MILL RUN - Author Donald Hoffmann writes of Frank Lloyd Wright's assessment of a future project's land site: "Wright looked at the stream, the falls, the trees, the rock ledges and the boulders."
He (Wright) had written a few years earlier what rock meant to him: "The rock ledges of a stone quarry are a story and a longing to me!"
You, too, can experience the longing of the stream, falls, trees and boulders of Fallingwater, the home designed by the famous "green" architect of his time - Frank Lloyd Wright.
Wright, at age 69 and still recuperating his career from Depression times, was hired in 1935 to design the weekend home of the Kaufmann family, owners of Kaufmann's Store in Pittsburgh. The home became one of his most famous works.
Now the constant sound of falling water creates soothing and relaxing background sounds to public home-guided tours available from March through November. The lush vegetation of red, yellow and white rhododendron blooms spring, summer and fall around the house and along the trails.
Located 72 miles southeast of Pittsburgh in the Laurel Highlands, the house was built on a stream named Bear Run. The 4-mile-long stream was fed by mountain springs. The constant rush of water eventually fractured a flawed split in the streams' rocks causing large boulders to fall in the water. The boulders became Wright's first visualization of the house he was to design.
The amazing structure almost wasn't built. Wright designed the home to incorporate as much of the landscape as possible.
But the engineer hired by Kaufmann reviewed Wright's plans and said it couldn't be done. Questions arose: what about erosion of the falls, the stability of the boulders or changes in the flow of creek water?
Wright was confident erosion, stability and flow were no problem. But how structurally sound would the building be?
Wright's design did not provide structural plans yet. But Wright adamantly expressed that the enormous, cantilevered living spaces protruding over nature's wonder of a waterfall was living in harmony with nature - not just looking at it but experiencing it. So Wright agreed to set thicker steel rods in the concrete to keep the cantilevered terraces in the design.
The weekend home began construction in 1936 with a budget of $35,000 and finished in 1939 at $155,000. Three levels of indoor living space plus several outdoor terraces grip into the side of the hill and extend over the native boulders.
Sandstone, quarried on the property, became one of four materials used extensively in the construction. The others were steel, glass and concrete.
Interior floors in the kitchen, bathrooms and some walls were made of onsite Pottsville sandstone. What is Pottsville sandstone? First named as a railroad bed was excavated near Pottsville, the stone runs this ridge along the Appalachian Mountains. Gray and buff-colored, the stone also consists of limestone, shale and coal.
North Carolina black walnut wood was used indoors throughout the main house and guest wing as built-in furniture. Shelving, wardrobes, desks and even the built-in sofas were all designed by Wright. About 169 pieces of custom designed furniture, built-in and free standing, were built from the black walnut wood.
Other features in the main house include:
The hatch, a glass-covered stairway leading down from the living room to the stream below. Kaufmann argued that the hatch had no meaning, but Wright insisted it was essential for the organic rhythm of the house. The Kaufmanns later found the hatch to be crucial for ventilation.
Seventeen corner windows flank three floors: the kitchen and two bedrooms. The wrap-around windows swing out on both sides. Surprisingly, there are no vertical supports at the inside corners.
An original boulder that became the hearth for the fireplace. Kaufmann suggested the boulder remain that stretched (and humped) 7 feet into the dining room. Wright was ecstatic about Kaufmann "seeing the light" of the esthetic.
Cork floors and walls in all the bathrooms. Wright wanted a warmer and textured feel to the bathrooms. He called in Armstrong Cork Products, of Lancaster, to help solve the problem of applying cork to the curvature areas of the rooms.
And believe it or not, a swimming pool off the guest wing was fed by a spring on its upper side and drained by gravity out the lower side - no chemicals ever needed.
Since 1963, the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy, the state's first conservation organization, has overseen the operations of Fallingwater.
Wright's vision certainly combines the four elements: earth (boulders); air (skylights); fire (fireplace) and water (steps to the stream) to represent living harmoniously with nature. What could be more green!
Wright also designed this nearby home, 7 miles southwest of Fallingwater. At age 86, Wright was approached by I.N. and Bernadine Hagan to design them a home in the style of Fallingwater.
They already owned the land and after seeing the home of their friends, the Kaufmanns, they decided they liked the concept of living attune with nature in the Usonian style (meaning affordable for common people).
Built in a hexagonal shape, the open-floor plan, one-story home incorporates sandstone and tidewater red cypress wood. It also features cantilevered overhangs and vast expanses of glass looking over the Youghiogheny River Gorge.
Featured on the grounds of the gardens and meadows are 40 contemporary art sculptures. Look for the red phone booths and the unique birdhouses on poles.
Also open to the public, Kentuck Knob is a simpler form of the organic influence from Wright, the green architect of his time.