Site gates for sale on Internet
The entrance gates to the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Fallingwater in Mill Run are being auctioned on eBay through Saturday with all proceeds going towards restoring the Fallingwater landscape. Lynda Waggoner, vice president, director of Fallingwater, explained in a prepared statement, “We have begun implementing a landscape master plan at Fallingwater that addresses several issues including: ease of entering and exiting, especially for large buses; a new gate house and dual ticketing lanes to move vehicles through more easily; new signage; reworking of parking lots, service roads; and removal of exotic invasive species and replanting of affected areas with native plants. As a result of the reworking of the entry, the gates had to be removed since the lane was widened and the area in which they were located completely reworked.’
A description of the gates on eBay noted they are constructed of galvanized steel, stainless steel hinge bars and pins, and painted Cherokee red, which is Fallingwater’s signature color. The center-split gate spans over 18 feet and is about 5-foot 4-inches in height. The gate is being sold as is, but one-gallon of matching paint will be included for any touch ups. Local pick up is available.
Winner is to pay actual shipping. The gates weigh approximately 1,700 pounds.
The eBay site notes the gates “would be a dynamic entrance to any property or a majestic focal point in any landscape. They may be residing at your home, but the gates’ sale on eBay will continue to help the landscape at Fallingwater – all proceeds will go towards restoring the Fallingwater landscape.’
According to information from Fallingwater, “Wright was famous for creating integrated settings in which both the architecture and decorative elements were in harmony. The gate for Fallingwater was designed by Wright but never built. In the early 1990s, landscape architect and Fallingwater consultant George Longenecker modified the Wright design to accommodate its use and to allow it to fit gracefully into the Fallingwater landscape. The gates were installed in 1995 and used for nearly a decade to welcome over a million visitors. In 2004, the entrance was reconfigured again and the gates were removed.’
Waggoner said, “We all liked the gates, however, as we began to address the various design issues on site from signage to the new gatehouse, to benches we saw that there was a terrible temptation on the part of designers to use ‘Wrightian’ themes.
“In addition,’ she continued, “over the years the idea of building some of the un-built Wright designs for the site has been discussed. The Fallingwater Advisory Committee felt we needed to address this issue head on since if we didn’t, it might one day lead to an almost theme park atmosphere to this very special place. Therefore, we made a clear policy decision not to use any ‘Wrightian elements’ anywhere on the site that were not original to the period the Kaufmanns lived here. The gates fell into that category.’
Waggoner said the gates are extremely close to Wright’s original design.
“The Wright-designed gate for Fallingwater was hinged only on the one side and the post had a very tall and thin antenna-like element on it with little lights reaching up to the top. Edgar Kaufmann jr. once told me that he never had the gate fabricated because he thought the light post was a little too much. When the gates were reworked the post was removed in favor of two stone pillars but other than that and the fact that the center element was split to unable on half to be closed, they are essentially the same.’
The gates have not been appraised.
Fallingwater spokeswoman Cara Armstrong said on Friday, “We are getting inquiries on eBay. We have close to 20 bids so far. One of the bids is from Japan so we do seem to be getting international attention.’ She said, “The highest bid is a little over $2,000, but it’s one of a kind so I think it will go up.’