Tag Archives: Frank Lloyd Wright

Skiing at Peek’n Peak

12 Sunday Jan 2014

Posted by in Pleasure, Ski

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As a skier I was pretty happy to have winter start as early as it did. We were booked to head to Gore Mountain for 3 nights. Sadly when I checked the conditions at Gore, the day before we were about to leave, I learned that they weren’t even half open! Since the drive is 7 hours we looked for a closer spot with some great snow. Now if you follow my blog you know I love Holiday Valley but we like to try new spots and HV would be crammed for the holidays. So we settled on Peek’n Peak close to Erie.

Quaint lodge

Quaint lodge

We booked ourselves in to the Holiday Inn Findley Lake – closest accommodations to the mountain outside of the resort that was full. We drove down on the scenic trail along the lake and would have stopped at Frank Lloyd Wright’s Graycliff if it had been opened.

Enough for 3

Enough for 3

We stopped for lunch at Aunt Millie’s Kitchen and Bakery thanks to my Foodspotting app. We had a delicious lunch and took one of these gigantic cream puffs to have on new years eve.

And while we drove down it rain it snowed over night and all the next day we skied. It was a great little spot. Not a super high hill but very scenic and lots of spots for enjoying a snack and a bite to eat. Wood burning fireplaces in the lodges too.

And Findley Lake is a quaint little town that is very scenic. Don’t expect any fine dining if you do go down for ski weekend.

Falling Water – perfect integration of nature and architecture

03 Friday Feb 2012

Posted by in Pleasure, Travel

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I had been visiting Pennsylvania my entire life, literally from the age of 2 months (maybe less) and never got out to visit Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater.

Fall Water

Walking up the drive

I had heard of Wright but had never visited his most famous work that is on Smithsonian‘s Life List of 28 places “to visit before you die.” And I have to admit it is truly stunning to see. We were only able to walk around the grounds but it is the perfect integration of nature and   structure.  We had the entire place to ourselves on a sunny day after a brief snowstorm and it is like going back in time when you walk around taking the self-guided tour.

Fallingwater

From the overlook

It is hard to believe that the home was built in 1935 for the Kaufman family – they owned the department store chain named after them.  The family wanted a weekend home and assumed that Wright would design them a cottage or cabin with a view of the waterfall. Instead he integrated the waterfall in to the design and pushed the engineering boundaries.

If you are ever up for a road trip I highly recommend you stop by Falling Water which is just 50 miles southeast of Pittsburgh. The drive takes you through the Laurel Highlands and the Allegheny Mountains. I definitely plan to go back in other seasons and especially when I can take a look inside the home.