Pippi's Big 2021 Adventure: The Frank Lloyd Wright Legend Lives On

Mon. July 26 - 29 (3 nights) Fallingwaters, Polymath Park and Kentuck Knob, Uniontown KOA, Connellsville, PA

So our drive to here was spent mostly on the Pennsylvania Turnpike which is pretty much; as bad as, remembered according to my folks.

However, the scenery was beautiful in these rolling hills...“Connellsville is a city in Fayette County, Pennsylvania, United States, 50 miles southeast of Pittsburgh on the Youghiogheny River, a tributary of the Monongahela River. It is part of the Pittsburgh Metro Area…Due to the city's location in the center of the Connellsville Coalfield, coal mining, coke production, and other accompanying industries became the major sources of employment and revenue during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Connellsville became known at the "Coke Capital of the World" due to the amount and quality of coke produced in the city's many beehive ovens.”

It looks like so many small towns that we have passed through; used up and struggling to survive...but our KOA up in the hills was gorgeous!!!

We had paid more for a prime location across from the river; with a big patio/side yard, umbrella table and chairs, two gliders and a grill...We were in heaven; especially Pippi!!! It took her the length of time for us to get hooked up before she was in that river...

I made a friend, Candy the beagle, although Candy was less thrilled when I kept stealing her frisbee!!! The water was so clear, but the bottom was a combination of mud and sand...very hard to clean off; but I don't care.UGH! I was loving it!!!...After talking to Candy's dad, mom decided to not only wash me thoroughly afterwards; but to give me her probiotics for the next three meals along with Pippi's Moringa oil, (another probiotic) to stop her diarrhea issues ahead of the problem...Mom's almost afraid to say it, but it seems to have worked...

This morning's walk was really fun since I met up with another friend, Bentley to play for a few minutes while mom talked to Bentley's mom and dad, Debbie and Don from Youngstown, OH.

This part of the trip was mom's pilgrimage to see more Frank Lloyd Wright's homes, which meant I stayed behind...Shucks. I'm turning most of this blog over to her... According to her, all these sites were even better than imagined!!!

Fallingwater's “The Kaufmanns’ unique path as a family, which led them to the community of Bear Run, Pennsylvania, and eventually the architect Frank Lloyd Wright, would lay the foundation for Fallingwater—one of the greatest architectural triumphs of the 20th century.” It turns out that eight of his sites have been designated World Heritage Sites by UNESCO which is so incredible! I copied the brochure to give you the overall history and layout on Fallingwaters in the Laurel Highlands of PA. I've also added a number of links to videos and really fascinating articles connected to these people or places.

Just one of Mike's shots of it from below

Needless to say, there is not a bad outside view of the house or inside the house; however, I've seen winter photos and you can see more of the outside then...

Mike tried to capture the great room and dining room where everyone hung out. The upholstered chairs the Kaufmann's added; otherwise it's all FLW's creation... He has this thing about compression when you are coming into a space, so ceilings are low whether inside or outside; opening up into these expansive spaces. Since this house is among his finest organic designs, he's used stone from the area and maintains that vertical stone design outside and inside. The bottom middle photo is that area that could be opened to the Bear Run fall below to add more coolness, but also more humidity to the home. The red round kettle that you see hanging next to the fireplace was used for mulled wine and such. The large rock in front of the fireplace is actually a boulder that Kaufmann Senior wanted left to add more interest. The Kaufmann's loved to entertain. Einstein, Diego Rivera and Jacque Lipchitz were just a few of the more famous guests.

I loved Lipchitz Harpist in one of the bedrooms where were couldn't photograph...

Every piece of furniture was designed for the "perfect human being" which ironically he considered his size, 5'6". It all looks fabulous; but uncomfortable to use, hence the upholstered chairs. The top right photo you can see that opening down to the fall again.

The photos above are more outside views from the cantilevered terraces or from afar. Liane Kaufmann liked to swim in the nude while Senior liked to sunbath nude. If you can see the tiny frog Mike shot in the photo above the plunge pool, they call him Froggie Lloyd Wright. The bottom middle photo is of the beams across the entrance below that were designed to go around trees that have been replanted multiple times, so they don't get too big and destroy the building.

The house is on multiple levels with the guest house above giving everyone privacy. This area is one of the few hallways leading out to the guest house stairs. A spring along the back wall allows water to come inside and flow down into the floor crack and down to a gutter below. Diego Rivera's Sleeping Child is on the wall opposite.

There is so much to see here that I'm sure each time one returns they see something that they didn't notice before. Chad, our guide said that their cook, had an entire book of who they entertained, when and what she fed them, so she would never duplicate herself. They had servants quarters for their married cook and butler and the chauffeur located above the carports and they were also above the guest house.

I can honestly say that you truly have to visit them to really appreciate their beauty and design, even professional photos don't do them justice. I want to add that not enough credit is given to the local contractors, builders, and craftsmen who had to interpret his designs; especially with him constantly changing his mind, even if the client didn't.

In Kaufmann's case there was a terrible argument with FLW and himself over the cantilevers because the engineers that Kaufmann hired felt he was using too little rebar in the concrete. Kaufmann gave into Wright's stubborn genius, but kept FLW in the dark about his builder adding more rebar than Wright requested. As time has taught us, the engineers were right and even more rebar than they added was needed. The cantilevers underwent a very costly reinforcement a few years ago to reduce the seven degree sag. They could only correct the sag one degree; but hopefully, it won't be able to sag further.

Talking about a zen place with all the birds singing and the waterfall...

“Polymath Park is a 125-acre resort 60 miles southeast of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States, in the Laurel Highlands of Western Pennsylvania.

The site, near the village of Acme in Westmoreland County, is surrounded by private forest in the Allegheny Mountains and features four architectural landmarks: Frank Lloyd Wright's (1867–1959) Donald C. Duncan House and R. W. Lindholm Residence, and two others by Peter Berndtson (1909–1972), who was one of the original Wright apprentices. The park is near Wright's Fallingwater (23 miles) and Kentuck Knob (29 miles). Duncan House and Lindholm House are the only Wright houses in the area that accommodate overnight visitors.

Berndtson's 1962 master plan for Polymath Park allowed for 24 dwellings, each sited in a circular clearing in the forest. Only two houses, however, were actually built: the Balter House in 1964 and the 1965 Blum House.

Treetops was originally the current Polymath Park owners home that was converted to a restaurant once they opened the homes up to rent. We had a lovely lunch there before our tour.
We still can't believe the courage and leap of faith this young couple took on when they bought this large site. Tom and Heather Papinchak are the husband-and-wife team behind Polymath Park. Thankfully, he had a contracting and design background to help his vision.

Lindholm House, named Mäntylä, was built in 1952 for R. W. Lindholm at Cloquet, Minnesota, and was dismantled in 2016 and rebuilt at Polymath Park in 2018. It opened in April 2019.” It was far bigger and grander than the normal Usonian home. We could definitely rent here for a night. However, the small scale furniture, tiny hallways, low entry ways and 17" bedroom doors would definitely not be comfortable for longer than that. However, the craftsmanship, and views throughout were wonderful. The tiny photograph shows a Usonian service station that still exists and is in use in Minnesota.

I can't remember what wood was used in this house, but it was beautiful. Wright's homes would definitely not pass code today for so many safety reasons

Duncan House was added to the park in June 2007. Built in 1957 in Lisle, Illinois, for Donald and Elizabeth Duncan, Wright's prefab Usonian was deconstructed in suburban Chicago in 2004 and reassembled in Pennsylvania.

We loved the beautiful veneers over plywood on the walls. Again, the horizontal lines flowed throughout this home and it perfectly fit this new site. (I remembered all the Copco cookware which was all the rage back in the 60's)

This lady just set there and read during our tour. It turned out she was one of the renters here. Renters/guests can leave or stay, it is up to them. I could definitely stay there, it was like looking at a time capsule of the 60's. (In our trailer, I have the same round mid century modern ice bucket (courtesy of my folks) that they had here.)

Berndtson, Wright's apprentice designed the Balter House weekend retreat in 1964. From the outside it wasn't very impressive. It had a pea gravel roof to match the driveway and the entryway was so very compressed and so dark to be almost uninviting. When we walked into the main living room it was an explosion of light from the ceiling lights to to the spacious windows. The roofs overhanged to protect from direct sunlight, but the windows could be opened to create a wonderful cross breeze whether the screened in porch was open or not. This one featured a more typical style Wright galley style kitchen and the four bedrooms had doors to the outside.

The fourth house on the property, the Blum House isn't on the tour because it isn't a typical Usonian; thanks to all the changes the owners demanded. I looked online and it looks lovely as well.

We headed home to Pippi since she had been cooped up in the trailer the better part of the day...we saved Kentuck Knob for our last morning.

"In 1953, Bernardine and I.N. Hagan purchased eighty acres in the mountains above Uniontown in Western Pennsylvania where their families had lived for generations. After falling in love with the home of their friends the Kaufmanns, Fallingwater, they telephoned Frank Lloyd Wright and asked if he would design a house for them. His answer was: “Of course. Come on out.”

At eighty-six, and hard at work on the Guggenheim Museum in New York, the Beth Shalom Synagogue in Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, and about twelve residential homes, Wright said he could “shake it (Kentuck Knob) out of his sleeve at will” never even setting foot on the site, except for a short visit during the construction phase. This would be one of the last homes completed by Wright.

A team of local builders, led by then seventy-three year old Herman Keys, could not have known the masterpiece they were about to build when they began construction in the early 1950’s. The Hagans moved into the home on 29, July 1956—their 26th wedding anniversary, and spent thirty years at Kentuck Knob. “There is a sense of beauty, comfort, serenity and harmony in the house and all of its surroundings,” Mrs. Hagan says in her book, Kentuck Knob: Frank Lloyd Wright’s House for I.N. and Bernardine Hagan.

After I. N. fell ill, the Hagans could no longer remain on the mountain so they sold the house in 1986 to Lord Palumbo of England. Kentuck Knob opened for tours in 1996.

The hexagon shape could be found in the kitchen footprint that had a similar skylight to this one that Mike shot out on the terrace roof. The kitchen was really awesome, thanks to the massive hexagon skylight, stainless steel countertops, limestone walls, exquisite swamp cypress cabinets and innovative appliances for the 1960's...The tiny portable TV and stainless steel folding burners reminded us of the Jetson's cartoon.

""Life, on occasion, becomes a matter of serendipity. When circumstances conspire to propel one in a certain direction, it is best to go with the flow, or so I have found, even if the precise destination is at the time unknown. My purchase of Kentuck Knob falls into such a category. I think that both I and the state of Pennsylvania owe a great debt of gratitude to Mr. and Mrs. I.N. Hagan for an inspired commission from an architect of legendary renown. Peter Palumbo""

Our tour guide explained that when the Hagan's were designing this house with FLW, the only issue that they didn't win was the site of the house, which is hard to believe when you go out to the point where they thought their home would be. It's where Mike is standing. This spectacularly scenic overlook looks down into the Youghiogheny River Gorge. Arrogant Wright told them they would get tired of that view...Imagine?! Since he cited the house on top and into the knob of the hill, Mrs. Hagan decided that she would rather look at woods than cleared fields and planted a mixed forest for them to enjoy...

When tours are going on Lord Palumbo's family stay down at this farm that is part his property too. He is a self made millionaire that made his fortune in real estate. As we were told, he paid $600,000 for Kentuck Knob and 80 acre in 1986, quite the bargain. Having gone through the house and walked some of the sculpture park surrounding it, I'm guessing he has four to five times that in furnishings and artwork. There were charming family photos sitting around as well, some were by Richard Avedon. WOW! In some he is being Knighted by the Queen or meeting President and First Lady Obama...just your average day in the life of a Lord...

The Hagan's made their money through their homemade ice cream which is now owned by the Hood Co and still being made. Mrs. Hagan lived to 101 despite having unending ice cream.

You need a wide angle lens that we don't have to get the entire front view. I really loved the front entrance because it was so welcoming and not hidden like most Wright homes. A feature that Mrs Hagan insisted on. He used limestone found on the site, but the beautiful wood is swamp cypress with a marine grade finish outside and a beautiful, soft satin inside. Since the Palambo's have so much high end furnishings and artwork, we weren't permitted to photograph inside.

The gorgeous trim under the roof and on the windows represent the various angles within the house. There are only two 90 degree angles in the entire house.

Mrs Hagan paid an extra $1600 to have this signature tile from FLW by the front door...

Looking back to the driveway and carports

In the back of the house Mrs Hagan had a water feature installed outside her bedroom, so she could hear the water. The back view of the house looking up to the back terrace...

They had so many lovely walkways all around the house, to the overlook and into the woods.

There was so many wonderful views of this spectacular house. It was so incredible to see one of his houses without all of his furnishings. Instead, with really fabulous museum quality furnishing in place to see and enjoy...like going to a really intimate museum, but it's a British Lord's house in the USA...