Fallingwater is the name of a very special house that is built over a waterfall. Frank Lloyd Wright, America’s most famous architect, designed the house for his clients, the Kaufmann family, but now Fallingwater is available for everyone to enjoy.
Fallingwater visits should be a fun experience for everyone. One of the ways to ensure a positive outcome is to use appropriate manners.
Please review museum manners and responsibilities with your students and chaperones. We ask visitors to be extra careful in order to protect Fallingwater, the collections, and the landscape for others to experience long into the future.
Museum Manners & Responsibilities
- It is okay to “touch” with your eyes, but not with your hands. Please be careful—museum collections, like people, are unique and irreplaceable. Natural oils on human hands can cause serious damage over time. Fingers placed on the surface of a picture can easily damage the paint layer or the canvas; a hand brushed against sculpture or furniture may leave a damaging trace of acidic perspiration. Some people like to fold their arms or put their hands behind their backs to help them remember.
- Stay with your group, teacher or chaperone.
- Walk respectfully throughout the Fallingwater property. Talk in quiet tones. Use inside voices in all areas in order not to disturb other visitors. A Fallingwater visit can be very exciting; just remember to be courteous of other visitors. They would like to have a good time too.
- Students may always ask questions, but do not talk while the guide is speaking. If you talk while the guide is speaking, other people won’t be able to hear. If you have questions or comments, raise your hand and the guide will call on you. Listen to what the guide is saying. Guides and volunteers deserve the same respect and courtesy as teachers or parents.
- Leave your backpack, large bags, and heavy coats on the bus or in a locker in the Visitors Pavilion during house tours. Bulky objects slung over a shoulder may bump against displays or topple objects.
- Food, beverages and gum are not allowed in Fallingwater.
Field Trip Guidelines
- Arrange your school visit at least 6 weeks in advance. To book house tours for your school group, make reservations by calling Fallingwater at 724-329-8501 during regular business hours: 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. every day. Making your reservation even earlier will ensure that you can visit at the time that you want.
- Spend the day at Fallingwater. We’re more than just a house tour! Please talk with our Public Tour Assistant to arrange for additional interactive programs, an educational hike, or lunch in the café. (We’re happy to provide a meal for you in the cafe with a student budget in mind, or students may bring bag lunches and use picnic tables at the nature reserve. Limited seating may be available in the pavilion by advance arrangement, please contact the Public Tour Assistant).
- We will need a deposit 4 weeks prior to your visit to guarantee your activities. If we do not have your deposit by that date, your reservation will be cancelled. Please avoid this disappointment by submitting your deposit on time. Deposits are refundable until 10 days before your visit.
- Please have alternate dates in mind when you call. Tuesdays and Fridays are usually fairly busy. May and October are especially busy. Please keep this in mind when scheduling tours.
- Allow at least 1 1/2 hours for your house tour for a classroom of 30. For larger groups, we will help you with visit logistics.
- Each Fallingwater house tour group is limited to 14 people. Please provide one chaperone for every 13 students. Pre-assigning your students to groups can be helpful, but please be prepared to change those assignments if our staff requests it. Chaperones must stay with their assigned group of students during the tour, on the grounds, and in the museum store and café. They will be asked to oversee appropriate student behavior during the entire visit. (Chaperone requirements do not apply to post-secondary groups.)
- Chaperones receive free tours. Any additional adults above the required number of chaperones will pay adult group rates. (Chaperones do not apply to post-secondary groups.)
- If you’re planning more than one stop, get your Fallingwater reservations first. We often fill our reservations very early.
Help Planning Your Visit
To help plan your visit to Fallingwater, please contact:
Amy Humbert
School Programs Coordinator
ahumbert@paconserve.org
724-329–7829