NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Travel

Pennsylvania: Still as stone on flowing water

NZ Herald
24 Jun, 2014 12:00 AM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

The Fallingwater House is architect Frank Lloyd Wright's most famous design. Photo / Creative Commons image by Flickr user Rob Williams

The Fallingwater House is architect Frank Lloyd Wright's most famous design. Photo / Creative Commons image by Flickr user Rob Williams

Fallingwater is standing the test of time despite doubts, says Heather McCracken.

Pennsylvania's Allegheny Mountains are an adventureland for outdoorsy types. They come for skiing in winter, and rafting, hiking and mountain biking in summer.

But hundreds of thousands also visit every year for something much less energetic - a house cantilevered over a waterfall.

Fallingwater, Frank Lloyd Wright's most famous residential design, is tucked away in the forest in adorably-named Bear Run.

The home designed in 1935 for department store magnate Edgar Kaufmann Sr and wife Liliane, is intricately built into a rocky hillside, with balconies and living spaces hanging suspended over the tumbling stream.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Bear Run is about an hour's drive east of Pittsburgh, where the Kaufmanns had their main home. Fallingwater was to be their weekend cabin, but became something much more dramatic - a home that engineers told Kaufmann would probably fall into the creek, but remains standing, and impressing a constant flow of tourists, 80 years later.

The Kaufmanns left Fallingwater to their son Edgar Jr, who entrusted it to the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy in the 1960s. It's now open to the public, with a visitors' centre, cafe, museum and gift shop on site.

The touristy side of things is cleverly kept well out of view of the home itself, which has been preserved just as the Kaufmanns left it, complete with family photographs and trinkets.

Lovers of mid-century design will have a hard time containing themselves inside: it's a treasure trove, from the cushions and furniture, to light-fittings and dinnerware.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

It also reveals the uncompromising nature of Wright's design, which made few concessions to practical needs - although one argument the Kaufmanns won was over the size of Edgar Sr's desk: it was expanded (according to tourguide legend) after he complained it wasn't big enough to write a cheque to his architect.

The only sour note in the tour is the compulsory 20-minute video at the end, which is actually a pushy hard-sell for donations. If you can, plead urgent need for a bathroom and duck out early.

You can't take photos inside the house, except on the longer, more expensive tour, but all visitors can walk across the stream and capture the view of the house perched above the waterfall.

Just a few minutes down the road is another smaller, less ambitious, but still remarkable Lloyd Wright design - Kentuck Knob, a three-bedroom Usonian home. Kentuck Knob also has a sculpture garden, which visitors can wander through by themselves, or take a guided tour.

Discover more

Travel

Across the USA - are we there yet?

16 Oct 04:00 PM
Travel

The best way to see America? Through the window of a train

24 Jan 02:30 AM
Travel

Pennsylvania: Kiss me quick

17 Oct 03:00 AM
Travel

Great American road trips

13 Jan 11:00 PM

Built in the 1950s for friends of the Kaufmanns, icecream company owners the Hagans, when Wright was 86, it was an example of his design for an affordable, family home.

But it wasn't particularly affordable, and had many impractical details - a tiny, unventilated kitchen, 19-inch wide doorways - that the Hagans insisted on changing.

But those quirks make for a fascinating home to tour. Unlike the Kaufmanns, the Hagans took most of their furniture with them when they left, but it's been refurnished with stunning mid-century pieces.

A nice place to visit, but you wouldn't want to live there.

CHECKLIST

Getting there: Air New Zealand flies daily from Auckland to Los Angeles, with local carriers connecting to Pittsburgh.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Design dream: Fallingwater is open daily from April to November; limited days until March.

Further information: See DiscoverAmerica.com for more on visiting Pennsylvania.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Travel

Travel

Exactly how much I spent on a Japan trip

13 Jul 08:23 AM
Travel

Wendy Petrie tackles ocean swim challenge in Fiji 

13 Jul 12:30 AM
Travel

Here’s what it’s like inside Egypt’s new billion-dollar marvel

12 Jul 07:36 PM

One pass, ten snowy adventures

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Travel

Exactly how much I spent on a Japan trip

Exactly how much I spent on a Japan trip

13 Jul 08:23 AM

One traveller breaks down exactly how many Yen you need for a trip.

Wendy Petrie tackles ocean swim challenge in Fiji 

Wendy Petrie tackles ocean swim challenge in Fiji 

13 Jul 12:30 AM
Here’s what it’s like inside Egypt’s new billion-dollar marvel

Here’s what it’s like inside Egypt’s new billion-dollar marvel

12 Jul 07:36 PM
What it’s like staying at the Grand Pacific Hotel in Suva 

What it’s like staying at the Grand Pacific Hotel in Suva 

11 Jul 12:05 AM
Your Fiordland experience, levelled up
sponsored

Your Fiordland experience, levelled up

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP