[Cob] Fallingwater's foundation

[dirtcheapbuilder-Charmaine Taylor]

It is a stacked stone pier on both sides of the house, with cast cement 
arches that  all sit on a huge stone shelf outcrop to support the front 
of the house.  the floors in the house are laid stone, so I am guessing 
a cement slab with rebar  was used to span the  piers.   The lower  
outcrops of stone in the stream  are like steps leading down the hill. 
It is a small falls  called Bear  Run Falls.    the most amazing thin 
is to see the water falls frozen!


  I adore this place,  but many architects refer to not as Falling 
Water, but as Rising Damp, so it does not have a good reputation in the 
building community

It was an overly ambitious project that shot up in cost enormously...it 
was a clever idea to straddle the stream with the house..but has been a 
constant problem ever since.

the home is now  open to the public for tours.

  It was a summer home    for a wealthy family in Pittsburgh- the 
Kaufmans.  I was raised in Pgh and Kaufman's  dept store rivaled Macy's 
and others.

There are books and calendars of the home...

One calendar I bought shows wooden scaffolding  in the falls as they 
made these great tall  retangular stone piers.  Stone masons worked 
constantly using the local stone for all aspects of the house.


OK I sound like CLiff Clavin-- but if you ever get the chance  view one 
of the pricey books, or vist the home itself.


Charmaine Taylor Publishing
   www.paperartists.com
PO Box 375 Cutten CA  95534 USA  707-441-1632
www.dirtcheapbuilder.com    www.papercrete.com


On Nov 3, 2005, at 6:41 AM, Rob Hayes wrote:

> I remember the name Western Pennsylvania Conservancy as the caretaker 
> and repairer
> of Fallingwater when I was out there kayaking the nearby white water 
> rivers a few
> years back.
> I enjoyed the short headroom at doorways there, which was great for 
> 5ft. 3 inch Wright
> but must have bloodied the forehead of his 6 ft. plus client.
> Also, he had the exposed rock outcropping to build on there.  
> Fallingwater must suck
> up alot of fuel to heat it in the winter.
>
>