bethsholompreservation.org. 4 46 visitPA.com
Pennsylvania PA 2017 Happy Traveler: Page 46
