Why Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater still draws the crowds

In 1935, famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright designed what was to become his masterpiece, Fallingwater. Situated in the Laurel Highlands, just south of Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania, it's his most masterful melding of home and environment. It's a bucket-list destination and, along with his other homes, a UNESCO World Heritage travel site. And you can see three other homes by him within 30 minutes of Fallingwater, visit other inspired architecture and, if you are lucky, even stay overnight in one of the Wright homes.

About 30 minutes from Fallingwater sits Polymath Park. Think of it almost as an amusement park for Wright fans. Heather and Tom Papinchak are perhaps two of his biggest. They bought their home in the woods in the Laurel Highlands in 2000. It's not a Wright home but a large, wood-frame 1980s house, situated among the trees. Not too far away sit two homes designed by Wright protege Peter Berndtson, but for years the Papinchaks didn't even know it.

In the 1960s, the Balter and Blum families wanted summer homes in the Laurel Highlands like their friends the Kaufmanns, who built Fallingwater. They contacted Berndtson and asked him to create houses in the style of Wright. The houses definitely show Wright influences: a flat roof, expansive windows, and homes that fit within their natural environment.

In 2004, the Papinchaks bought those neighbour houses and the land they sit on with the idea of preserving them and opening them to the public. In 2006, they had the opportunity to save a Wright house from demolition. They moved the Duncan House, built in 1957 in Lisle, Illinois, to the property. "We saw what this could be," says Heather. "A park of preservation and living history."

And in 2019, working with the Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy, they moved the Mantyla House, built in 1952 in northern Minnesota, to the 52-hectare property. Today, it stands in the woods of Polymath Park, rebuilt by Tom and, like the other three houses there, available for tours or overnight stays. The couple turned their home into a restaurant called Tree Tops, now with outdoor pods where you can dine among the trees.

Tours start at $US30 ($45); overnight stays in a Wright house from $US675 for four guests. franklloydwrightovernight.net

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About 15 kilometres from Fallingwater sits one of the last homes Wright designed (he was 86 when it was built), Kentuck Knob. It's a Usonian house, which is to say built as an affordable American house, but a unique example, made even more special by the location. This 1950s home sits on a bluff, just below the crest of the mountain that it was named after. It was designed with only two right angles, in a hexagon pattern.

In 1986, Lord Peter Palumbo of London bought the property from the family who built it for $US600,000 as a holiday home. The Palumbos still own it but allow public tours, which cost $US28 and include a sculpture meadow with works from 30-plus sculptors. kentuckknob.com

And now for the piece de resistance: Fallingwater. First thing, make a reservation early. On our June visit, tons of people were being turned away because the tours were full. But you can explore the grounds there, so it's not a total waste if you forget.

In 1935, Liliane and Edgar Kaufmann, who ran department stores in Pittsburgh, commissioned Wright to design a summer home. The house was to be built along Bear Run, an eight-kilometre-long tributary of the Youghiogheny River and a favourite summer swimming spot of the Kaufmanns.

The tour begins with a small group and a guide, walking what would have been the road going up to the house. Our guide made a note of the natural features around us (the cantilevered overhangs and rock formations) and later tied them back to the features of the house.

Completed in 1938, Fallingwater is the quintessential example of Wright's "organic architecture". The house was built around Bear Run, the hillside it sits on and over a waterfall. Windows are designed for viewing the changing leaves as well as bringing in the sound of the rushing water. Stairs from the living room go directly down to a small platform that sits just above Bear Run. Inside, you are able to tour most of the first, second and third floors (a private suite for their only son, Edgar Jr).

It was the Kaufmanns' intentions to let the public enjoy the house, and their son had a big influence on that. His life partner designed the tree-house-like visitors centre, which includes two rooms with special exhibits, a cafe and a gift shop. The tours are $US35 per person. fallingwater.org