Attractions near the Lodge at Chalk Hill

Places to visit while at the Lodge at Chalk Hill

Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater and Kentuck Knob - Located just 20 minutes drive from the Lodge at Chalk Hill.

Fallingwater, one of Frank Lloyd Wright's most widely acclaimed works, was designed for the family of Pittsburgh department store owner Edgar J. Kaufmann.

The key to the setting of the house is the waterfall over which it is built. The falls had been a focal point of the family's activities, and they had indicated the area around the falls as the location for a home. They were unprepared for Wright's suggestion that the house rise over the waterfall, rather than face it. But the architect's original scheme was adopted almost without change.

Completed with guest and service wing in 1939, Falling water was constructed of sandstone quarried on the property and laid up by local craftsmen. The stone serves to separate reinforced concrete "trays," forming living and bedroom levels, dramatically cantilevered over the stream.

Fallingwater was the weekend home of the Kaufmann family form 1963 until 1973, when the house, its contents, and grounds were presented to the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy by Edgar Kaufmann, Jr. Fallingwater is the only remaining great Wright house with its setting, original furnishings, and art work intact.

In 1986, New York Times architecture critic Paul Goldberger wrote: "This is a house that summed up the 20th century and then thrust it forward still further. Within this remarkable building Frank Lloyd Wright recapitulated themes that had preoccupied him since his career began a half century earlier, but he did not reproduce them literally. Instead, he cast his net wider, integrating European modernism and his own love of nature and of structural daring, and pulled it all together into a brilliantly resolved totality. Falling water is Wright's greatest essay in horizontal space; it is his most powerful piece of structural drama; it is his most sublime integration of man and nature."

For more information visit: www.fallingwater.org

Kentuck Knob was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in the last decade of his career for I.N. and Bernadine Hagan.

Completed in 1956, this deluxe Usonian is nestled high in the Laurel Highlands of western Pennsylvania, just seven miles from Fallingwater and six miles from Route 40, the historic National Road. Constructed of tidewater red cypress, glass, and 800 tons of native sandstone, with a copper roof, the home embodies Mr. Wright's principles of organic architecture.

A sweeping view of the Youghiogheny River gorge, and surrounding hills and farmland, awaits at the end of the tour. A sculpture meadow with 35 major works enhances your visit.

Fort Necessity National Battlefield, located near Farmington, Pennsylvania, commemorates the first military engagement of the French and Indian War (known as the Seven Years' War outside of the United States). Established by an act of Congress in 1932, the park consists of three separate sections totaling about 900 acres (4 km). Here, George Washington commanded almost 400 troops in a failed early attempt to thwart French colonial expansion. What became known as the Battle of the Great Meadows, which was fought on July 3, 1754, sparked a long struggle between British and French colonial interests in North America, and in doing so helped cause the worldwide conflict known as the Seven Years' War. It is also the location of George Washington's only military surrender. Along with the fort and battlefield, the park also contains an historic tavern from the early days of the National Road and the grave of British military commander Edward Braddock.

For more information visit: http://www.nps.gov/fone

CHRISTIAN W. KLAY WINERY

The winery is open seven days a week.

At the walking distance from the lodge

For more Information visit: http://www.cwklaywinery.com

Located primarily in Fayette County, Ohiopyle State Park encompasses about 19,052 acres of rugged natural beauty and serves as the gateway to the Laurel Mountains. The focal point of the area is the more than 14 miles of the Youghiogheny [yaw-ki-GAY-nee] River Gorge that passes through the heart of the park. The "Yough" [yawk] provides some of the best whitewater boating in the Eastern U. S. as well as spectacular scenery. Surrounding Ohiopyle Falls is the Falls Day Use Area, the central point for the casual visitor. This area provides parking, modern restrooms, gift shop/snack bar, and overlook platforms with magnificent scenery.

http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/stateParks/parks/ohiopyle.aspx

Just 15 min. from Lodge at Chalk Hill.