In 1991, the American Institute of Architects named Frank Lloyd Wright "the greatest architect of all-time" and voted his Fallingwater house as "the best all-time work of American architecture".
And now PFC Auctions, sister company to Paul Fraser Collectibles, will feature 12 original blueprints from this astonishing building as part of its forthcoming sale, which opens on September 6.
 "The best all-time work of American architecture" |
Designed by Wright for the Kaufmann family in 1935 (owners of the iconic Kaufmann's department store in Pittsburgh), the building perches atop a waterfall on Bear Run in rural south-western Pennsylvania. It is widely considered Wright's most beautiful creation.
Readers will be familiar with the iconic house from various lists of "places to visit before you die", such as the one published by the Smithsonian magazine in 2008. It now receives hundreds of thousands of visitors a year since being designated a national historic landmark in 1966.
Among its most notable fans is Brad Pitt, who received a waterfall as a gift from Angelina Jolie when he was told he was unable to purchase Fallingwater.
The blueprints, which provide a fascinating insight into the processes that created the building, were discovered in Long Island and are accompanied by a letter from Arthur Hennighausen that reads: "The shop drawings of the 'Falling Water' steel sash were given to me as a professional courtesy at my architectural office in Waukegan Illinois by J. D. Graff who at that time was sales representative for Hope Windows, Inc. This was in the spring of 1938."
Aside from this superb provenance, they are also signed "F L Wright", although it is not certain if this is in the architect's hand. However, the blueprints have clearly been used and show signs of wear - evidence of their part in creating one of the US' most recognisable landmarks.
