Great way to spend the first day of spring! The only bad thing was getting up at 7:00 AM (we are retired you know). Had to be out and on the road by 8:00 AM and we wanted to have breakfast in the lobby before we checked out of our Days Inn in Donegal, Pennsylvania.
The first part of the drive today was about 20 miles to FALLINGWATER – the masterpiece of Frank Lloyd Wright. The place that reignited his career at age 67. We wanted to make sure we got there early in case of any car problems or road problems. The weather was clear but a little chilly. Michael had dug out all our cold weather gear to wear. Clarece (our GPS) took us on lovely back roads and small towns until we got to Fallingwater.
We had purchased the very upgraded tour tickets online some time ago as there were only so many slots for the day and they fill up fast. They were something like $80.00 per person but we got an extended tour to some of the rooms the other tours don’t get to go to, and we got to take all the pictures we wanted, whenever we wanted. We got to see the guest house and the upstairs servant quarters. Silly us, we thought we might have a private tour, it is so early, it is so cold, the tickets are so expensive, how many could show up? Three other couples it turns out.
The tour started a little late, it was supposed to get going at 8:45 AM but didn’t get going until about 9:00 AM. One couple was delayed and phoned. Our tour guide was Karen and she was excellent. We were all excited to see this beautiful place. Karen didn’t rush and answered all the questions everyone had. LOVED IT!
What an absolutely stunning place. I want it. I want to live there. The pictures of it are beautiful but seeing it in person is fabulous. We want to come back either in the summer or fall. So beautiful! The house itself is only about 2,800 square feet but with all the terraces, it makes it over 5,000 square feet.
Karen explained about how the Kaufmann family consisted of the dad, mom, and the son. She said the son, Kaufmann Jr., was gay, never had kids, and lived in the house until he turned it over to the Conservatory in the 1960’s. She explained how in the 1930’s an average home would cost around $7,000.00. Fallingwater was a second home to the Kaufmann’s (who owned a large department store in Philadelphia and would come to the land and “camp” until it was built). They thought they would spend about $30,000.00 for their second home. They ended up spending more than $150,000.00. Kinda outrageous for the day but it is a very special place. So glad they decided to “go for it.” Also, Wright wanted to cut corners in the servant quarters but the Kaufmann’s wouldn’t hear of it. Must have been very nice people to want their servants to have the same quality as they had.
Karen told of a story where Kaufmann Sr. wanted a bigger desk in his room. An added heat register robbed him of significant work area. Wright was famous for insisting on having the final say on every detail and refused, telling him to make due with the space he was given. Kaufmann Sr. said the desk he had was so small he could not even write a check to an architect on it. Needless to say, Kaufmann Sr. got a bigger desk area. Karen later told a story where after they had moved into their home, and some heavy winter rains hit, there was a leak and Kaufmann Sr. called Wright to tell him about it and get him to come fix it. Wright told him to: “put a bucket under it.”
We spent over two hours in and around the home.
Wish we could have had more time but we needed to get on the road. At first we thought we might want to stop at another Frank Lloyd Wright home in the area, Kentuck Knob, but decided against it. We figured when we come back in a different season, we’ll check that one out. I can’t even imagine seeing Fallingwater when all the rhododendrons are in full bloom, the trees are lush and green, and the water is flowing even more. It would be even more beautiful (if that is even possible).
We left, reluctantly, and headed to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania – about 150 miles away. We stopped at one of the travel plazas on the turnpike and got an EZ Pass. It’s supposed to be good for fifteen states. We hope it comes in handy because we were running out of cash and the turnpike doesn’t take credit cards. We stopped for lunch in Somerset, PA at a Ruby Tuesdays. Really good salad and baked potato. After that we checked into our Days Inn in Harrisburg for the night.