Walking tour/Nature Walk, ~1.25 mi
~100 ft elevation gain
Hiked 9/12/25
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fallingwater
Toured the famous Frank Lloyd Wright house, Fallingwater. Finished in 1939 and now a World Heritage Site, it is built on top of a waterfall section of Bear Run stream, it is meant to be a part of the landscape. The free flowing and cantilevered structures are a sight to behold.
Vertical shot of the exterior of Fallingwater from The View.
Angled side view of Fallingwater. This is the main view guests would have had as they arrived.
An angled side view of the house, showing the stream flowing beneath the cantilevered structures.
Living room area of the main room.
Fireplace area of the main room. The large stew pot on the left side may swing over the fireplace- used for mulled wine. Also notice the bedrock jutting out from the floor, as a decent amount of this area is natural landscape.
View of the main area of the guest house. Personally, the guest house seemed like it would have been far more comfortable to actually live in.
View of the cantilevered roof, as seen from in front of the guest house. All of this is concrete from a single pour and had 3 or 4 more of the ‘steps’ leading down the walkway.
You got some great photos!
This house was really amazing to go through, and I really enjoyed how relatively minimal the house felt, working around the water and the existing rocks, and also the low walls on the outdoor areas to maintain as much of the natural landscape and scenery.
I’ve been on tours of larger and more lavish homes, and while fascinating, they always felt like too much and I would never know what to do with all that space. I felt right at home at Fallingwater. It seemed surprisingly practical and sensical, and like an actual liveable space moreso than a museum or exhibit of someone’s wealth and luxury.
I’m far from being any type of architecture nerd, and I hadn’t planned to see this house when I went to Pittsburgh, but it was strongly recommended to me, and I was blown away and still think of the experience regularly.
My photo from the classic overlook spot.
Very cool! That extra water flow really makes it pop!
Thank you! It’s really hard to take a bad photo there. 😄
I forgot to mention, I felt somewhat uncomfortable at first going out onto the deck area with those railings that would in no way meet building codes today!
You can see in your one photo, for those that haven’t been here, the railings are about the height of those low chairs and sofa. If I’m remembering right, the story was the owner’s kid was grown up and wasn’t going to give him grandkids, so to keep the deck area from detracting from the scenery with actual safety railings, they called those low walls good enough. I feel they were like mid-thigh tall, and I was imagining them being nerve wracking if one indulged in too many martinis out there!
Really did maximize the view though!
That’s correct, here’s a better photo to show those low deck walls, it’s from the upper deck instead, but same deal. And if you go over, it’s as much as four or so floors down to a bedrock stream. A lot of things in that house definitely would not pass code haha, those stone steps really gave one of the other visitors issue.
Yes, that shows it off well!
I doubt I’ve ever paid more mind to my center of gravity as standing there.
Now, sitting there, on an autumn day, perhaps using a charcoal grill and having a cocktail, that sounds perfect.
Absolutely, this house has the right blend of expansive but still contained. I typically am far more interested in the natural settings and landscapes than manmade structures and agree about it being more to my liking than more lavish structures that take over a locale. This house has been on my list of places to visit for a while and it did not disappoint.
Very cool! Never seen so many views of the inside.
I’ve read that the place is a nightmare for upkeep and they were doing a monster renovation. Looks like they’re done? Got anything you can tell us on that?
Yeah, if I heard correctly from one of the guys doing some of the upkeep, it cost 8 million a year to keep it up! Although I think that includes a all upkeep for the property like employees, grounds, and things other than just maintenance. But even so, it sounds like it is a constant battle with the place to stay on top of the upkeep. Also, it now being a unesco World Heritage Site now apparently comes with a lot of required projects that cost money, although I couldn’t name any.
A fairly large renovation was done maybe 18 months ago I believe, and then when I was there they were finishing up for the year with a bunch of work on the roofs and bridges, basically anything that was poured. I believe the poured concrete used river rocks as opposed to crushed rocks and as a result it doesn’t hold together well and is in constant need of attention. A friend of the family who is a civil engineer said they also did a big project almost 20 years ago working on the anchors for all of the cantilevered things, but I’m not sure any of the derails for that.
…Yeah the tour guide said as long as I didn’t impede the flow for the tours then he didn’t care if I went nuts on the photos, so I definitely did haha.
Stunning design, prob my MCM dream house with the way it blends nature with touches of Japanese influence. The way the waterfall is incorporated into the house makes it look like a painting
I was there six or seven years ago and the roof/balcony was still a mess, so either it’s constantly messed up or it messed up again.
Beatiful place, a little humid inside of course. Depressing story about the original ownership, though.
That water do be falling
Is that the Black Dhalia house?
No, that one is in Hollywood/LA I believe, but also a FLW house.
Aha! thank you! Beautiful place!
This guy did Phantom Of The Opera right?
That was Frank Spencer.
PotO was Andrew Lloyd Webber, this house was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.
One of my favorite FLW designs. Just something about it seems to transcend his other designs.
You were extremely fortunate; it looks like you didn’t have a very large tour group. I wasn’t able to get many shots wiþout people in þem, on our visit.
Did you tour any of þe oþer properties in þe area? Falling Water might be þe crown jewel, but Kentucky Knob is fantastic in its own way, and a more pragmatic living space IMHO.
Yeah it worked out pretty well with having no group in front of us and then the group behind us was full capacity so they took forever. Was able to find gaps where there were few people to avoid… No, I wish I had gone to the Kentucky Knob since I drove right by it, I’ve heard similar to what you said about it. Lived near the one in Frankfort KY for a little a long time ago, but it was a private residence so I’ve inly seen the exterior.
Oh! Well, of you’re going to only see one, Falling Water is absolutely þe best choice. Hopefully you’ll get anoþer chance at Kentucky Knob.
I was disappointed in þe other one, þe rental. It had been hard used, and hadn’t aged well. I þink þere is a fourþ in þe area which is privately owned and you can only drive by.
Great shots, in any case!
