In 1935, famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright designed what was to become his masterpiece, Fallingwater. Situated in the Laurel Highlands just south of Pittsburgh, it’s his most masterful melding of home and environment.
It’s a bucket-list destination and, along with his other homes, a UNESCO World Heritage travel site. But it’s a potentially long trip, so if you are going to visit, why not make it a whole Frank Lloyd Wright vacation? You can see two other homes by him within 30 minutes of Fallingwater, visit other inspired architecture and, if you are lucky, even stay overnight in one of the Wright homes.
Polymath Park
About 30 minutes from Fallingwater sits Polymath Park. Think of it almost as an amusement park for Wright fans.
Heather and Tom Papinchak are perhaps two of his biggest. They bought their home in the woods in the Laurel Highlands in 2000. It’s not a Wright home but a large, wood-frame 1980s house, situated among the trees. Not too far away sit two homes designed by Wright protégé Peter Berndtson, but for years the Papinchaks didn’t even know it.
In the 1960s, the Balter and Blum families wanted summer homes in the Laurel Highlands like their friends the Kaufmanns, who built Fallingwater. They contacted Berndtson and asked him to create houses in the style of Wright. The houses definitely show Wright influences: a flat roof, expansive windows, and homes that fit within their natural environment.
In 2004, the Papinchaks bought those neighbor houses and the land they sit on with the idea of preserving them and opening them to the public. In 2006, they had the opportunity to save a Wright house from demolition. They moved the Duncan House, built in 1957 in Lisle, Illinois, for Donald and Elizabeth Duncan, to the property.
“We saw what this could be,” says Heather Papinchak. “A park of preservation and living history.”
And in 2019, working with the Frank Lloyd Wright Conservancy, they moved the Mäntylä House to the 130-acre property. It was originally built in 1952 in northern Minnesota for the Lindholm family.
Today, it stands in the woods of Polymath Park, rebuilt by Tom Papinchak, and, like the other three houses there, available for tours or overnight stays.
“We wanted to tell those stories,” Heather says. “We are telling them by preserving a structure that makes you feel connected with nature.” That’s what she says she loves best about Wright’s designs.
The couple turned their home into a restaurant called Treetops, now with outdoor pods where you can dine among the trees, for an entire experience in Polymath Park.
On the property sit several shipping containers. They hold a design by Wright’s son, Lloyd Wright. The Papinchaks hope to rebuild it as an educational center. As for the vision, “We have 130 acres here. There is definitely the potential to have other houses here. It could be a preservation park.”
Tours start at $28, but there are many options, including staying overnight in one of them. Visit franklloydwrightovernight.net.
Kentuck Knob
Less than than 10 miles from Fallingwater sits one of the last homes Wright designed (he was 86 when it was built), Kentuck Knob. It’s a Usonian house, which is to say built as an affordable American house, but a unique example, made even more special by the location. This 1950s home sits on a bluff, just below the crest of the mountain that it was named after.
It was built by Bernardine and I.M. Hagan, who were friends of the Kaufmanns of Fallingwater. They lived in the home for 30 years. In 1986, Lord Peter Palumbo of London bought the property for $600,000 as a vacation home. The Palumbos still own it but allow public tours of the property.
It was designed with only two right angles, in a hexagon pattern (which is repeated in several places in the home).
Tours are $28 and include a sculpture meadow with works from 30-plus sculptors.
Fallingwater
And now for the piece de résistance: Fallingwater. First thing, make a reservation early. On our June visit, tons of people were being turned away because the tours were full. But you can explore the grounds there, so it’s not a total waste if you forget.
In 1935, Liliane and Edgar Kaufmann, who ran department stores in Pittsburgh, commissioned Wright to design a summer home. The house was to be built along Bear Run, a 5-mile-long tributary of the Youghiogheny River and a favorite summer swimming spot of the Kaufmanns.
The tour begins with a small group and a guide, walking what would have been the road going up to the house. Our guide made a note of the natural features around us (the cantilevered overhangs and rock formations) and later tied them back to the features of the house.
Completed in 1938, Fallingwater is the quintessential example of Wright’s “organic architecture.” The house was built around Bear Run, the hillside it sits on and over a waterfall. Windows are designed for viewing the changing leaves throughout the seasons as well as bringing in the sound of the rushing water. Stairs from the living room go directly down to a small platform that sits just above Bear Run.
Inside, you are able to tour most of the first, second and third floors (a private suite for their only son, Edgar Jr.) as well as the terraces around every corner. The guides also show you around a guest house and garage.
The visitors center itself is certainly worth your time. It was the Kaufmanns’ intentions to let the public enjoy the house, and their son had a big influence on that. His life partner designed the tree-house-like visitors center, which includes two rooms with special exhibits, a cafe and a gift shop.
The tours, which take a little over an hour, are $32 per person. Visit fallingwater.org.
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