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10
That Changed America

4 Fallingwater

Mill Run, Pennsylvania
Frank Lloyd Wright, 1936-38

Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater, near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Photo Credit: Courtesy of Western Pennsylvania Conservancy

Fallingwater was designed to integrate seamlessly with its surroundings. Photo Credit: Christopher Little, Courtesy of Western Pennsylvania Conservancy

The fireplace hearth incorporates a large boulder from the site, bringing the outdoors in. Photo Credit: Christopher Little, Courtesy of Western Pennsylvania Conservancy

Flagstone floors further create unity between the home’s interior and the natural world outside. Photo Credit: Christopher Little, Courtesy of Western Pennsylvania Conservancy

The fluid flow from room to room, and from indoors to out, demonstrate Wright’s philosophy of organic architecture. Photo Credit: Christopher Little, Courtesy of Western Pennsylvania Conservancy

Stone walls further blur the lines between interior and the surrounding woods. Photo Credit: Christopher Little, Courtesy of Western Pennsylvania Conservancy

The building is so iconic that in 1982, it (and its architect) merited its own postage stamp.

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Fallingwater

Frank Lloyd Wright’s masterpiece of organic architecture, Fallingwater, was built for the Kaufmann family of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The home demonstrates Wright’s love of nature and expresses his desire to create harmony between manmade structures and the natural environment.

The home is integrated into the natural landscape in multiple ways. It uses local materials such as stone quarried on the site, flagstone floors, and extensive wood to echo natural forms and textures in the surrounding environment.

Fallingwater invited nature indoors. A boulder from the site anchors the hearth in the living room; another room surrounds a living, mature tree.

Perhaps most famously, Fallingwater straddles a natural waterfall that dramatically flows from underneath the home. Inspired by the multidirectional flow of the water, Wright created tiered spaces around the entire structure, with cascading terraces echoing the flow of the water.

Learn more

Fallingwater – Official Site

Frank Lloyd Wright Preservation Trust

Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation