There are 8 buildings by Frank Lloyd Wright included in this nomination. One of these, arguably the most prominent one, is Fallingwater in Pennsylvania. I visited it on a bright sunny weekday in April.
Fallingwater is located about half an hour from the highway, amidst forests and green hills. The scenery reminded me of Germany or Slovakia. There are many beautiful traditional wooden houses here. It is so remote that I am beginning to think that perhaps I will be the only visitor to tour the house.
But when I approach the parking lot I find more than 40 cars already there! Now it becomes clear why you must book weeks in advance.
As I'm an hour early for my tour, I first have something to eat at the café and have a look around the museum shop. Both are well-stocked.
With a group of about 15 people, I then am allowed to visit the house. It is only visible when you come very near, you get there via a bridge. From the bridge, there's already a great view of the characteristic terraces, like swimming pool diving boards. They are on one side supported by beams and the rest is suspended.
Fallingwater was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, and built between 1936 and 1938 as a country house for the Kaufmann family (for a price of 155,000 dollars). Its name comes from the waterfall in the Bear Run river which was incorporated into the design of the house.
A guide gives us a tour of the interior. Materials used are walnut wood, reinforced concrete, natural stone slabs and steel. Also, natural elements are reused, such as a large boulder. Almost all rooms have a fireplace, the central focus of the house. There are also sliding glass doors to terraces at different levels. It all looks very comfortable to live in.
In addition to the home of the Kaufmann family, there is also a guesthouse. The guests were taken care of just as well as the owners. The family had five staff to serve and for the maintenance of buildings and terrain.
My general conclusion about this site is that it's very much worth a detour when you're in Pennsylvania or Ohio.