Fallingwater

True:  On our first date, knowing Doug was an Architecture major, I asked him if he had a favorite building.  The question made sense to me?  He said no one had ever asked him that question.  He said Frank Lloyd Wright’s “Fallingwater” house was his favorite. 

Doug had been on a tour of the Fallingwater house previously, although not the “extended” tour.  When Doug recently mentioned that it might be fun to visit his Aunt and Uncle in PA, he thought it might also be fun to do the Fallingwater extended tour.  We had to buy tickets a few weeks in advance.  8:30 a.m. tour, or 4:00-ish p.m..  8:30 a.m. it was, which meant an EXTREMELY early wake-up call for us, because the house was about 2 hours away from the Schulers’ house.  We woke-up at 5:45 a.m. and headed out.  We had laid-out the kids’ clothes the night before the day trip.  The Schulers, Careys and Mike would be able to watch them, thankfully.

Doug and I stopped for some coffee on the way there.  It was nice to just get away by ourselves.  On the way there, I looked again at the “coffee table” Fallingwater book.  We got to the entrance, which was still closed, 15 minutes early.   Once the landmark opened, we checked in and waited for our tour guide. It was a little cooler as we approached the waterfall, but wasn’t too cold.  I was surprised by the large number of native rhododendron plants on the property; they’re everywhere!  I would imagine it would be absolutely beautiful when these flowers are in bloom.   

We had a great extended tour, with only 4-5 other people attending.  We learned about the history of the property, plans, construction, use of the rooms, etc. We even got to see the boiler room in the basement (not much to see, honestly). We visited the guest house above along with rooms that have been converted into working offices today.  Seeing it in a book doesn’t do it justice.  It is a house / structure that you definitely have to walk through to appreciate fully. 

I can easily identify now, having seen this house, one house in particular that I’ve personally walked through, that use many of Frank Lloyd Wright’s ideas.  (Copycat! ;-)

I didn’t expect for the view down from the terrace to the waterfall to take my breath away.  It did.  I'm not scared of heights, but when I peered over the edge, the view honestly took my breath away.

Aside from that, what impressed me the most?

-                     The Cherokee red “corner” windows that can fully open, thereby showing they are not dependent upon each other for structure / support.

-                     How the floor in the living area mimics the look of water rippling, moving.

-                     The window box over the stairway to the basement.  I would LOVE THAT garden!

-                     The functional use of the internal stairway, as a bookcase.

-                     The steps leading directly into Bear Run.

-                     How few times FLW visited the site during the project.

-                     FLW’s use of sunlight through windows, situation of house on property, especially given how limited the number of his site visits.

-                     The furniture was designed / created by a navy shipping furniture company.

-                     The full mirror in the bathroom, which makes the bathroom appear double its size. 

-                     The emphasis on living with nature and including it in daily life.

-                     FLW’s emphasis on having fewer clothes to fit the existing closet size.

-                     FLW’s use of different architectural styles within the same building (Southwest/Santa Fe on the upper balcony of Mr. Kaufmann’s bedroom).

-                     Hearing that the rocks were all quarried on-site.

-                     That even someone as seemingly “great” as FLW had such flawed structural work that cost millions upon millions of dollars.

-                     How egotistical FLW was.  I knew this, but it seems the more I learn about him, the more egotistical he seems.

-                     How incredibly dramatic his personal life was.

-                     How much “volume control” there is regarding the sound of the waterfall by opening / closing the windows slightly. 

-                     How much the structure needed to be shored-up, just to minimize existing damage (not to make it entirely level – which is impossible).

-                     That Mr. and Mrs. Kaufmann were FIRST COUSINS!

If you ever get the chance to go take the extended tour, I would highly suggest it!  It definitely was eye-opening to me.  We took our time after the tour, taking pictures and going to the gift shop.  One of the women working there, upon learning that Doug was an architect, mentioned how lucky we are to live so close to such a piece of art.  She said people come from all over the world to see this house.  Many older architects, she said, actually tear-up when they visit, knowing that FLW was so impactful on the field of architecture. 

We then left, going to a local Subway to eat lunch (there honestly weren’t too many places from which to choose-given the remote location of this house) and then headed back to the Schulers’ house.  It was a great day trip!

Peace, love and the Wright stuff,

Shelly, Doug, Ava and Liam

Pittsburgh: Visiting the Schulers, Meeting Braden, Grandma's B-day, Mike's New House

We had not visited Doug’s Aunt and Uncle in quite some time, so we planned a trip to visit them during Doug, Ava and Liam’s Spring break at the beginning of April.  We were excited that Grandma and Grandpa Carey AND Aunt Tracy and Uncle Tim decided to visit the same weekend. 

It was Grandma Carey’s 66^th birthday that weekend, so we were able to celebrate with her.  I asked Ava how old she thought Grandma was, and she said “15”.  J 

We had not yet met Braden James Logan, Tracy and Tim’s first little one, who was born January 22^nd.  He wasn’t quite three months old when we met him for the first time.  He is a cutie!  Tim has Aunts and Uncles in the Pittbsurgh area, so Tracy and Tim were able to see quite a bit of family while there. 

We were also able to see Mike’s new house, which is gorgeous.  The place is pristine and has been really well-maintained, has a beautiful, flat yard (which is an anomaly for Pittsburgh) and has very nice landscaping.  Mike has done a nice job decorating it with the help of Aunt Jackie.  The kids seemed to warm up to Mike’s dog Bosley, too! 

We started driving on Friday afternoon and spent the night in a Hampton Inn in Charleston, West Virgnia.  I know I’ve been through West Virginia when I was younger, but it was nice to see again.  The hills are pretty.  When we arrived it was nighttime, so we didn’t get to see the landscape until the following day.  We arrived in the early afternoon.  Tracy, Tim, Braden, Jim, Mary and Mike were all at the Schulers’ house.  We had some dinner at the house and visited.  Tracy and Tim went to Mike’s to see his house while the Careys’ and Aunt Jackie went to church.  Uncle Bill started dinner.  I told him to help me earn my keep, so he let me help him cook.  He made a bourbon glazed pork of some kind, green beans and linguine with lemon sauce.  Aunt Jackie made a Strawberry Pretzel jello salad.  Yum. 

The next day, we had breakfast at the Schulers’ and then drove over to see Mike’s house.  The kids enjoyed exploring in Mike’s backyard.  We then made our way back to have dinner at the Schulers'.   Tracy and Tim ate with us all.  Braden ended-up falling asleep on me.  He is such a sweet baby!  We had fun perusing a family photo album, too.  The kids enjoyed some bunny cookies the Schulers bought. 

I think it was Sunday when, all in the course of a few hours, we saw the following weather: snow, rain, sleet, cloudy skies, clear skies, sun shining.  Unbelievable!  We celebrated Grandma's 66th birthday that night, going out to Longhorn Steakhouse.  The Schulers got a cake from Coldstone’s with mint chocolate chip ice cream, covered with chocolate ganache for dessert.  So good! 

Doug and I were originally going to go to Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater house on Tuesday, but decided to go on Monday.  The weather ended up very nice on Monday when we visited.  I will be sure to post a blog entry on that trip alone, as there are so many pictures I’d like to include.  Our decision to go on Monday instead of Tuesday was a good one; the weather was very cold and I believe it snowed on Tuesday!  Fallingwater is less than 2 hours away from the Schulers’ house, but with us taking the 2-hour extended tour plus travel time and lunch, we were away from the kidlings for about 6 hours.  The Schulers watched the kids while we were gone.  They all faired well.  The Careys were there to help for the first part of the morning, then Mike visited and helped with the kids.  Jim and Mary had to return back to Michigan, so they said their goodbyes to everyone and started their five-hour car ride home.

Tuesday we drove downtown to do some sight-seeing with Uncle Bill and Aunt Jackie.  I thought Liam would really appreciate the Railway Incline, so we went up to the top of the hill and rode the car down the hill, then up again.  Aunt Jackie, Uncle Bill and the kids rode free (senior citizens and children’s discount).  Liam was especially geeked about riding in the railcar.  I got a really sweet picture of Liam and Uncle Bill both smiling at each other with wide grins while riding in the railway car.  It wasn’t until we walked away from the incline that I had the thought that they could’ve all ridden in the car all day for free, if they wanted to do so! 

After the railway fun, we made our way over to the Pittsburgh Children’s Museum. It was a VERY nice museum!  We saw Mr. Roger’s shoes, were able to make his trolley car move (a favorite of the kids), let the kids climb in this strange maze that was the entire length/width of a wall, get in a Smart car, play with car tracks, climb a net and slide down, put a ball up through a basket that exited onto wires (like the Mouse Trap game), get in a wind tunnel, go in a tilted room.  There were so many other things to do there!  We then met Mike for dinner at a local Mexican restaurant.  The kids had fun throwing a few coins in the fountain there.  Once done with dinner, we gave Mike a hug goodbye and went back to the Schulers’ house.  We packed and made the trip home the next day.

It was a nice, enjoyable trip!  We enjoyed seeing everyone and meeting Braden!

Thank you, Aunt Jackie, Uncle Bill and Mike, for your hospitality!

Peace, love and adding PA to Ava & Liam’s “states visited” list,

Shelly, Doug, Ava and Liam