Research Resources for Students and Scholars

Research Resources for Students and Scholars

Students pose near the waterfall at Bear Run.

Collection Search

Explore Fallingwater’s archive and collections of decorative and fine art objects from the Kaufmanns collection of paintings, sculptures, pottery, chairs and other items. Fallingwater is the only major Wright work to come into the public domain with its setting, original furnishings and artwork intact.

Structural Drawings

The original Frank Lloyd Wright drawings are stored at the Avery Fine Arts Library at Columbia University, and have very strict copyrights held by the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation. You may contact the Avery archives directly for reproductions.

Architectural Drawings

A set of “as built” drawings in the Library of Congress are available for free online. They are part of the Historic American Building Survey, and will include architecture drawings circa 2010 as well as photographs of Fallingwater circa 1985. The Main House and Guest House were added separately, so be sure to download both in order to see how the buildings connect to one other.

First, visit the Library of Congress website and type “Fallingwater” into the search window. You will receive 136 results. Photographs of the Main House (color and b/w) are #1-#98. Drawings for the Main House are #99-#108. Photographs of the Guest House are #109-#130. Drawings for the Guest House are #131-#135. The drawing #136 is for an old schoolhouse that is on our property but not considered part of the Fallingwater house museum.

Suggested Publications

  • Cleary, Richard Louis. Merchant prince and Master builder Edgar J. Kaufmann and F.L. Wright Pittsburgh: Heinz Architectural Center, 1999. Print.
  • Hoffman, Donald. Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater: the house and its history. Dover: S.n., 1978. Print.
  • Kaufmann, Edgar, jr. Fallingwater: a Frank Lloyd Wright country house. London: Butterworth Architecture, 1989. Print.
  • Kaufmann, Edgar, jr., and Bruno Zevi. Venticinque anni nella casa sulla cascata = Twenty five years of the House on the Waterfall. Milano: ETAS, 1962. Print.
  • Toker, Franklin. Fallingwater Rising: Frank Lloyd Wright, E.J. Kaufmann, and America's most extraordinary house. New York, NY: Knopf, 2012. Print.
  • Waggoner, Lynda, ed. Fallingwater. New York ; Paris ; London ; Milan: Rizzoli, 2016. Print.

Suggested Publications Related to Structural Repairs

  • Gonchar, Joann. "Structural Repair: 'Wrighting' a Fragile Landmark Sagging for 65 Years ." Engineering News-Record 25 Mar. 2002: 17-18. Print.
  • Saving Fallingwater. Dir. Kenneth Love. Kenneth A. Love International, 2006. DVD.
  • Silman, Robert. "The Plan to Save Fallingwater." Scientific American Sept. 2000: 88-95. Print.
    Silman, Robert, P.E., and John Matteo, P.E. "Repair and Retrofit: Is Fallingwater Falling Down?" Structure June & july 2001: 24-30. Print.