Children ask many questions on recent tour of Fallingwater
MILL RUN – “Where’s the waterfall? Are there fish in this pond?’ Eight-year-old Jackson Rhodes is filled with questions as he begins a recent children’s tour at Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater in Mill Run. The Tampa, Fla., boy is visiting the world-famous attraction for the first time as are the Sabino sisters, Dana, 7, and Sarah, 5, of Cleveland. The three children follow tour guide Laura Ainsley around the Mill Run property and through the house that Wright designed for the Kaufmann family of Pittsburgh in 1935.
Like their parents, the children are learning the history of the house as well as Wright’s brilliance in designing everything from the famous cantilevers to the furniture. But their tour – offered here for more than a decade – is different in certain ways, such as first spending time at the stream that runs along the property as well as a visit to the waterfall before venturing inside the house.
“We wanted to make it a more special and interesting tour,’ Sarah Beyer, curator of education for Fallingwater, explained later. “We chose a theme for the children’s tour. We focus on the connection of the house and the natural world.’
And children are interested in seeing Fallingwater. Beyer reported that 10,463 youths visited Fallingwater in 2001, not including school groups. That’s a significant portion of the 130,000 people who visit the attraction each year.
Asked the difference between giving a tour to adults and giving a tour to children, Ainsley said, “I think Fallingwater is for people of all ages. People of all ages can understand and enjoy it. It’s just a matter of making it accessible.’
Jackson, Dana and Sarah are taking this tour at the same time their parents, David and Paula Rhodes and Ted and Ann Sabino, are going on a regular tour along with Jackson’s older sister, Amanda, 11.
Beyer explained that youths must be at least five to take the children’s tour and six to take a regular tour, leaving it to the parents’ discretion which tour their children will take. The children’s tour spends less time in the rooms of the house than the regular tour, and it seeks to make the information understandable to a younger audience.
There is no set time for the children’s tour. Parents can book it at the same time they book their own regular tour. The two tours go on simultaneously, and the family meets at the end to compare notes.
This particular day, the families check in at the visitor’s center and then walk down to the house together when their tours are called.
Asked his opinion of the children’s tour, David Rhodes says, “I think it’s great. We had gone last week to Sarasota, near where we live, to the Ringling house (the estate of business tycoon John Ringling). They had a single tour. Obviously after two minutes, we saw it was not geared to our kids and they didn’t understand so we ended up leaving the tour and went on to the (circus) museum.’
“This was something Ted and I were interested in, and we want to share the experience with our daughters,” Ann Sabino said. “We figured if something could be presented on their level, it would be more interesting.’
The parents, who had also never been to Fallingwater before, gave some information to their children before the tour began.
“We told them the house was built over a waterfall, and they were excited,’ Sabino said. “Last year, we went to Niagara Falls.’
“He’s looked at pictures and knows that Frank Lloyd Wright designed it,’ says Rhodes, who then asked his son, “What do you want to be when you grow up?’
“An architect,’ answers Jackson. “I like building. My whole room is full of Legos.’
The parents drop their children off with Ainsley in front of the house before going on for their own tour.
Fallingwater proves to be a treasure for the children to explore and learn about on their own pace.
For example, Ainsley begins the tour by taking the children for a view of the stream that flows into the waterfall.
Jackson, however, lags behind as a stone embedded in dirt in the road catches his eye, and he feels compelled to dig it out. Ainsley calls for Jackson to keep up and he follows, but not before releasing the stone into the woods.
At the stream, Ainsley explains how the Kaufmann family enjoyed coming to their mountain retreat because they loved nature and how Wright used these themes in his design. She asks them questions about the stream, the trees and the rocks, later asking them to notice these themes in the house.
The children respond, but they also ask their own questions and make their own observations.
At the stream, they ask questions.
“They have lots of property,’ says Jackson, and, “Is that sedimentary rock?’ “Why is that rock crooked?’ asks Sarah. “Can I look for a piece of granite?’ asked Jackson.
They ask more questions at a visit to the waterfall.
“Why does the water look like it’s going into the house but it’s not?’ says Sarah, also asking, “Why did they want to live here?’
And at the house, they ask more questions. “How old is this house?’ “How did they get the material for the house?’ “I’ve never seen such a big fireplace.’ “Why did they want rocks in the house?’ “What did (the Kaufmanns) look like?’
“Those are good questions,’ Ainsley tells them, taking time to answer everything.
That includes looking through a book written by Edgar Kaufmann jr., which offers photographs of the family.
“There’s Albert Einstein,’ Ainsley says, referring to a photograph of one of the Kaufmann’s more famous guests. “He was one of the smartest people who ever lived.’
“They say he had two brains,’ says Jackson.
The children take in everything, but they also travel at their own pace.
Jackson stops on a path to shake pebbles out of his shoe. All three of the children enjoy watching spiders and taking a moment to feel moss and to dip their hands into a fountain just outside the entrance to the house.
They spend time working on an activities sheet that Ainsley gives them.
It includes basic information and questions on Fallingwater as well as a diagram of the house and a map of the grounds.
When they are finished with the tour, Ainsley tells the children they can spend time completing the activities sheet with their families and take their parents to view the stream and the waterfall.
“What did you like about the house?’ Ainsley asks the children.
Jackson prefers the son’s bedroom, which takes up the third floor, while Sarah likes the large master bedroom.
“It had a big wide bed that could fit four people,’ Sarah tells her parents.
“Is it different from your house?’ asks Ainsley.
“Really different,” says Dana.
For more information on booking the children’s tour, call Fallingwater at 724-329-8501. Fallingwater is open Tuesdays through Sundays through Dec. 1.
Fallingwater is closed Mondays except for holidays, including Memorial Day, Labor Day and Columbus Day.
In December, Fallingwater is open weekends and also open daily the week between Christmas and New Year’s Day.
Admission for children’s tours is $4 on weekdays and $6 on weekends.
Admission for regular tours is $10 for adults and $7 for youths ages 6 to 18 on weekdays and $15 for adults and $8 for youths on weekends.
Reservations are required to guarantee admission for the Fallingwater tours.