Frank Lloyd Wright's House on Kentuck Knob Revenue

About Frank Lloyd Wright's House on Kentuck Knob

In 1953, Bernardine and I.N. Hagan purchased 80 acres in the mountains above Uniontown, in Western Pennsylvania, where their families had lived for generations. After falling in love with their friends, the Kaufmann's home, 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 86, and hard at work on the Guggenheim Museum in New York, the Beth Shalom Synagogue in Elkins Park, Pennsylvania and about 12 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 to be 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 50’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. “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.” Kentuck Knob opened for tours in 1996.

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