Flashback: Frank Lloyd Wright’s Precursor to ‘Fallingwater’ – A House Built Atop A Mine Fire With Flames Shooting From It

carbolic_fallingwater_fireWright decided fire “wasn’t the way to go” when his creation burned to a crisp less than an hour after it was built.  “Maybe water will work better.”

PITTSBURGH – It is the stuff of legend how acclaimed architect Frank Lloyd Wright jump-started his moribund career in the mid-1930s by designing a house perched over a Western Pennsylvania waterfall. Fallingwater remains one of the most celebrated private residences in the world.

Not so well known is the precursor to Fallingwater that Wright designed the previous year: a house built directly atop an underground coal mine fire.

“Mr. Wright thought that having a perpetual smoldering effect would give the residence a measure of warmth,” explained Wright scholar Professor Franklin Toker.

In keeping with the tradition of lending pithy monikers to Wright homes, the architect toyed with various names for his creation, including Burninghouse, but he settled on Fallingfire.

Just fifty-eight minutes after it was constructed, tragedy struck: Fallingfire burned to a crisp. Wright was dumbfounded, explained Prof. Toker. 

“One of the firemen made the mistake of joking to Mr. Wright that, with the flames from the mine climbing up the side of the structure and ash spewing towards the heavens, this was the ultimate expression of organic architecture.  Mr. Wright struck him in the groin with his cane.”

“The house was a total loss, but before the flames consumed it, it was breathtaking.  It’s a damn shame nobody thought to bring a camera before it went up.”

The following year, Wright transferred the design to the nearby waterfall.  The result was the iconic Fallingwater. 

Feb 5