May 25th. Kentuck Knob and Cucumber Falls.

Another gorgeous day with a mix of sun and cloud and a high of 20C…perfect for being out and about again.

This was our first visit to Kentuck knob because on our initial trip to Fallingwater we had not realized that it was even there until it was too late to include a visit This time we were ready for it. The visitor centre is about a 15 minute walk from the house itself with a shuttle bus that takes guests up there. On the return, the bus is optional. The grounds around the visitor centre and all the way up around the house there are multiple art objects and installations starting with the little birdhouse village.

Kentuck Knob is a much later FLW design…. He was in his 80s when undertaking this project. Apparently at the same time as the Guggenheim.

The Hagans (the ice cream people) were friends with the Kauffmans ( who commissioned Fallingwater. ) The advice they received was to quote Wright half of their maximum budget, in hopes that when finished the inevitable ballooning of the budget, for which Wright was famous, would end up near what they could afford. (We were told that the project actually finished under the figure they had in mind. Another unique occurrence for FLW….I doubt he ever knew that tho….!!)

The frieze around the windows is made up of all the shapes used in the construction of the house. It is a lovely detail from both the inside and the outside. (No pictures allowed inside.) The house contains only 2 right angles, in the bathroom, but even with that it does not feel gimmicky or forced and the entire building flows quite naturally.

It is distinctly FLW…. But also quite dramatically different….and totally worth the price of admission.

It is a place that if I lived here…. I might never leave….for any reason at all….!!! It is currently owned privately by Lord Peter Palumbo who is a huge fan of FLW and he also filled the grounds with many other large art pieces. Inside the house there is an extensive collection of pieces from various other FLW properties including the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo.

The many varied sculptures include kinetic and sound sculptures (which are fascinating..!!) and a chunk of the Berlin Wall.

The view out over the Pennsylvania hillsides is serenely beautiful.

….and some incredible fungi friends along the path…..

I have to include some butterfly pictures…..we did not actually manage to take any decent ones…(so I used downloaded images of the ones we saw ) but as we walked down through this beautiful forest sculpture park…the butterflies were dancing around us.

The drive up to Kentuck Knob had taken us past the trails at Bear Run, (which warranted more investigation and resulted in the walk included in the last post.)…and past Cucumber Falls, a spot that had been recommended by a couple of people we met.)….So we stopped at Cucumber Falls on the way home.

Cucumber Falls

It was a stop that we would not have made without the recommendations as the walk is 1.8km……..

But it’s less of a hike and more of a spectacular viewing platform. Par for the course….the photographer monkey scrambled over the rocks to capture some more dramatic images….

Its a very impressive rock formation…that got itself protected back in the day…!!!

(_{All the pictures are clickable should you wish for a clearer view. Clickable links for more information are underlined.} )

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