Fallingwater

Today I traveled over country roads through the scenic Laurel Highlands of western Pennsylvania.

 and down the Youghiogheny River Gorge area where Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater is now a National Historic Landmark.

In 1935 Frank Lloyd Wright built the vacation house for the Edgar J. Kaufmann family, extending over a waterfall in a beautiful forest.

 The pattern of the rock layers inspired the terrace design of the house.

 You hear it before you see it. Bear Run is a lively mountain stream that ultimately flows into the Youghiogheny River.

These folks are waiting in line for an inside tour of the house. I only toured the outside and grounds, so just walked around them.

Open terraces on every level allow free movement from indoors to outdoors, or down a set of stairs to be closer to the stream.

The house extends over the stream and waterfall.

 The entryway engages your senses with light and sounds.

 That's soap on a chain, so I guess this is an outdoor shower.

 Be careful where you step though...someone (FLW?) had a sense of humor.

Modern building technology unites with the natural world where these beams are anchored to  a boulder.

 Four original carports where chauffeurs once polished cars. Above were servants quarters. The red metal posts in the driveway supported a clothesline. There is a canopied walkway from the servant's quarters to the main house.

 Edgar J. Kaufmann, founder of Kaufmann Department Stores (now known as Macy's), and his family used Fallingwater until 1963, when he entrusted it to the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy.

 The falling water.

 I had to take a picture of this new-to-me hand dryer in the restroom.

 Here's what the waterfall looked like before the house was built. That's the Kaufmann family in the picture.

 The house under construction.

 Just up the road is the Bear Run Nature Reserve, also part of Kaufmann's legacy.

 A nice place to stop for lunch and hike one of their many trails.

 Colorful fungi

 Bandit had to have his outdoor time too.

 From there, Route 381 leads to Ohiopyle and the Ohiopyle State Park. The visitor center is in the old train station.

 Roe didn't get to tour Fallingwater, so he and I took another hike to another waterfall. The Ferncliff Trail follows the river downstream. The bridge is a walking/bike trail over to the visitor center.

 Who'd have thunk? There must have been a climate change...

What looks like a bicycle tire print is actually the fossil print of a tropical plant, Lepidodendron Scale fossil to be exact.

 Continuing downstream,

 we came to this life ring and warning sign.

 There's always gotta be somebody that pays no attention to warnings.

 Top of the falls.

 From below the falls.

 Camping at Ohiopyle State Park campground. Chilly enough for a fire.