Leaks abound at Frank Lloyd Wright’s most famous home, the Wall Street Journal reported, and repairs are costing 40 times what it cost to construct it. The gravity-defying Fallingwater is looking forlorn in recent months with a thick barrier of scaffolding. The efforts of its steward, the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy, to fix dozens of leaks at the Mill Run, Pennsylvania property is adding up to $7 million — a far cry from the $148,000 required to build it in the 1930s.
The home-turned-museum isthe greatest example of Wright’s architecture, but its ambitious design and position over a waterfall have left it in a somewhat precarious state as it approaches the 100-year mark.
It's hard to imagine that it's nearly 100 years old. I have a friend who lives nearby and he's said in the past that the house is musty - almost 'clammy' and it stinks like rotting mold. Such a shame...
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The cantilevered decks sagged the day the forms were removed and were near collapse by 2000 when they were finally reinforced. That building is beautiful but has had problems since Day One.
ResponderEliminarFor a contrast look at the Gamble house site, located in Pasadena. Built about 20 years before Falling Water it is a different world of craftsmanship.
The Great architect designed a place that defied reality. Stuff gets old. Let it Go.
ResponderEliminarFlat roofs leak? Who knew? FLW was a master of the cantilever structure, his obsession with horizontal lines was his undoing.
ResponderEliminarI live in Northern California. When you pass the FLW-designed Marin County Civic Center going South you can see it coming a literal mile away. Just stunning. from a distance.
ResponderEliminarAnd it leaks.
As usual with neat sounding ideas, most turn out to be stupid and impractical.
ResponderEliminarI've visited Falling Water and it really is a beautiful design, but it would be a terrible place to live. It's built from stone, upon stone, in a cold damp -hell WET- location. You are never, ever warm and comfortable there. But still, it's a magnificent piece of design
ResponderEliminarFLW drew wonderful pictures....which could not be built, exceeded the abilities of the materials specified, and always, always leaked. And every single one of them is built for someone no taller than 5-8. Wright was small, and saw no reason to have ceilings or doorways for people taller than he was. Ugly, high maintenance disasters.
ResponderEliminarFrank Lloyd Wright "pioneered" designs like the cheap apartment kitchen where you have to be careful how you turn around (even if well under 5'8"), the bare light bulb sticking out of the ceiling, and the "dining area" that smooshes guests into either the kitchen or the sitting room. I've long thought of him as Frank Lloyd Wrong.
ResponderEliminarPris cilla King