Fallingwater celebrates 75th anniversary
Lynda Waggoner share how the exhibit describes the importance influences of the Kaufamnn family and Kuafmann's Department Store on the development of Fallingwater.
Preparations are underway to mark the 75th anniversary of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater.
John F. Brothers/HeraldStandard.com
Preparations are underway to mark the 75th anniversary of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater.
Lynda Waggoner, vice president and director and Justin Gunther, curator of buildings and collection look at an old ledger book from Kaufmann's Department Store, on display at Fallingwater.
Justin Gunther and Lynda Waggoner share how the exhibit describes the importance influences of the Kaufamnn family and Kuafmann's Department Store on the development of Fallingwater.
Justin Gunther, curator of buildings and collections, explains the connections between Kaufmann's Department Store and Fallingwater.
Preparations are underway to mark the 75th anniversary of Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater.
Justin Gunther, curator of buildings and collections looks over a display of vintage clothing from Kaufmann's department Store dating from the 1930's through the 1980's.
Preparations are underway to mark the 75th anniversary of Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater. Lynda Waggoner, vice president and director with a new book commemorating the 75th anniversary.
Preparations are underway to mark the 75th anniversary of Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater. This is outside the visitors' center.
Preparations are underway to mark the 75th anniversary of Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater. The theme of the celebration is "Meet me under the clock" because of the influence of the Kaufmann family and Kaufmann's Department Store had on the development of Fallingwater.
John F. Brothers | Herald-Standard
This file photo shows the outside of the visitors’ center at Fallingwater in Mill Run.
John F. Brothers | Herald-Standard
This file photo features Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater in Mill Run.
John F. Brothers/HeraldStandard
This file photo shows Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater.
John F. Brothers/Herald-Standard
Fallingwater, the home Frank Lloyd Wright designed for the Kaufmann family in the 1930s, is one of 10 Wright works nominated for UNESCO “world heritage” status.
Fallingwater, the Mill Run landmark that attracts visitors from throughout the world, will be featured in a new PBS television series that debuts at 8 p.m. today.
Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater was built in 1936. It’s considered by many to be the most famous private house ever built.
Group plans ‘exciting year’ at iconic structure
?One of America’s most famous houses is turning 75 years old — right in our own back yard.
The Western Pennsylvania Conservancy is in the midst of commemorating the 75th anniversary of Fallingwater, the masterpiece that architect Frank Lloyd Wright created for Pittsburgh department store owners Edgar and Liliane Kaufmann Sr. as a weekend home in Mill Run.
“We have an exciting year at Fallingwater,” said Lynda Waggoner, director of Fallingwater and vice president of Western Pennsylvania Conservancy.
Edgar Kaufmann jr. entrusted the conservancy with the stewardship of Fallingwater in 1963, making it accessible to the public. Since then, more than 4 million visitors from around the world have walked through this house over a waterfall, taking in the pleasure of Wright’s organic architecture that allows the building to become part of its environment — not an intrusion. In fact, the house is so special that it was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1966 and voted the “best, all-time work of American architecture” in a 1991 poll of the members of the American Institute of Architects.
While there’s a no-touch policy, visitors are free to roam through the rooms as they marvel at the original furnishings used by the Kaufmanns, enjoy the beautiful artwork that includes Tiffany lamps and works by Diego Rivera and Pablo Picasso as well as Audubon prints, and learn of the collaboration between the Kaufmanns and Wright, extraordinary people who had courage to create Fallingwater.
To commemorate the 75th anniversary, Fallingwater is hosting a series of special events. They included a recent community ice cream social that offered complimentary admission.
The Schaefer family of Ohiopyle was among those who enjoyed themselves at this event, noting they were pleased to live so close to this architectural wonder.
Bonnie Schaefer, said, “I think it’s a treasure. There’s no doubt about it, and it’s nice that on this 75th anniversary, we can take it in.”
“I had two great-uncles who did the stone work here and I do stone work myself, so I appreciate it,” said her husband, Dave Schaefer, whose great-uncles were John and Dave Collins.
The couple came with their son Kevin Schaefer and his three children, Kameron, Katelyn and Karrie.
“I like architecture and it’s a unique building to have around here,” said Kevin Schaefer.
“I’m a history major, so I appreciate learning about it,” said Kameron Schaefer. “The area has a lot of attractions and this adds to them.”
“It’s always been here. It’s a cool thing. It’s very unique,” said Katelyn Schaefer.
“I think it’s real cool we have Fallingwater and that people from all over come to see it,” said Karrie Schaefer. “It doesn’t cut into nature. It’s built into nature.”
The conservancy also offered two well-attended symposiums this spring in Pittsburgh, one on presenting the modern house as a museum and one on a new book called “Fallingwater” that was edited by Waggoner.
Waggoner wrote an introduction and created an intimate director’s tour of Fallingwater for the book. Christopher Little, who previously photographed Fallingwater for a memoir by Edgar Kaufmann jr. for the 50th anniversary, returned to take beautiful new photographs.
The book contains essays by Rick Darke, photographer and horticulturist; David G. DeLong, professor emeritus at the University of Pennsylvania; Justin Gunther, curator of buildings and collections at Fallingwater; Neil Levine, professor of art history and architecture at Harvard and author of “The Architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright;” John Reynolds, professor of architecture at Miami University of Ohio; and Robert Robert Silman, the structural engineer who directed the 2002 strengthening project at Fallingwater.
Highlights include information on a recently acquired collection of letters by Edgar Kaufmann jr., essays written in 1940 by Edgar Kaufmann Sr., Liliane Kaufmann and Edgar Kaufmann jr. for an exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City and a review of the strengthening project at Fallingwater.
Visitors can find copies of the new book at the gift shop in the visitor’s center, which is also housing a new exhibition in the gallery on Kaufmann’s department store in downtown Pittsburgh called “Kaufmann’s: Meet Me Under the Clock.”
A panel for the exhibition noted, “More than just a merchandising center, the department store became a cultural institution that exposed Pittsburgh shoppers to a world of goods and experiences. It was a showcase for new ideas and a treasure-house of beautiful things that delighted customers and taught them about the world. Behind the store’s enterprising management were the Kaufmanns, a dynamic family passionate about the arts. Under their leadership the store became the city’s largest and most successful and was a reflection of the family’s commitment to progressive ideas in design and retailing.”
Waggoner said, “They were really on the cutting edge. The Kaufmanns saw design as impacting people’s lives.”
“It was one of the top 10 stores in the country and the largest in the region,” said Gunther, who said the store had 27 buying offices in cities such as New York, Vienna, London, Belfast, Munich and Florence — “every great European city you can think of had a buyer’s office.”
The exhibition traces the store’s beginning in 1871 as J. Kaufmann & Brother after Jacob and Isaac Kaufmann, two German-Jewish immigrant brothers who opened a small store that specialized in men’s clothing on Carson Street in Pittsburgh. Their success allowed them to bring over their younger brothers, Morris and Henry, from Germany to help with the business.
The panels explain the store eventually moved to the corner of Fifth and Smithfield streets in downtown Pittsburgh and expanded its stock to include women’s clothing, housewares and shoes. A free-standing, four-faced clock was installed with a slogan that read “Meet Me Under the Clock.” The clock became the city’s most popular rendezvous point. The clock was removed during a 1913 expansion and, following public outcry, the present bronze electric clock installed.
Edgar Kaufmann Sr., son of Morris Kaufmann, assumed the role of president in 1920.
“Kaufmann’s department store obtained a more sophisticated image due to Edgar Kaufmann’s appreciation, understanding and devotion to art, fashion and technology. He shared these interests with his wife, Liliane, and son, Edgar Jr., and the family embraced the most fashionable and contemporary tastes,” said the panel, noting this included an elaborate remodeling of the ground floor in 1930, unique shops like Vendome and an ongoing exhibition program.”
Interested in employee satisfaction, Edgar Kaufmann Sr. established an employee-edited newsletter, shortened work week during the summer for long weekends and subsidized the employee cafeteria to make healthy food more affordable. He purchased a summer camp in Bear Run for an employee retreat.
This exhibition noted the Kaufmann family involvement began to fade in 1946, when the department store joined the May Co., a national chain based in St. Louis, Mo. Edgar Kaufmann Sr. became involved in the community, including such projects as the Allegheny Conference on Community Development and the creation of the Civic Arena.
Liliane Kaufmann died in 1952. Edgar Kaufmann Sr. followed three years later. Edgar Kaufmann jr. had little interest in retail and was working in New York City with the Museum of Modern Art and then Columbia University.
Kaufmann’s expanded with the addition of suburban stores in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio and New York, beginning in 1961 with the Monroeville store. In 2005, the Federated Department Stores, owner of Bloomingdale’s and Macy’s, purchased the May Co. The Kaufmann name was phased out and replaced with Macy’s. But the store holds onto some reminders of the Kaufmann heritage, including the Tic Tock restaurant, decorating windows for the holidays and the clock.
In fact, this exhibition is presented by Macy’s with support from the Buncher Family Foundation of Pittsburgh.
The exhibition includes intriguing Kaufmann’s artifacts such as a ledger, a 1930s vintage suit, a 1980s vintage dress, a mink coat and a Kaufmann’s credit card.
In addition, the conservancy will host a gala at Fallingwater on Sept. 17, for which a tent will be erected in the woods. Speaker will be Lord Peter Palumbo, owner of Kentuck Knob in Chalk Hill, the other Wright-designed house in Fayette County, and there will be a special video installation with music on the surface of Fallingwater.
“It will absolutely transform the house and transfix the visitors,” said Waggoner of the installation.
Visitors to Fallingwater this year will notice the renovation of the parking lot, accomplished with the help of a state capital grant that was matched by private contributions. The parking lot is thoughtfully laid out and can better manage storm water. There is also a handicapped ramp to the visitor’s center.
More information on Fallingwater and the 75th anniversary is available online at www.fallingwater.org or by calling 724-329-8501.