Falling Water is not just a house it is an architectural phenomenon. This amazing summer home is located on Bear Run in Pennsylvania, just outside of Pittsburgh. Falling Water was designed in 1935 for the Edgar J. Kaufmann family, the founders of a prominent department store in the city called Kaufmann"s. There are not to many of houses in the United States that can be compared to Falling Water architecturally. In 1991 the American Institute of Architects voted Falling Water "the best all-time work of American architecture." .
Designed in 1935 by Frank Lloyd Wright, construction on Falling Water did not start until 1936, and ended in 1939, with the completion of the guest house. The Kaufmann family had a great love for the water fall on Bear Run. Frank Lloyd Wright mimicked the rock face cliffs in his design of the home. Wright placed the house over the waterfall on Bear Run on a series of concrete tray or cantilevers. The concrete used in the construction of the home was made of the same Pottsville sandstone, as the rock ledges. The home has almost as much floor space of outdoor terraces as interior space. Falling Water stands almost thirty feet over the falls. The use of low ceilings and lots of horizontal line helps to keep the sheltered effect. .
The Kaufmann family used Falling Water as a year round vacation spot from the time it was built in 1939 until the 1950's. In the 1950's Edgar Kaufmann, jr. inherited the home from his parents. Coincidently Edgar Kaufmann, jr. was the person who introduced his parents to Frank Lloyd Wright. Edgar Kaufmann, jr. was a young architect studying under Wright in the early 1930's, like most promising young architects. He continued to use the home as a vacation retreat. .
Looked at as one of the greatest acts of architectural preservation by the architectural community, Edgar Kaufmann, jr., at this time he was now the Curator at the New York's Museum of Modern Art, entrusted Falling Water to the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy.
