Builder Walter J. Hall’s Pennsylvania Home Lists for $2.8 Million

Long before indoor-outdoor living became a hallmark of modern architecture, pioneers like Richard Neutra, Rudolph Schindler, and Frank Lloyd Wright were designing homes that seamlessly blend into the landscape and use it as an extension of the interior spaces. Wright arguably mastered the idea more completely than anyone, creating residences that seemed to grow directly from their natural surroundings. For Fallingwater in Pennsylvania, the architect enlisted builder Walter J. Hall (1878–1952) to help realize the now-iconic home dramatically cantilevered above a wooded stream.

What’s less widely known is that Hall—who closely followed Wright’s career and drew inspiration from his early work—created a modernist retreat of his own before construction even began on Fallingwater. Built in 1935 on eight acres above Pennsylvania’s Allegheny River Valley, the terraced residence known as Lynn Hall uses rough-cut stone, natural light, and its idyllic setting as key components of the design.

Flat, cantilevered rooflines cut a striking horizontal profile across the landscape.

Angelo Re

Last year marked 90 years since Hall began work on the “country inn” and home that he and his wife, Beda, envisioned as where they would raise their family and run a roadside restaurant, press materials say. She died as ground was breaking, but Hall was determined to see their shared vision through. When completed, Lynn Hall was used as a personal hideaway where holiday parties, events, and dinners often took place. Over the years, it was expanded, and today, the original four-bedroom main house is complemented by what’s been dubbed an “architect’s suite” and a Usonian-style apartment, both attached to the house, and a separate two-bedroom Usonian-style cottage. 

When he died in 1952, the compound passed to his son Raymond Viner Hall, also an architect, who closed the restaurant. The younger architect had by then already put his own stamp on the property, designing the one-bedroom “architect’s suite” in 1939 and, in the 1940s, the integrated two-bedroom Usonian apartment with sandstone floors and mahogany built-ins. The younger Hall died in 1981, and as the property continued to pass down through the family, it fell into despair, Hall’s granddaughter Susan Hall Wheeland told The Wall Street Journal.

Inside a open living area featuring stone and sleek mahogany details throughout.

Arthur Kharzamanov

Gary Devore, who’s bought and renovated multiple historic homes, picked up the property in 2013 and sold it in February 2017 for $250,000 after realizing the renovation exceeded his funds to Florida residents Adam Grant and Rick Sparkes. Grant and Sparks have since poured roughly $1.5 million into the estate, which has resulted in restored tapestry-style stonework and rich mahogany finishes throughout.

We seriously considered just driving away,” Sparks said. Still, the organic architecture and unique opportunity drew them in. The former restaurant and dance hall were converted to living spaces; they moved into the cottage while redoing the plumbing and electrical components of the main residence. 

The guest cottage is accessible via a narrow pathway from the main house.

Angelo Re

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Among the other issues that required substantial work, they cited an electrical room on the first floor that was entirely “encased in ice,” a collapsing side of the exterior, and a “disgusting” smell they remember upon first entry. They eventually repaired collapsed floors; preserved the original heating grills and steel-framed Hope’s Windows—the same brand used at Fallingwater; and got a waterfall flowing again.

The most expensive property on the market in the area, Lynn Hall is available for $2.75 million with Cass Zielinski of Piatt Sotheby’s International Realty.

Click here for more photos of the Pennsylvania home.

Arthur Kharzamanov

Authors

Demetrius Simms

Demetrius Simms is a digital staff writer at Robb Report. Following a brief stint in public relations, their work has now appeared in lifestyle and culture publications such as Men’s Health, Complex…

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