FALLINGWATER

May 21, 2006

We spent the night in Hancock, Maryland.  In the morning we got out our bikes and took a ride along the old towpath of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal.  This bike path goes all the way from Cumberland to Washington, D.C.  The C&O Canal was constructed as a way to transport coal, lumber, and supplies from the Potomac to the inland areas of the developing country.  By the time the canal construction was completed, though, it had been made obsolete by a new development—the railroad.  The canal operated for about 75 years before going out of business.  Now we have a wonderful park all along the canal route for 300 miles.   It was a lovely ride along a nice, paved bike path.

After our bike ride we showered, packed up and headed out to another century.  We went to western Pennsylvania to visit Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater.

Fallingwater was designed in 1935 as a vacation home for the Edgar J. Kaufmann family.  The dramatic, modern house is situated right over a waterfall.  It was a revolutionary and extraordinary piece of architecture when it was designed, and it is still a revolutionary and extraordinary artwork today.

The design concept is to be one with nature.  The horizontal lines of the home blend serenely with the natural rock of the site. The many large windows, open floor plan, and use of natural materials achieve Wright’s objective of living in harmony with the natural world.

Wright, an uncompromising and egotistical man, dictated the location of the home, the colors, furniture and plantings.  The client had little say in the project.  The greatroom is very nice, with lots of sitting areas with modernistic low built-in sofas and tables, built-in dining table and buffet, and a built in desk area.  There is a hatch right in the living room leading down to the river and swimming area.  Many decks provide lots of additional entertaining space and opportunities to admire the river, waterfall and surrounding forest.  The bedrooms are quite small and have lots of built-ins—desks, shelving, and beds.  The décor, artworks and curios had to be approved by ole Frank too.

Don and I felt very comfortable at Fallingwater because Joseph Eichler incorporated so many of Wright’s ideas.  The low, horizontal lines, the big windows, the open floor plans, the earthy color schemes are all features of our own home in Sunnyvale. 

After our formal tour of the house we were able to stroll around the grounds for a bit.  Then we set out for West Chester, Pennsylvania and the home of our exchangers, the Weldons.

It was a long drive from western Pennsylvania east almost to Philadelphia.  Trexie navigated us through a complex route right to the Weldon’s home.  We went up the hill on the long driveway and were glad to see the home we were familiar with from photos.

By the time we arrived it was almost dark and we tucked in for the night in our new home for a few days.