Fallingwater: A Frank Lloyd Wright Country House

by Edgar Kaufmann

Book Overview

Fallingwater is the most famous modern house in America. Indeed, readers of the Journal of the American Institute of Architects voted it the best American building of the last 125 years! Annually, more than 128,000 visitors seek out Fallingwater in its remote mountain site in southwestern Pennsylvania. Considered Frank Lloyd Wright's domestic masterpiece, the house is recognized worldwide as the paradigm of organic architecture, where a building...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0896596621
• ISBN13: 9780896596627
• Release Date: October 1987
• Publisher: Abbeville Press
• Length: 190 Pages
• Weight: 4.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 9.9" x 13.4"

Customer Reviews

The crown jewel of my collection of 50+ FLW books

I admit it, I paid full price for this thing. I'm still glad I did, though I took a big gulp when I bought it. Particularly given that I've built my FLW big photo book collection from discounted used, though excellent condition purchases. I saw this in the store and I just had to have it. It was an indulgence, no question. But I took the plunge. 190 pages. 12 1/4" tall x 9 3/4". The paper dust jacket has two beautiful photos, one each for the front and back of the home in the context of the wood that it is in. The inside covers and facing pages to them have a photo of the creek that the home stradles. This photo is lush in the woods where the home is located. The home is not pictured in this facing page two page sized photo. It is a clear indication that the book was lovingly made. The hardcover itself is white fabric with the title stamped into the front cover just as it appears on the dust jacket. The author is the son of the people who commisioned the home and it says he, "...entered Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesin Fellowship in 1934. During Fallingwater's design and construction, he often served as intermediary between his parents and Wright." There are 53 full page photos and 30 of those are of a single photo, that is 15 photos, taking up two full facing pages. About 5 of the other 23 full page photos also cover about a third of their facing page. One facing set of pages has one drawing. There are about 27 other pages with color photos. And there is a fold out with front and back each showing a architectural drawing. There are 3 photos of the site before the home was built and a few of the home being constructed, all black and white. There are about 6 architectural drawings and about 10 other drawings including, in the introduction, drawings of woods or buildings in woods. There are 41 pages with black and white photos. There's one extensive ariel photo on two facing pages of the home in the context of a few square miles of the woods in which it is located. There is another ariel photo that is just above the home. The magnificent architectural drawing of the home almost fills two facing pages. Most of the photos are interior shots. The exterior shots give you a real sense of the home in its natural context. There's only about one page that is all text. There's about 48 pages that have both text and photos. Throughout, the author tells the story of Fallingwater, from inception to completion and into its existance as a home no longer to be lived in but to be shared with any visitor through guided tours. His perspective is a unique one and he tells the story like a professional. Fallingwater is known as the finest residence in America. This book, completely dedicated to this single building, is worthy of its subject. You can feel the love of the author for his parents, for FLW's work and the love that he put into making this book without it being sappy. If you never get a chance to tour the home this book w

A Great Book!

This is a huge heavy duty book filled with all kinds pictures and information about another of FLW's masterpieces. A great gift!

AWESOME!...

Fallingwater, in and of itself, is a name that commands awe and respect. This book epitomizes that notion.Simply, this is it. This is the be all, end all of texts on this masterpiece by the late F.L.W.I have been an admirer of F.L.W. since I was in the fifth grade, and had to do a report on earthquakes and buildings. Living in S.F., I guess this was a hot topic. But, in a showing (foreshadowing?) of extremely good taste---if I do say so myself, I chose F.L.W. and the TransAmerica building. For those of you out of the loop, that's the "pyramid" building you see when looking at (virtually every) snapshot(s) of the S.F. skyline. I hadn't yet discovered Fallingwater, but I would eventually be shown the way...This is such an incredibly beautiful house. Honestly, I could not imagine the blessing of owning that house and living there. This text, however, sets it all out. EXCELLENT photos, both inside and out....in different seasons as well. VERY GOOD text and dialogue. Provides a great understanding of the dream, planning, undertaking, and completion of this masterpiece.This is an incredibly text. I cannot urge you enough to purchase this one. In short, your collection is not complete without it.Open this book, and dream....

A great book on a Great Building

What first draws one to this book is the wonderful new photographs presented. This is also what I keep going back to see after reading the text. The perspective of many of the downstream shots is not exaggerated as are the older black and white ones taken in the 1930's although when I visited the house I was unable to get the same view or position. They must have been taken with a special camera. I appreciate the helicopter photos as it really shows the site, a deep ravine. The house always seemed to be up on a promontory but is set deep into the forest. The lighting on the interior is a little misleading when the shadows and light direction are altered. These photos overall are the most naturalistic that I have seen and to see all the seasons represented makes me want to goback for the others. It looks as if the insect screens were removed for most of the photos which gave the house a cleaner, more modern appearance than in person. I only wish the breaker pages, the ones with the large green background, were larger although I believe I have seen the winter view on a recent calendar by the same photographer, Heinz, great work on his part. I always wish there were more books like this on great American buildings, especially on the photogenic ones by Wright.