fayette county, pennsylvania

Renato, Gina and I are on the summit at Kentuck Knob the other Frank Lloyd Wright house in south-western Pennsylvania. (We started off the day at Fallingwater.) My great-grandparents’ three oldest children were Salvatore, Francesco and Michele. Francesco was my grandfather and Michele was Renato’s father.

Kentuck Knob is a one-story house on Chestnut Ridge, the western-most ridge of the Allegheny Mountains. The home is recessed into the southern side of the 2,050 foot peak. And the summit offers a sweeping view of the Youghiogheny River gorge.

Wright never set foot on the site before designing the house. He made a short visit during the construction phase and one of the local engineers pointed out that the cantilevered porch-roof did not have enough supports. Wright supposedly went back to Taliesin and had one of his minions make the necessary corrections. This would be one of the last homes Wright completed.

It’s always a great surprise to my Canadian relatives when I drive them into the mountains and we show up at places like Fallingwater and Kentuck Knob. There are no comparable houses in Canada.

Renato and Gina visited for four days and we spent Saturday in the Ohiopyle area. It was fun taking them around; I haven’t had visitors for a while and it was great to go back to Fallingwater and Kentuck Knob. (They texted once they crossed over into Canada and the subject was snow. Yuck!)