Day 4 - Fallingwater and... at DennyGibson.com

Day 4: August 25, 2022
The Wright Stuff
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Here are three of the four statues sculptures created by Alan Cottrill for Nemacolin Resort. That's George Washington in the center with the Marquis de Lafayette on his left and Albert Gallatin on his right. The fourth, Chief Nemacolin himself, originally stood on a boulder behind this group but has apparently been separated from them. I'm sure he's on the grounds somewhere but when I attempted to seek him out, I learned that only registered guests are allowed through the gates and unknown statue stalkers must turn around. Of course, the highly visible copy atop Cottrill's digs in Zanesville is much closer for me anyway.

I got ready for my big day with buckwheat cakes made with a hundred year old recipe at Braddock's Restaurant & Tavern.

I called this a big day because it is the day that the rest of the trip was organized around. The trip came about because of a desire to see Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater. Another Wright designed house, Kentuck Knob, is so close that I scheduled a tour of it for the same day. Kentuck Knob came first. A shuttle transports guests from the visitor center to the house. I arrived well ahead of my scheduled tour so had plenty of time to look around the gift shop and the surrounding area. The current owner is a British nobleman, Baron Palumbo, who collects art and displays some of his collection at Kentuck Knob. Some, like the phone booths and mailbox, come from England. The pissoir is from France. I don't know the geographic origins of the plows or bird houses. Almost everything at ground level has at least one "DO NOT TOUCH" plaque attached to it. The lone exception is the mailbox although I don't know if it's an intentional exception or if it once had tag that has been lost. Either way, I took advantage of the situation to satisfy an urge that had been building as I looked over all the other items.

Linda, our guide, gave us some background information during the shuttle ride and some more in front of the house. The house was built in the 1950s for I.N. and Bernardine Hagan. The Hagan's visits to Fallingwater prompted them to buy land nearby and hire Wright to design their home. They sold it to Lord Palumbo in 1986. No photos are allowed of the interior which made me extra aware of just how bad morning lighting is for photographing the outside of a house. Photos are allowed on the deck as long as cameras are pointed away from the house. That meant I could get an "on board" shot of the prow-like feature that Linda had pointed out from the bus. The water feature in the last picture was not designed by Wright. Another architect was hired to add it and Bernardine Hagan called it her "little Fallingwater". There is no record of Wright's thoughts on the addition.

The first two pictures here are of the view that can almost be seen in the picture from the deck in the previous panel. They are here to remind us why the Hagans and Kaufmannns (Fallingwater) chose to live here. The houses are certainly beautiful but this view looks the same from a discount store tent as from a Frank Lloyd Wright house.

We could return to the visitors center via shuttle or by walking a path that passed numerous objets d'art. Most of our group decided to walk. One of the things we could see from the path was the other side of that prow. The path was all downhill; sometimes frighteningly so. As stated, many objets d'art were placed beside it but the didn't photograph well. (i.e., I didn't photograph them well.) I did photograph the two pieces of Berlin wall on display. One is by the walking path and the other is by the paved drive but visible from the path.

The Hagans made their money with a regional chain of ice cream shops. Although it is no longer in the family, the brand does still exist, uses the old recipes, and is available in the cafe by the visitors center. I had mint chocolate chip.

I also reached Fallingwater well ahead of my scheduled tour but instead of roaming through retired phone booths, I got moved to an earlier slot. Lynne, the guide for this tour, began by distributing small radio receivers so that everyone in the group could hear her clearly as we moved. She gave us background information as we walked toward the house and gave notice when it would be coming into view. Before it was actually visible, it could only be glimpsed through the trees. The cantilevered layers are apparent from the bridge over Bear Run and the small platform from which toes can be dangled in the water can be seen. Photos are allowed in some parts of the house and the first one I've included from inside shows the sliding glass cover and the steps that lead to that platform.

A fireplace hearth is the top of a large boulder around which the house was built. Most of the furniture was designed by Wright. The pool is on the top floor of the guest house. The water is clear but algae on its sides and bottom makes it look green. It is drained and cleaned a few times each year. A local resident at the right side of the picture doesn't seem to mind the color at all.

The last two pictures were taken after the tour. They show the iconic "postcard" view of Fallingwater. The Kaufmannns had planned on a home with a view of the waterfall. It was Wright's idea to build in on the waterfall. These pictures may have been taken from about where they originally intended to build.

I made a brief stop at the Searight tollhouse which is pretty much a match for the LaVale and Addison tollhouses I saw yesterday.

One of my favorite ladies, the Pennsylvania Madonna of the Trail monument.

I've eaten at Century Inn but had not stayed there previously. A devastating fire in 2015 closed it for a couple of years and it was just starting to reopen when COVID-19 hit. It's now back to operating normally. The first nonliving thing rescued from the fire was the 1794 Whiskey Rebellion flag that is again displayed on the tavern wall.

While sitting at the bar, I noticed the National Cash Register name on the unfamiliar object in front of me and asked about it. It is a ticket/receipt box that is now used for tips. The box and the bar both survived the fire with the former leaving a permanent mark on the latter. I spent the night in the Albert Gallatin room. I did not get a picture of the people filled dining room where I ate dinner but I did get a picture of my seafood pasta.

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