Fallingwater opens doors for season
Fallingwater in Mill Run begins its 43rd year of inviting visitors to experience what the American Institute of Architects voted “the best all-time work of American architecture.” After a two-month hiatus because of the winter weather, the Frank Lloyd Wright masterwork is once again open to the public.
This season there will be new ways to enjoy the building. New tours have been developed that will give visitors time to linger and reflect.
The Fallingwater Landscape Tour is a 90-minute guided walk around the house and its immediate setting. Available every Saturday in May and September (May 5, May 12, May 19, May 26, Sept. 1, Sept. 8, Sept. 15, Sept. 22 and Sept. 29), guests are treated to a birds-eye view from above, the iconic southwest view, and see the building form its own cascade down the hillside when viewing the masterwork from the east.
The Sunday Brunch Tour allows one to imagine inhabiting Fallingwater, after spending nearly two hours in the house on a guided tour, limited to 10 people. Photography is permitted and the tour includes time in rooms not included on a regular tour, such as the kitchen and servants’ quarters. The tour concludes on the covered terrace as guests join their guide for brunch. The brunch tour is offered once a month, May through September, on Sunday mornings.
With the Picnic and Poetry Trail Tour, guests are armed with the necessary resources (a gourmet picnic from the Fallingwater Caf? and a copy of the book, “Poetry of Nature”), to take a fresh look at Bear Run Nature Reserve’s Poetry Trail and how we observe nature in general. Award-winning poet, essayist and amateur naturalist Jeff O’Brien provides the text that offers suggestions on how to pause and appreciate the subtleties of nature. Blank pages encourage writing, drawing and sketching and the picnic gives yet another reason to hang back, explore and discover the western Pennsylvania woods. A one-week advance notice is essential.
Fallingwater’s daily regular guided tours are offered Tuesdays through Sundays, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. now through Thanksgiving weekend. The In-Depth Tour offers a detailed view of the house with photography and access to areas not available on the regular tour. This tour is offered everday we are open at 8:30 a.m. and on selected days at 4:30 p.m. Our Sunset tour is offered on Saturdays during the summer at 4:30 p.m. and offers an extended tour of the house followed by light refreshments on the terrace.
For more information on these tours and other new programs, visit www.fallingwater.org or call visitor services at 724-329-8501.