I've always been a great admirer of Frank Lloyd Wright's revolutionary architectural works. I'v visited some of the homes and structures he designed in Oak Park, near Chicago and even his school/home near Phoenix, Taliesin West. Knowing that I was going to be in southwestern Pennsylvania on this road trip, a visit to his most famous work, Fallingwater, was a bucket-list item I absolutely had to check off.
I had purchased a tour ticket a couple of months back, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, all interior tours had to be cancelled and my ticket would now only allow me to tour the outside of the picturesque home and it's surrounding grounds. Disappointing, but completely understandable.
As I pulled into the security checkpoint and provided my name, I was directed to the nearby parking lot and from there walked to the visitor's center, which in true Frank Lloyd Wright style, blends into the natural environment. It is essentially a number of well-constructed interconnected wooden cabanas, with paved paths leading off in different directions into the woods.
I first head towards the spot where numerous iconic photos of the house have been taken. From this vantage point, I can get what is probably the best view of Fallingwater and the falling water around which the house was designed and constructed. From across the small creek, I can see all three levels of the masterpiece, it's terraces, and the waterfall on Bear Run. To be completely honest, the view is breathtaking. It's hard to conceive of a residence so at-home with it's natural surroundings, but here it is just a few meters from me on the opposite side of the creek.
Returning to the other trails, I wander over to the structure and take note of it's Jetsons-like design - so futuristic looking. Even now more than eighty years after it was built, I'm not sure we've quite caught up. Wright was a luminary force in the field of architecture and I'm so happy to have been able to wander around his greatest creation.
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