A Day in the Life of Fallingwater
Kaufmann’s: Pittsburgh’s Purveyor of Culture
A trip to Fallingwater usually is accompanied by very high expectations. Fallingwater’s
staff and volunteers work to ensure that each of its 140,000 annual visitors experiences
the house as Edgar Kaufmann jr. would have wanted — as a living work of art, and an
inspiring example of living in harmony with nature.
Clinton Piper
On any day that the house is open — and on many days when it is closed, too — Fallingwater hums (as quietly as possible) with the activity of people dedicated to ensuring that each visit to the house provides an opportunity for a revelatory experience.
Fallingwater’s 40 guides draw upon their knowledge of the house, Frank Lloyd Wright and the Kaufmann family to ensure that the house’ss remarkable features won’t go unnoticed — and that even repeat visitors will learn new details about the Fallingwater and its history.
“This is a spiritual place, one of both refuge and rejuvenation,” says guide of 18 years Katy Kifer, who leads as many as four tours a day. “You feel a sense of awe here — this is a powerful place — and I enjoy seeing visitors discover that.”
Katy Kifer
Museum Programs Assistant Clinton Piper, who started his Fallingwater career as a tour guide more than 20 years ago, assists Waggoner in a variety of duties aimed at balancing public access with protecting Fallingwater’s trademarks and service marks. “As Fallingwater has grown over the years, we’ve had to deal more and more with intellectual property issues,” Piper said. “The royalties we collect from the use of photos and licensing agreements, for instance, helps support our operations.”
Jerry Burke
Property protection of a different sort is a round-the-clock job for Security Director Jerry Burke and his team, which patrols the grounds and monitors a discreet network of cameras and alarms. “The volunteer firemen used to respond to a lot of false alarms — we have over 200 sensors — and they weren’t too happy about it,” said Burke, who joined the Fallingwater staff seven years ago. He and his staff made changes to reduce false alarms, and they added training for tour guides that helps them safeguard artifacts while leading groups.
Justin Gunther
Even after four years as curator of buildings and collections, Justin Gunther finds working at Fallingwater an adventure in discovery. “The architecture is so complex, the house is constantly providing new and distinct challenges,” said Gunther, who also oversees artifacts, the site landscape, and a dozen ancillary buildings. In addition, he curates Fallingwater’s rotating exhibitions and is cataloguing 2,000 recently acquired personal letters written by the Kaufmanns and their closest friends. The letters, he said, “provide new insight into a family that pushed trends, that was uniquely modern for its time.”
Beverly Ramos Heller
Membership coordinator Beverly Ramos Heller first visited Fallingwater as a child, in 1964. The house made such an impression, she was determined to work there one day. After raising her children, Heller became a tour guide and eventually moved into membership. She now talks with visitors about how they can support the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy and Fallingwater. “We hear from guests all the time about how the staff has made their visit of a lifetime so memorable,” Heller said. “It’s the excitement of the guests that inspires me.”
Jim Martin
As with any house, something always needs to be done at Fallingwater, although its integration with nature and landmark status make many tasks more challenging. Maintenance director Jim Martin and his 11-person crew keep the museum, ancillary buildings, 27 miles of internal roads, and 300-acre grounds in order. “I enjoy working in a place that’s so much a part of nature,” said Martin. “And I love having the opportunity to help take care of a historical part of our country.”
Ann Talarek
Fallingwater horticulture specialist Ann Talarek and her team of volunteers ensure that gardens onsite brim with plants, including those that provide a source of cut flowers for the house and for special events. “The flowers in the house are displayed in containers from the Kaufmann family collection,” said Talarek, who keeps white petunias — Edgar Kaufmann jr.’s favorite — in the living room’s hatch planter. She tends the mostly native perennial beds without pesticides. “What I love about Fallingwater is that I’m constantly immersed in nature. Even if I’m inside, I’m outside.”
Brad Heiser
Helping Fallingwater guests feel welcome starts before they set foot in Bear Run, said Visitor Services Manager Brad Heiser, who oversees tour arrangements. “We take care of them from the time they think about coming here until they arrive,” said Heiser, whose 14-person staff fields inquiries online, by phone and at the Visitor Center. To ensure a quality experience, groups are limited to 14 people, and tours are offered on compact discs in seven languages. “Of course, the visual experience is still powerful,” said Heiser, who delights in meeting people from all over the world. “Seeing their sense of wonder at the setting and the house itself is really something.”
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