The Missing Piece of the Story

The philistine in a work of art.

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I was in Ohiopyle State Park in southwester Pennsylvania this weekend for my husband’s family second reunion in ten years. There were 20 cousins and three aunts at that one. 40 cousins gathered on Saturday, the number swollen by spouses and children. One aunt remained with us. Everyone feared that the last three days of rain would mar the gathering but, miraculously, it turned into a fine late spring day. Stories were told, photographs and a genealogy tree were examined. Games were played. A local pub provided 21 pounds of brisket and 21 pounds of pulled pork, along with 2 trays of baked beans, cole slaw, and salad. They were incredible but even 40 people can’t eat that much. (If you happen to come over to my house, I will gladly give you several bags of leftovers.) Hours later, as we began to pack up, we promised we’d gather again in two years time. It’s clear that we can’t let ten more years pass before we see one another once more.

If you are anywhere near Ohiopyle State Park, you are pretty much obliged to visit Fallingwater, Frank Lloyd Wright’s most famous house. This is what we did the next day despite being exhausted and with an eight hour drive back to Brooklyn before us. The house was built as the weekend home of the family of Edgar J. Kaufmann who owned the once nationally known Kaufmann’s Department stores. The guided tour leads visitors through rooms so stunning that the only appropriate response is to be gobsmacked over and over again. Wrights’ design principal of compression and release that propels you from a narrow space into a vast openness, often of nature, is a stimulating wonder. I couldn’t jot down fast enough all the unaffordable design elements I longed to recreate. Nor could I successfully hide all my hopelessness of never being able to replicate the meticulously arrangement of art and furnishings.

Still, as the lone philistine in the group, I quietly argued that the bench seating under the windows didn’t look particularly inviting, especially for curling up with a book on a rainy day. I also found myself wondering how anyone could navigate with ease the steep stone steps up to the bedrooms, especially for Mr. and Mrs. Kaufmann who were in their 40s when they moved in and in their 60s when they passed the house onto their son. And yet, I just as often admitted that I’d be very happy to live for the rest of my life in the midst of Fallingwater’s perfection.

The tour, though, left out what I contend would be the most critical component to happiness in Fallingwater. The kitchen was not on the tour. I knew where it was only by wandering away from our group as the rest tripped up to the second floor. The kitchen was off to the side of the dining table and its entrance was barred by a rope.

Our guide was busy gathering her flock forward when I asked, “can we go into the kitchen?”

“Oh, no,” she said. “It’s too small for a tour.”

I leaned far over the rope. In fact, the kitchen was a commodious room, flushed with light from a wide ceiling-to-floor window. It was a perfect room for cooking with long counters, many cabinets, an exquisite oven and huge refrigerator, and most importantly, a spacious table. What a welcome refuge it must have been from living in a work of art.

“We must keep moving,” the guide said to me.

The tour taught our group a great deal about the Kaufmanns, Frank Lloyd Wright, and the building of Fallingwater. But it left out this very telling, intimate detail: every morning the Kaufmanns sat at the kitchen table, talking to the cook as she made them breakfast and every evening they returned to the kitchen to find that she had left them slices of Mr. Kaufmann’s favorite cake out on the counter. That tells you so much more about the Kauffman’s and the life they led in Fallingwater than what can be learned being led through their empty house.

So you must meet Elsie Henderson, the Kaufmann’s cook, 93 years old in this video and a pip. She was sharper than I’ll ever be when she died in 2021 at the age of 107. There isn’t anyone better to relate the full story of Fallingwater.

And, one more thing…….

I’m getting ready to drive around looking for new stories to tell you during what promises to be an interesting summer. I’m extremely frugal so any donation you may be able to spare will be wisely spent and deeply appreciated!