Local Attractions

Exploring The Laurel Highlands

The best thing about a visit to Latrobe Country Club is that not only are you able to enjoy a great round of golf, but you're surrounded with an endless list of nearby activities. The beautiful Laurel Highlands is a vacationer's paradise. Whether you're staying for just a day or an entire week, you'll never run out of things to do. This striking 100-mile region of Pennsylvania's highest mountains and sparkling rivers offers fantastic outdoor recreation, historic and cultural sites, amusement parks, numerous festivals, eclectic dining, antiquing, fun shopping and much more.

Tour French & Indian War sites as the region continues to commemorate the 250 th Anniversary of this event with a re-enactment of General Edward Braddock's march to attack the French at Fort Duquesne. Or stroll the grounds of Fort Ligonier where you can take in the permanent exhibit of "George Washington Remembers: Reflections of the French & Indian War."

Since 1964 more than 3.5 million people have visited Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater, in nearby Mill Run, PA. This marvelous piece of architecture was designed in 1935 for the family of Pittsburgh department store owner Edgar J. Kaufmann. The home is actually built over a waterfall. Bruce Pfeiffer, Director of Frank Lloyd Wright Archives says it is, "Unquestionably the most famous private residence ever built."

"If you're an outdoor enthusiast, you are only a stone's throw from some of the best white water rafting and rock climbing in the entire eastern half of the United States."

If you're an outdoor enthusiast, you are only a stone's throw from some of the best white water rafting and rock climbing in the entire eastern half of the United States. Should you come visit during the winter season, Seven Springs Mountain Resort is nestled 3000 feet above sea level atop the Laurel Mountains. With 31 ski slopes and trails, Seven Springs offers every level of skiing challenge imaginable. However, if you like your outdoors served up in a little more serene fashion, not to worry. The Laurel Highlands Hiking Trail offers 70 miles of hiking and backpacking that follows the Laurel Ridge from the Youghiogheny River at Ohiopyle to the Conemaugh Gorge near Johnstown. There are eight overnight shelter areas along the trails and clear markings throughout.

If you bring the kids along be sure to check out nearby Idlewood amusement park in Ligonier. It features a wonderfully maintained collection of traditional wooden roller coasters, merry-go-rounds and other rides for younger children. If you like the latest and greatest high-speed coasters and thrill rides, then take a short drive to Kennywood. Both parks also have their own wet and wild waterparks for cooling off.

"The Laurel Highland's charming towns, cities and back-country roads are filled with antique shops with one-of-a-kind items."

And don't forget shopping. The Laurel Highland's charming towns, cities and back-country roads are filled with antique shops with one-of-a-kind items. Award-winning wineries and breweries dot the hillsides. Shopping venues in the Laurel Highlands are as original as the merchandise being offered. You'll come upon a glass center in a renovated train station, specialty shops and eateries in a former grist mill and there's even an opera house in a century-old building.

This is a just a quick sampling of things-to-do. If you would like a complete listing of activities and events, be sure to check out www.laurelhighlands.org.

Falling Water

No visit to Western Pennsylvania would be complete without visiting one of the most famous homes ever constructed, Fallingwater by Frank Lloyd Wright. Fallingwater is Wright's most noted work, and in a 1991 poll of members of the American Institute of Architects, it was voted "the best all-time work of American architecture." It is an incredible example of Frank Lloyd Wright's concept of organic architecture. Fallinwater promotes harmony between man and nature through design so well integrated with its site that buildings, furnishings, and surroundings become part of a unified, interrelated composition.

Designed in 1935 for the Edgar J. Kaufmann family of Pittsburgh, Wright responded to the family's love for a waterfall on Bear Run, a nearby rushing mountain stream. Copying a natural pattern established by its rock ledges, Wright placed the house over the falls in a series of cantilevered concrete "trays," anchored to masonry walls made of the same Pottsville sandstone as the rock ledges. Even though the house rises over 30' above the falls, strong horizontal lines and low ceilings help maintain a sheltering effect. Almost as much floor space is taken up by outdoor terraces as indoor rooms.

Construction started in 1936, and ended with the completion of the guest house in 1939. The Kaufmann family used Fallingwater as a weekend or vacation home until the 1950's, when their son inherited it. Edgar Kaufmann, Jr., by then a Curator at New York's Museum of Modern Art, continued using Fallingwater until he entrusted it to the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy in 1963. His gift was lauded by the architectural community as a commendable act of preservation during a time in which many Wright-designed buildings were being demolished or in serious states of disrepair.

Fallingwater is the only great Wright house open to the public with its setting, original furnishings, and art work intact. Nearly all of the original Wright-designed furnishings are still in place. Fine art, textiles, objets d'art, books, and furnishings collected by the Kaufmann family from the 1930's through the 1960's are on view. Included in the collections are works by Audubon, Tiffany, Diego Rivera, Picasso, Jacques Lipchitz, Richmond Barthe, and woodblock prints by Japanese artists Hiroshige and Hokusai - gifts from Frank Lloyd Wright to the Kaufmanns.

Building Fallingwater was a complicated operation, yet the resulting house seems to belong quietly in its setting. It fits into the hillside and extends out over the falls as if it has always belonged there. Within it, the areas for social life, privacy, and service are clearly separated but conveniently linked. Frank Lloyd Wright's masterpiece continues to unite human life, architectural form, and nature. Don't miss it.