Kentuck Knob, National Historic Landmark residence in Chalkhill, United States.
Kentuck Knob is a private residence in Chalkhill, Pennsylvania, recognized as a National Historic Landmark and situated on a wooded hilltop in the Allegheny Mountains. The curved form of the building uses red cypress wood and local sandstone, with large glass surfaces offering views of the surrounding forest and valleys.
The Hagans bought 79 acres near Uniontown in July 1953 and asked Frank Lloyd Wright, then 86, to design a Usonian house; it was completed in 1956. Wright worked from photographs and the landscape profile without visiting the site. The Hagans lived there until 1986, when they sold to Lord Peter Palumbo; a fire shortly afterward led to renovations, and the house opened for tours in 1996.
The name comes from Little Kentuck, a hill named by 18th-century settler David Askins, who planned to move to Kentucky but settled in Fayette County instead. The Hagans bought the land in 1953 and planted about 8,800 trees, including Canadian hemlock, sugar maple and white oak. The visitor center sells British products, and a sculpture meadow holds works by Andy Goldsworthy, Claes Oldenburg and Anthony Caro, plus two graffitied pieces of the Berlin Wall.
Guided tours run from March through November between 9 AM and 4 PM, with Wednesday tours starting at noon. The house sits on a ridge and requires sturdy footwear, as paths cross uneven terrain.
Wright signed Kentuck Knob with an embossed metal plaque, making it one of the first houses he treated as a signed artwork. The house was designed without Wright ever visiting the site, working only from the landscape profile and photographs supplied to him.
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