WRIGHT'S USONIAN KENTUCK KNOB MODEST & SERENE

The house was the epitome of serenity, “a noble consort to man and the trees,” as Frank Lloyd Wright (FLW) liked to describe his architectural vision.  Situated on 79 acres just east of Uniontown, Pennsylvania, (and just seven miles from FLW’s grand dame, Fallingwater), I.N. Hagan’s Kentuck Knob house was the picture of serenity.

A Usonian design that grew out of FLW’s earlier Prairie style houses, it was a modest one-story structure designed for the masses.

Sign me up!  As one of the masses living in suburbia, I’m always looking for distinction (and an
affordable wooded lot) in the midst of my cookie cutter existence.   

There was nothing cookie cutter about FLW’s Kentuck Knob, although sixty years after the fact the design was distinctly Wrightish; a low roofline, a plethora of horizontal lines to ground the structure to the land, and ample use of stone quarried onsite. 

Wright was 86 when he designed Kentuck Knob for the Hagans (Isaac Newton and his wife  Bernardine) in 1953. Wow, no Social Security for this workhorse! The Hagan's were looking to “partially remove” themselves from urban living. 

Photo courtesy of Kentuck Knob website.

I wouldn’t say I.N. was exactly part of ‘the masses’ as president of Hagan Ice Cream Company, the same company his grandfather and namesake had founded in 1878.  I.N. hobnobbed with the Kaufmann’s, the owners of Fallingwater.  It was a visit to Fallingwater that prompted I.N. and his wife to consider commissioning Wright to design a home on the knob, or rounded hill, rising from the eastern slopes of Chestnut Ridge. That hill rose 2,050 feet above sea level, high above the grand horseshoe bend of the Youghiogheny River and the village of Ohiopyle.  

What I wouldn’t give for that view.  
 
I.N. Hagen gave $96,000 when it was all said and done, just a bit more than his $60,000 stipulated budget (Hagan gave Wright a budget exactly half of what he was actually willing to pay after Kaufmann warned I.N. of Wright’s propensity to run over budget). 
 
British Lord Peter Palumbo, former Chairman of the Arts Council of Great Britain and architecture connoisseur gave up $600,000 in 1985 when he purchased Kentuck Knob.   Peter Palumbo obviously doesn’t take his architecture connoisseur status lightly; he also bought Mies van der Rohe’s Farnsworth House in Plano, Illinois in 1968 and sold the house in auction in  2003, preferring to make Kentuck Knob his primary residence while in the United States.   

Lord Palumbo and his wife Hayat Mroue opened Kentuck Knob for tours in 1996.  

Photo courtesy of Kentuck Knob website.

It’s undoubtedly why we were so closely monitored throughout our tour (unless I truly look the criminal; I was the one with the camera dangling over my shoulder).  No pictures were allowed inside Kentuck Knob. Thwarted again!  Personal artifacts filled the house the Palumbos still reside in whenever they’re in the States, among them a picture of Lord Palumbo with Princess Diana. 

The 2200 square foot house is bigger than most Usonian homes; the crescent-shaped design is also unique.  Wright likened it to that of a “polliwog.”  The large living room and kitchen constitute the head or body; the four bedrooms form the tail.  

No surprise the unit, or module, for construction at Kentuck Knob was the equilateral triangle. Squares would not have made for easy navigating with all the twists and turns of Wright’s “polliwog”.  Besides, squares are so cookie cutter!

I was suitably impressed by the hexagonal stone core (for those geometrically challenged, six equilateral triangles combine to form a hexagon) that housed the kitchen and rose above the hipped roof at the intersection of the living and bedroom wings.

Photo courtesy of Monica Jackson on Kentuck Knob website .

This photo belongs to yours truly.

Hexagonal openings also graced the tidewater red cypress ceiling over the terrace that runs the length of the living room and kitchen on the south side of Kentuck Knob.  The overhang was essentially an extension of the ceilings throughout the interior of the house.  All built-ins were also designed using the red cypress.  It was all very warm and earthy, especially juxtaposed with all the stone quarried onsite for use in the fireplace, accent walls, the exterior walls, as well as the terrace wall.   Combined with the long bank of windows and glass doors leading onto the terrace, there was no denying Kentuck Knob’s close ties with nature.    

The courtyard encompassed by the polliwog design scheme (studio, carport, bedroom wing, kitchen, living room) also reflected the hexagonal shape.  Like a clearing in the woods, the court served to lend the house a sense of serenity and wonder as we suddenly came upon this masterpiece.  

All geometry aside, this one-story dwelling was masterfully recessed into the southern side of Kentuck Knob’s 2,050 foot peak as if it had been honed over the years much like the rocks and hillside had yielded to time and the elements.   

The house rested on the knob (the name Kentuck Knob originated from a part of Stewart township originally identified as Little Kentucky on a site map dated 1832 and later became known as the Kentuck district) of that small hill, providing a magnificent view from the terrace of the meadow that stretched just below the base of the hill.  

On the other side of the trees that lined the edge of the lot devoted to the house was another large meadow set aside for Lord Palumbo’s collection of sculptures.  

We (me, Jimmy and friends Bob and Lee) were kids again, running from one sculpture to the next, acting silly for some reason that escapes me now (fortunately!).

Really, at the end of a long day of touring all things Wright, could a little serendipity be wrong?    

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Bottom Line on Kentuck Knob:

Verdict:   I could actually see myself living in this modest house as opposed to the larger Fallingwater. This is a place of serenity, harmony, peace nestled in the woods as it is.  I could probably give up my blood pressure medication if I lived here year round.  If you make it to western Pennsylvania to see Fallingwater, be sure to continue seven miles down Chalk  Hill-Ohiopyle Road to Kentuck Knob. You won’t regret it.

How to Get There: From Fallingwater head south on Fallingwater Road toward PA-381 N/Mill Run Road/Whites Bridge Road.  Turn right onto PA-381 S/Mill Run Road.  In approximately  4 miles, turn right onto Ohiopyle Road/Sr2010.  Look for Kentuck Road/Sr2010, turn left to arrive at destination.

Insider Information: Because tours of both Fallingwater and Kentuck Knob are popular,  certainly make reservations online prior to arriving.  Private tours for both Fallingwater and Kentuck Knob can be secured through the Fallingwater website.  

Nearby Food:  The Greenhouse Café (adjacent to the Gift Shop) onsite is open daily from 9-5.  Short order items are the norm and lots of delicious Hagan Ice Cream.