Well see, it kinda depends on the context of the house. Frank Lloyd Wright did a house near where I live by the name of Falling Waters. By building it on a stream's waterfall, he didn't have to do much, if any work in getting the water to go where he wanted.
Though the pictures on this page don't show it, I believe the water actually flows through parts of the house.
http://www.pbase.com/cokids/fallingwater