Day trip to "Kentuck Knob" & "Fallingwater"

Departed Canaan Valley, WV the morning of April 30, 2013 with Tom and Julie Kucer for a two-hour drive to Dunbar, PA for tours of Frank Lloyd Wright's lesser-known architectural creation, "Kentuck Knob" as well as his well known "Fallingwater". The name Kentuck Knob is credited to the late eighteenth-century settler David Askins, who had intended to move from Western Pennsylvania to Kentucky, but then reconsidered and named his Pennsylvania tract of land "Little Kentuck". The summit of this property subsequently became known as Kentuck Knob.

View from Kentuck Knob

The original residence was began in 1953 when the Hagans, owners of a major dairy operation in Western Pennsylvania, purchased 80 acres of mountain land. As friends of the Kaufmanns, successful Pittsburgh retailers and owners of the nearby architectural gem Fallingwater, the Hagans asked their architect Frank Lloyd Wright, then 86 years old, to design a deluxe Usonian home for them. The house was completed in 1956, and the Hagans lived at Kentuck Knob for almost 30 years.

Wright's Kentuck Knob

Kentuck Knob, also known as the Hagen House, is a one-story dwelling situated on the western-most ridge of Pennsylvania’s Allegheny Mountains. The home is recessed into the southern side of Kentuck Knob’s 2,050-foot peak and offers a sweeping view of the Youghiogheny River gorge as well as surrounding hills and farmland. The house is only four miles south of Wright's most famous house, Fallingwater, also in Pennsylvania's Laurel Highlands region.

Design harmonious with land

Wright employed tidewater red cypress, glass, and native sandstone to build the home and capped it with a copper roof at a cost of $96,000. The crescent-shaped house curls around a west-facing courtyard, blending into the contours of the land. The anchor of the design is a hexagonal stone core that rises from the hipped roof at the intersection of the living and bedroom wings.

Pottsville sandstone prevails

Interestingly, Wright did not select the top of the mountain knob, which would have provided commanding views. He chose a more challenging and less obvious site immediately south of the knob. The house is nestled into the side of the knob, a common practice for Wright, allowing the building to appear organic and harmonious with the landscape rather than dominating it.

Vintage car channels Gatsby

The Hagan House began in 1953 when the Hagans, owners of a major dairy company in Western Pennsylvania, purchased 80 acres of mountain land that included Kentuck Knob. As friends of the Kaufmanns, owners of nearby Fallingwater on Bear Run, the Hagans asked their architect Frank Lloyd Wright, then 86 years old, to design a unique Usonian home for them. The house was completed in 1956, and the Hagans lived at Kentuck Knob for almost 30 years.

In 1986 Lord Palumbo of London, UK bought the property for $600,000 as a vacation home. Since 1996, the Palumbo family has balanced their occupancy with a public tour program. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2000.

Following a splendid picnic at Ohiopyle State Park, a bit of directional confusion found the four of us driving along a tiny, winding road admiring the wild flowers...however quite removed from the starting point of our 3:30pm architectural tour of Fallingwater. A quick reversal in heading, a little dead reckoning and Kuce's Smoky and the Bandit driving got us to Fallingwater just in time for the tour.

Fallingwater stands as one of Wright's greatest masterpieces both for its dynamism and for its integration with the striking natural surroundings. Wright's passion for Japanese architecture was strongly reflected in the design of Fallingwater, particularly in the strong emphasis placed on harmony between man and nature. The extent of Wright's genius in integrating every detail of his design can only be hinted at in photographs. This organically designed private residence was intended to be a nature retreat for its owners. The house is well known for its connection to the site; it is built on top of an active waterfall which flows beneath the house.

The fireplace hearth in the living room integrates boulders found on the site and upon which the house was built — ledge rock which protrudes up to a foot through the living room floor was left in place to demonstrably link the outside with the inside. Wright had initially intended that the ledge be cut flush with the floor, but this had been one of the Kaufmann family's favorite sunning spots, so Mr. Kaufmann suggested that it be left as it was. The stone floors are waxed, while the hearth is left plain, giving the impression of dry rocks protruding from a stream.

Integration with the setting extends even to small details. For example, where glass meets stone walls there is no metal frame. Rather, the glass and its horizontal dividers run into a caulked recess in the stonework so that the stone walls appear uninterrupted by glazing. From the cantilevered living room, a stairway leads directly down to the stream below, and in a connecting space which connects the main house with the guest and servant level, a natural spring drips water inside, which is then channeled back out. Bedrooms are small, some with low ceilings to encourage people outward toward the open social areas, decks, and outdoors.

Bear Run and the sound of its water permeate the house, especially during the spring when the snow is melting, and locally quarried stone walls and cantilevered terraces resembling the nearby rock formations are meant to be in harmony. The design incorporates broad expanses of windows and balconies which reach out into their surroundings. The staircase leading down from the living room to the stream (mentioned above) is accessed via movable horizontal glass panes. In conformance with Wright's views, the main entry door is away from the falls.

On the hillside above the main house stands a four-bay carport, servants' quarters, and a guest house. These attached outbuildings were built two years later using the same quality of materials and attention to detail as the main house. The guest quarters feature a spring-fed swimming pool which overflows and drains to the river below.

We all agreed the two hour architectural tour of Fallingwater was quite memorable and revealed every nook and cranny of the structure. The Western Pennsylvania Conservancy has done a fine job maintaining this architectural masterpiece and the tours are conducted by very knowledgable guides. Good friends, good weather and our grand day trip was capped by a fine dinner in Deep Creek, MD before returning to our homes in Canaan Valley.

 

Posted by TBW Travel Today!