Frank Lloyd Wright built the house over the stream, not beside it. Fallingwater stands in the Laurel Highlands of southwestern Pennsylvania, at Mill Run, where Bear Run tumbles over a series of rock ledges in a hemlock and rhododendron forest. Edgar Kaufmann, a Pittsburgh department store owner, hired Wright in 1935 to design a weekend house, and expected a view of the waterfall. Wright put the house right on top of it, with concrete terraces cantilevered over the rock, and it was finished in 1937.
The architecture is the thing, but the setting is half of it. The house uses local sandstone laid in rough courses so the walls seem to grow out of the hillside, and the horizontal terraces repeat the stone ledges beneath. The sound of falling water is constant, and indoors the stream runs under the living room through a hatch in the floor. It is among the most admired houses of the twentieth century and is listed, with other Wright works, as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Tours are timed and limited, so book ahead in busy months, and know that photography inside is restricted.
The riding is a pleasure. The roads around Mill Run and Ohiopyle wander through hardwood forest, along the Youghiogheny River, with gentle curves, short climbs, and surfaces that vary from smooth to patchy. In autumn the colours are spectacular, and in summer the shade is welcome. Kentuck Knob, another Wright house, sits a few kilometres away on a hill, and is open for tours as well. The whitewater at Ohiopyle draws rafters and kayakers in season.
For fuel and food, there is little right at the house. Connellsville, about sixteen kilometres away, is the nearest town of more than five thousand, and Uniontown is a bit farther. Mill Run and Ohiopyle have small cafes and a few places to eat. Weather changes fast in the hills, and wet leaves in autumn can be slick, so go easy on the corners. Allow time for a walk below the house, where you can stand and see it all at once.