Fallingwater is a house designed by the famous architect, Frank Lloyd Wright in 1935.  It is situated in the Mill Run area of Stewart township (Fayette County) in the Laurel Highlands of southwest Pennsylvania about 70 miles southeast of Pittsburgh.  From 1935-1939 it was partly built over a waterfall on the Bear Run River and was designed to serve as a weekend retreat for Lillian and Edgar J. Kaufmann, owners of Kaufmann's Department Stores in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. 

Edgar Jonas Kaufmann

1885-1955

Fallingwater was placed on the U.S. National Historic Landmark on May 23, 1966 and on the National Registry of Historic Places on July 23, 1974.  It was given a Pennsylvania Historical Marker on May 15, 1994.  The governing body is the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy.  

After its completion, Time magazine called Wright's Fallingwater the most beautiful job" and it is listed among Smithsonian's "Life List of 28 Places to See".  In 1991, members of the American Institute of Architects named Fallingwater the "best all-time work of American architecture" and, in 2007, ranked Fallingwater 29th on its "America's Favorite Architecture" list. 

Another home owned by the Kaufmann name though not built by Wright was the Kaufmann Desert House or simply the Kaufmann House located in Palm Springs, California.  It was designed by architect, Richard J. Neutra and completed in 1946.  The  house has been described as "an architectural marvel that helped define the modernist aesthetics of the resort city of Palm Springs.  It is designated a Class 1 Historic Site by Palm Springs City Council.  

Kaufmann Desert Home 

After Kaufmann passed in 1955, the house stood vacant for several years.  It, then, had a series of owners including singer, Barry Manilow.  It underwent several renovations which included enclosing a patio, adding floral wallpaper to the bedrooms and removing a wall for the addition of a media room.  The roof lines were also altered with the addition of air-conditioning units.  After being listed for sale for 3 1/2 years, the home was purchased in 1992 by Brent Harris, an investment manager and his wife beth Edwards Harris, an architectural historian for $1.5 million.  

Seeking to restore the home to its original design, the new owners contacted Marmol Radziner Associates to undertake the five-year project which began in 1993.  Being able to find unpublished photos of the home's interior they were able to obtain pieces from the original suppliers of paint and fixtures.  A metal-crimping machine was purchased to produce the sheet-metal fascia that originally lined the roof.  Brent Harris was also able to have a long-closed section of a Utah quarry reopened to mine matching stone to replace what had been removed or damaged.  To help restore the desert buffer Neutra had envisioned for the house, the couple  also bought several adjoining plots to more than double the land around the 3,200-square-foot house.  They rebuilt a pool house that served as a viewing pavilion for the main house and kept a tennis court that was built on a parcel added to the original Kaufmann property.  

Sadly, the Brent Harris and his wife divorced and the home was sold on May 13, 2008 for $15 million at auction by Christie's as part of a high-profile sale of contemporary art.  It had a presale estimate of $15 million to $25 million.  The sale later fell through as the bidder breached terms of the purchase agreement.  In October 2008, the house was listed for sale at $12.95 million, but it was not sold.  It was, again, listed for sale on October 2020 at $25 million.  

The Kaufmann house was included on a list of all-time top 10 houses in Los Angeles despite its location in Palm Springs in December 2008.  The house was part of the decor for the 2022 film, Don't Worry Darling. The opening sequence was filmed at this house and was the first film to be shot there.  The director, Olivia Wilde was inspired by the home's architecture and hung a photograph of it while working on the script. 

To be there was huge.  To direct the first shot there felt like this really auspicious beginning to the movie which was this love letter not only to film, but to architecture, to design, to this era.

Quote given by Olivia Wilde to Variety Magazine