Fallingwater sleepovers in Mill Run offer unique perspective
A new Fallingwater program next year will allow visitors to experience the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed home in Fayette County in an intimate group of eight during a three-day seminar.
Western Pennsylvania Conservancy officials are taking reservations for the "Insight Onsite" program, in which adult visitors will be able to enjoy quiet exploration of the home, near Mill Run, like members of the Kaufmann family did from 1938 to 1963.
Prices for the sessions are $1,195 per person for double occupancy and $1,595 for a single person — with visitors spending the night at a four-bedroom home on conservancy property that's about a half-hour walk from Fallingwater.
The home was built from 1936 to 1939 for the Edgar Kaufmann family, owners of Kaufmann's Department Store in Pittsburgh.
It is cantilevered over a 30-foot waterfall, allowing the sound of the rushing water to permeate the home. The National Historic Landmark's unusual design landed it on the cover of Time magazine in 1938. It has been open to the public since 1963.
The sessions will include opportunities to walk through the woods, guided tours of Fallingwater, lunch on one of the home's terraces, if weather permits, and dinner one night at the home.
Unlike the tours offered daily for $18, visitors through this program will have personal time inside the home.
"That's when they can go to a room and sit and experience the room, read a book if they want to," said Lynda Waggoner, Fallingwater's director and the vice president of the conservancy.
The integrity of the house will be maintained by the curators staying with the groups and leading the educational program.
"We are still a museum," Waggoner said. "We still have a responsibility to care for the collections."
Officials initially announced the program last summer for sessions in July, September and November, but the response was limited, Waggoner said.
Interest exploded this week after a story by Reuters wire service described the program, leading conservancy officials to finalize the new dates on Friday.
The 2010 sessions will be held May 11-13, June 10-12, and Sept. 7-9.
Waggoner said Fallingwater's special events coordinator, Edna King, had 60 voice-mails after the story hit the Internet and spent much of Friday on the phone.
"It's practically shut down our Web site," Waggoner said.
Another Wright building, Duncan House at Polymath Park in Acme, 17 miles from Fallingwater, offers an overnight experience, as do five other Wright homes in the United States.
For more information on the Fallingwater program, e-mail eking@paconserve.org .
