fallingwater

Jon and I took a slight (coughthreehourcough) detour on our way home from the wedding in State College. It's been a while since I've had a Frank Lloyd Wright fix and I knew Jon would love his architecture and design as much as I do. We had difficulty finding the place...actually we gave up too soon. We took a good hour long detour down some back roads in the mountains all the while telling each other "that's crazy that they don't even have a tourist sign for this place. I can't believe that we're the only people touring it today. It's fallingwater for goodness sake!" After stopping at a diner on the side of the road to ask for directions, we realized that we had turned around too soon because we were fooled by the low address number. We both laughed when the giant Fallingwater sign appeared on the side of the road and we saw that the five cars behind us were going there too. Imagine that?!?

We took an hour long tour through the inside of the home. This place is amazing. Just like every other Wright house I've toured, there are so many details to take in and the pictures just don't do the homes justice at all. Wright was just so ahead of his time. This house was built in the thirties and is still so incredibly innovative and modern for even today's standards.

He uses the space so well and has great control over the flow of the home. No basements or extra closets for this house - Wright was not a fan of clutter or collecting useless stuff. Dark hallways with low ceilings - don't waste your time in a hallway when there are open rooms and expansive terraces to explore. The natural light cascading into each room was spectacular - I was bummed that photographs weren't allowed inside the home. One cool feature of the living room was a walkdown staircase to the water where the original homeowner could wade in the water or just dip their feet in.

Wright was a big fan of incorporating nature into design and this home is the perfect example. The home was built on top of a waterfall and the main foundation is a large boulder that appears both inside and outside the home. And, because the outside walls of the home are non-load bearing, Wright was able to add tons and tons of corner windows.These are no ordinary corner windows, because once you open up the storm window and the screen, the corner of the house "disapears" - it makes for incredible view.

We're so glad that we were able to make this little detour on our way home. Such a great design inspiration to feed off of for a while. Jon and I were inspired with lots of little ideas to incorporate into our home whenever we buy. Jon especially liked the design of the planters on the terraces, so we'll definitely be making some of those when we've got the extra space.