Overnight trip at Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater? Kinda sorta

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When the education department of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater announced an overnight tour of the landmark house, architecture fans and bloggers got in a lather over the prospect of weekending at the historic 1935 structure in western Pennsylvania.

‘We were delighted albeit somewhat overwhelmed by the response to the program,’ says director Lynda Waggoner. ‘However, there has been a lot of misinformation: People are not going to be renting Fallingwater as if it was a hotel, nor will they be staying overnight in the house.’

As someone who’s taken the one-hour tour of a property so famous it has become a Lego set, I can assure you that the decision is not only in the best interest of the house, but also its visitors. The stone-floored bedrooms are a bit chilly and have twin beds, and the cork-lined bathrooms are tiny. Though the living room, above, has a glass-covered hatch over a stairway leading down into Bear Run, the river that inspired Fallingwater’s name, tourists would find no spa, no restaurant and no pay-per-view.

Instead, the Insight Onsite program includes in-depth tours and a meal on Fallingwater’s terrace. Each 32-hour tour is limited to eight participants, who will stay in a home once owned by the lawyer for the Kaufmann family, who commissioned Wright to build Fallingwater.

The house is a half-hour walk to the main attraction, adds Waggoner: ‘Not within sight of Fallingwater although it has lovely views of the mountains.’

See what it looks like after the jump.

Scheduled programs in May, June and September 2010, have already sold out at $1,195 for per person, double occupancy. For additional information and applications for the waiting list, contact Edna King at (724) 329 7802 or eking@paconserve.org.

High Meadow, left, a split-level built in 1965, will house guests of the Insight Onsite program at Fallingwater, whose east elevation is shown at right.

-- David A. Keeps

Photo credits: Fallingwater interior by Robert P. Ruschak, courtesy of Western Pennsylvania Conservancy; High Meadow house courtesy of Fallingwater; Fallingwater exterior by In-D Press, courtesy of Western Pennsylvania Conservancy

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