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Kentuck Knob (also known as the Hagan House) is a house in Stewart Township, near the village of Chalkhill, in Fayette County, Pennsylvania, United States. Designed by the architect Frank Lloyd Wright in the Usonian style, the residence was developed for I. N. Hagan, the owner of a local ice-cream firm, along with his wife Bernardine. It is built on the southern slope of a Hillock known as Kentuck Knob, overlooking the Youghiogheny River gorge. The name of the house and knoll is derived from an 18th-century settler who was planning to move to Kentucky. The house is designated as a National Historic Landmark.
I. N. and Bernardine Hagan had learned of Wright's work through Edgar J. Kaufmann, a businessman who had hired Wright to design the Fallingwater house in Fayette County. The Hagans purchased of land near Uniontown, Pennsylvania, in July 1953 and asked Wright to design a Usonian home for them. Despite being busy with multiple other projects, Wright agreed to design a house at Kentuck Knob, which was completed in 1956. The Hagans lived at Kentuck Knob until 1986, when they sold the property to Peter Palumbo, Baron Palumbo. The house was damaged by a fire shortly afterward, and the Palumbo family renovated the house afterward. Kentuck Knob has been open to the public for tours since 1996, and a visitor center there was completed in 2003.
The estate, accessed by a driveway from Pennsylvania State Route 2010, includes approximately 8,800 trees and a sculpture garden for the Palumbo family's art collection. The house itself is made of redwood and locally-quarried stone, with an overhanging copper roof and two exterior terraces. It is laid out around a hexagonal floor plan, which consists of two wings that partially surround a courtyard, converging at a hexagonal core. The interior covers and consists of seven rooms in an open plan arrangement. The kitchen, within the house's core, is surrounded by a living room to the west and a dining room to the west. Extending northeast of the core are three bedrooms, which are partially embedded into the hillside. The house's carport, which includes an art studio, is attached to the bedroom wing.
After the family of Peter Palumbo, Baron Palumbo, acquired the house, they added a sculpture garden, which is accessed by a winding trail that connects to the visitor center. The meadow includes works by artists such as Harry Bertoia, Scott Burton, Anthony Caro, Andy Goldsworthy, Alvar Gullichsen, Allen Jones, Phillip King, David Nash, Claes Oldenburg, Eva Reichl, George Rickey, Ray Smith, Wendy Taylor, and Michael Warren. Other pieces in the sculpture garden include two graffitied pieces of the Berlin Wall, a restroom structure, English telephone kiosks, and a Pissoir. The sculptures are generally made of materials like granite, steel, and wood, complementing the design of the main house.
The name originates from David Askins, a settler who wanted to move to Kentucky in the late 18th century before moving to a hill in Fayette County, which he called Little Kentuck. The Askins site, formed through the merger of the Mitchell, Morris, and Thorpe families' farms, later became Stewart Township's Kentuck District. Because the area is mountainous, it has remained largely undeveloped over the years.
Later that August, the Hagans traveled to Wright's studio. The family requested that Wright design a one-story stone-and-wood structure with three bedrooms and two bathrooms, and Wright claimed, "I could shake a design out of my sleeve." To determine how the house should be designed, Wright asked about their hobbies and what they wanted in a house. He also asked the Hagans if they were "nesters or perchers" to determine whether to design the house beside the hill or atop it. Wright decided to build the house on the southern slope of the hill, instead of on its summit. When the family returned to Pennsylvania, they toured the Richard C. Smith House, Unitarian Meeting House, and Jacobs First House, all designed by Wright. The buildings influenced the final design of Kentuck Knob; the Smith House and Meeting House were both arranged on a grid with 60-degree angles, and the Hagans liked the Meeting House's copper roof and the Smith House's and trellises. The Hagans also traveled to New York City to see an exhibit about a Usonian house. I. N. wrote back to Wright in September 1953 to tell him about the site, saying that the peak of the knoll "probably presents a pretty discouraging picture".
John H. Howe, Wright's chief draftsman and longtime apprentice, drew up the plans for the house. Because Howe did not visit the actual site, the early drawings were riddled with errors. Wright also did not visit the site until the design was completed, instead relying on contour maps. The initial plans were completed by February 1954; the design included a drawing of the site with random boulders scattered throughout. Though Wright was known to be irascible and resistant to change, he readily modified the design based on the Hagans' requests. For instance, he lengthened the living room and added a painting studio for Bernadette. Wright modified the kitchen's floors and countertops and added a screen to the kitchen, and he expanded the dining room upon learning that the Hagans did not frequently eat out. He overruled some of the Hagans' other requests, such as a wider terrace and a wider hallway. The Hagans ultimately traveled to Taliesin and Wright's other studio, Taliesin West, five times to negotiate elements of the design.
By May 1954, the house was expected to cost more than twice its original estimate, $124,000, in part due to its secluded site. The family hired local workers including the stonemason Jesse Wilson Sr. and the general contractor Herman Keys. Wilson and his son Jesse Jr. began working on the stone in September 1954, training a small group of workers to split the stone. One story has it that the stonemasons interpreted Wright's plans literally and found stones that were the same shape, and in the same locations as those that Wright had sketched out. Wright visited the site once, spending three hours there during its construction. During the visit, he expressed satisfaction with the stonemasons' work, and he relocated the house's site by while keeping the plans otherwise unchanged. Although the Friends of Fallingwater Newsletter wrote that Wright declined to assign an apprentice to oversee the project, Wilson said that one of Wright's assistants directed him to make a sample wall section, then left once he was satisfied with the results. Keys, meanwhile, convinced Wright to add reinforcement to the roof.
The cement work and the bases of each wall were completed by early 1955, at which point the Wilsons began laying the stone. The construction supervisor largely let the Wilsons alone because he was unfamiliar with the masonry-laying process. Two artisans were responsible for carving all the house's woodwork. The house ultimately cost $82,329; if furnishings are included, the total cost amounted to about $96,000 or $98,057. In addition to the furniture that Wright designed for Kentuck Knob, the Hagan family acquired other furniture. For example, the Kaufmanns' son Edgar Kaufmann Jr. took the Hagans to New York to buy Scandinavian furniture, and they hired George Nakashima to design additional pieces of furniture for the house.
In the years after the Hagans moved in, they made several modifications to the estate. For example, they planted thousands of tree seedlings outside the house, and Bernadette modified the landscape by adding earthen terraces and a pathway. The Hagans also added a small water fountain near the master bedroom, and they acquired a greenhouse from Fallingwater. Over the years, I. N. and Bernadette decorated the house with objects that they had acquired during their travels abroad, including two Thai prints. By the early 1980s, the Hagans wanted to sell Kentuck Knob, as I. N. had Alzheimer's disease, and Bernadette was worried that he would wander the estate and get lost. In 1983, Sotheby's Parke-Bernet began advertising Kentuck Knob for sale on behalf of the Hagan family, with an asking price of $675,000. This was the first time in the house's history that it had been placed for sale. Because Kentuck Knob was so remote, the house remained unsold for several years.
Shortly after the Palumbo family obtained the house, it was substantially damaged in a fire on May 26, 1986, after a gardener put away a hot lawnmower that subsequently threw out sparks. The blaze destroyed parts of the roof and caused smoke and water damage throughout the house, which was vacant at the time. After the fire, the Palumbo family renovated the interior, including the tidewater-cypress surfaces, and furnished the house with rare furnishings. Robert Taylor, who had helped design the house, was hired to design its renovation as well. Lord Palumbo added furniture by designers such as Frank Lloyd Wright, Carlo Bugatti, Charles Rennie Mackintosh, and Gustav Stickley. In addition, he decorated the estate with several pieces of modern sculpture. By the mid-1990s, the Palumbo family were often absent from the house for long periods, and they alternated between their various houses to reduce wear and tear at Kentuck Knob.
Within six months of opening to the public, Kentuck Knob had accommodated 13,000 visitors. In the long run, the Palumbo family wanted the house to be financially self-sufficient. The family also continued to add artwork to the grounds; for example, they acquired Ray Smith's artwork Red Army in 1997, and they obtained a George Rickey sculpture. In addition, Palumbo bought extra land to give his family privacy, and the house also began hosting limited tours during sunrise in the late 1990s. Lord Palumbo also considered hiring Frank Gehry to design a permanent visitor center for Kentuck Knob, in addition to a master plan for the entire estate. Palumbo decided against hiring Gehry after learning that the architect would charge $3 million for his design. Afterward, Palumbo bought next to the existing estate and hired Arthur Lubetz in May 2000 to design the visitor center for about $350,000. The visitor center began construction that November and was financed by the Progress Fund. The estate had accommodated more than 100,000 visitors by late 2000, and the visitor center was completed in May 2003.
In celebration of the house's 50th anniversary in 2006, three trees were dedicated on the grounds to honor the craftsmen that had helped erect the structure. The house continues to operate as a tourist attraction in the 2020s. The Palumbos no longer lived there (instead residing in a farmhouse nearby), but they continued to own Kentuck Knob and were involved in the house's operation. Tickets to the house include a tour of the house's interior and a walk around the estate; the house tour is led by a docent, while the tour of the grounds is self-guided. It is typically open to visitors between March and September of each year.
The design includes elements of organic architecture. For example, most of the stone for the house came from the estate itself, though the floors use stone from Maryland. Around of stone may have been used at Kentuck Knob. The house also has woodwork made of Tidewater red cypress, which was selected because the material did not rot easily; sources disagree on whether the wood came from Florida or South Carolina. Large amounts of glass are also used for the walls and rooftop . In a similar manner to a passive solar house, the building is oriented to the west and south, since the house primarily received natural light from these directions throughout the year. This orientation also allowed the living room to receive direct sunlight in the winter, but not in the summer. The bedroom wing, extending to the northeast, is partly embedded into the adjacent knoll. Kentuck Knob also includes typical Usonian features such as built-in furniture, narrow corridors, and a carport.
The main entrance is located within the house's core, where the wings intersect. A flagstone stoop ascends to a set of double doors, where there are a small canopy and glass panels protruding from the facade. Also on the facade, next to the entrance, is a small red tile where Wright inscribed his initials; this makes Kentuck Knob one of 19 buildings where Wright signed his name. A walkway with a flagstone pavement leads to the carport.
The facade itself is lit indirectly by recessed triangular light bulbs and is decorated with various geometric motifs. On the southern, western, and eastern elevations are doors reaching from floor to ceiling, as well as wood-framed , all of which contain plate-glass panes. The edges of one of the living-room windows are recessed within the stone wall, making it nearly imperceptible. The northern elevation has small Clerestory and deep eaves (or outward extensions of the roof) for privacy. The clerestories, near the tops of the facade, are composed of horizontal wooden cypress boards with cutouts.
The floors are mostly made of stone, except for the carpeted living room and a cork floor in the kitchen. The original plan called for a painted concrete surface, but the Hagans wanted a stone floor similar to Fallingwater's. The walls and ceilings use glass, wood, and stone, and the hardware throughout the house is made of brass. In addition, there is a radiant heating system embedded into the floor. Wright designed Kentuck Knob's built-in furniture, which is made of red tidewater cypress and was built to fit the dimensions of the house. There are also standalone furnishings designed by other decorators, including chairs by Hans Wegner, Finn Juhl, and George Nakashima, as well as a chest and two tables designed by Nakashima. Wright's associate Eugene Masselink designed a screen for the house as well.
The kitchen is hexagonal and measures around high. with a domed skylight made of plexiglass, Besides the skylight, the kitchen has no windows. The room has a cork floor, stainless-steel countertops and sink, and cypress cabinets, in addition to four stove burners that can be flipped down. There is a dining room to the south of the kitchen and east of the living room, which also faces the terrace to the south. The dining room's ceiling has hexagonal skylights, which are the same size as the horizontal cutouts in the eaves. The eastern wall of the dining room has a sideboard, while the window in the southwestern corner has Miter joint. The dining-room table is angled to fit within the hexagonal and triangular grid. The ceiling above the dining room measures high.
Unlike many of Wright's other homes, Kentuck Knob has a basement, which originally contained storage and laundry rooms. The hallway's eastern wall leads to a doorway that connects with a stairway to the basement. Shelves were installed in the basement's original storage room in the 1980s, and another storage room in the basement was added at that time. The Hagans had wanted a larger basement, but Wright downsized the basement for practical reasons; since the house was to be constructed on the side of a hill, a full basement would require more excavation than a partial basement.
Next to the bedroom wing is the carport, which extends northwest from the bedrooms, intersecting the bedroom wing at a 120-degree angle. The carport contains three parking spots separated by triangular piers; it has sandstone walls, a pea-gravel pavement, and a ledge on its rear wall. Behind the carport's rear wall is the studio, which was originally a pump room but was modified at Bernadette Hagan's request. Cypress doors connect the carport with the studio, which has clerestory windows, in addition to a storage closet on its eastern wall. As built, the house did not contain an attic because Wright disliked that design feature. When the house was being built, the Hagans added an attic for storage without telling Wright about it.
After Kentuck Knob opened to the public in 1996, a writer for The Daily American said that the house was "a hospitable, not formidable, estate", and a writer for The Patriot-News said that the house had a timeless aura because of "the forward-looking nature of Wright's design". Another critic, for the Richmond Times-Dispatch, regarded the house as having a "serene setting" and said the design gave the impression that the boundary between indoor and outdoor spaces had been blurred. A Post-Gazette writer, touring the house, described it in 2001 as having "the classiest clutter I've seen recently", despite Wright's aversion to cluttered homes. Ellen Uzelac of The Baltimore Sun wrote that the house has "a quiet quality ... a free-flowing movement and light that changes with the hour", while a writer for the Guelph Mercury said that Kentuck Knob's design exceeded that of a regular residence because it "exudes that unmistakable mania for detail, that sweeping appreciation for nature".
Several commentators have compared Kentuck Knob with Fallingwater. Van Trump said in 1964 that the houses "are completely different in site, outlook and construction". A writer for the Central New Jersey Home News said that the house was smaller in scale and cozier compared to Fallingwater, which was more akin to a palace. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette wrote in 2001 that, whereas Fallingwater was good for entertaining guests, "Kentuck Knob is a house you can actually imagine yourself cooking breakfast in or folding laundry while you watch TV". Other writers described Kentuck Knob as being cozy and welcoming compared with Fallingwater. A New York Times reporter called Kentuck Knob "a gem designed with Wright's trademark ingenuity" despite being "less spectacular" than Fallingwater, while another Times writer said that Kentuck Knob still had many noteworthy design details while being less crowded than Fallingwater. Lord Palumbo personally believed that Fallingwater was "the greater house, but it lacks the human dimension" compared to his own residence.
After Kentuck Knob was completed, Wright used local stone and tidewater cypress in some of his later designs. The hexagonal floor grid was also emulated in other Wright-designed structures; for example, in 1953 Wright created an apartment for Edgar Kaufmann Sr. with a hexagonal grid. In addition, the copper roof and stone facade of the Nemacolin Woodlands Resort alludes to the materials used in Kentuck Knob's design.
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