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[Fallingwater living room fireplace and hearth]
Living room fireplace and hearth, looking from kitchen door to south windows.
The fireplace and hearth are a focal point for the living room at Fallingwater. The raised stone formations on the floor in the foreground are said to be boulders which were on the site, left in place intentionally. Frank Lloyd Wright described this boulder as "Kaufmann's favorite spot for lying in the sun and listening to the falls." So according to Wright this feature is the starting point for the home, determining the height of the main floor.
      The large, Cherokee-red kettle has been swung into position into the fireplace in this photo, though it is described in Edgar Kaufmann Jr's book on Fallingwater as "symbolic." (Compare to its position when "put away" in the recessed area in the wall next to the fireplace in this photo.)
      Stone formations are a central theme at Fallingwater, in keeping with the natural setting. Any exterior view of Fallingwater from downstream shows the dramatic cantilevered levels and terraces resembling rock ledges also visible in those photos. (See also this view of Fallingwater from a low angle. Notice the stones of the wall visible on the right in the photo. They are not at all set flush; rather, some stones protrude quite a bit more than others - again suggesting a kind of cantilevered rock ledge. The woodwork also harmonizes with this theme, including the shelf in the foreground, and the molding above (which is deep enough to be on the verge of becoming shelves in their own right).
      The dining area, which is in this same room, is just to the left of the photographer, while the kitchen is just to the right of the photographer, on the other side of the wall.
      To see the fireplace from the opposite corner, see this photo of the living room. For a closer view of the sitting area just past the fireplace, see this photo of the living room.
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