Lynn Hall restoration continues / By Martha Knight

The restaurant, home, architect’s studio and landmark known as Lynn Hall used to seem as if it had emerged from the hillside along Route 6, three miles past Port Allegany toward Smethport. So much a part of its setting was the sprawling building, with its indigenous stone, a viewer could imagine Walter Hall and his crew “discovering” it by removing the surrounding earth and rock.

In recent years, though, viewers could have had the impression that the hillside, or Nature, was swallowing up the manmade beauty of Lynn Hall, re-assimilating the building by degrees, with giant evergreens obscuring it and dropping layers of needles, frost heaving the stone, water washing out mortar.

Lynn Hall is the only place in the Port Allegany area that is on the National Register of Historic Places. But it looked as if it might become history, in the worst sense. People would comment about its plight, and say, “What a shame!” But who could rescue it? What prince would chop through the tree-hedge and waken this beauty?

Gary and Sue DeVore took on that task when they bought Lynn Hall over a year ago. Much has been accomplished since they took up residence in the small house up the drive from Lynn Hall. For one thing, this stunning example of prairie architecture stands clear of the shadows, those towering evergreens having been taken down. (How did Shaun Nance perform that feat, so close to the building and the highway? Very carefully)

From the outside it is obvious that much has been accomplished in restoring water features, masonry, entryways, windows and structural soundness in general. The late Walter Hall, the builder/engineer, understood construction better than architect Frank Lloyd Wright, the architect who designed fabulous Fallingwater, built by Hall after his Lynn Hall project was underway.

Lynn Hall was a popular restaurant, decades ago. More recently it was the home of Walter Hall’s son, prominent architect Raymond Viner (R.V.) Hall, who also had his architectural studio and home there, and made extensive changes.

Inside the sprawling structure the DeVores have made great strides, painstakingly restoring it area by area to its original appearance and using authentic materials. Recently the turned the water back on, and discovered to their joy that not a single pipe leaks.

Volunteers have helped. This past summer a group of teenagers from a Christian program arrived on a “mission” to work on the project. They contributed their energy and willingness, and probably developed valuable skills in the process.

The DeVores are highly qualified teachers of such skills. Between them they  have nearly 50 years of experience in architecture, construction and building rehabilitation. Gary grew up working with his father, a stone mason and builder. Later he was able to oversee maintenance and construction at summer camps, including grounds and as many as 50 buildings at a site. He also dealt with utilities, roads and landscaping

Susan, native to this area, believes she inherited, or absorbed, some of the “hard-working culture of the Swedes here in northwest Pennsylvania,” and describes herself as “a willing partner in both destruction and construction.” Gary says she takes the lead in decoration and finish.

Gary’s architectural training came from the University of Wisconsin School of Architecture, an exponent of prairie style architecture followed by Wright and Hall the builder, and in his turn, Hall the architect.

Memorabilia of the Halls’ building and designing careers are preserved and displayed in Lynn Hall. Some were rescued by some members of the Hall family, some by the DeVores when they carefully extracted as much as they could from the studio area. Gary laments that many other drawings, plans and records could not be saved after years of water damage and mold. More recently other documents and photographs have been donated by community members and collectors.

Lynn Hall is a monument to Walter the builder and R.V. the architect, as the DeVores saw the project going in, and as they are carrying it out. They have become walking, talking repositories of Hall lore, the connection between Walter Hall and Wright, R.V. Hall’s own powerful influence on architectural style and his many projects in this area and elsewhere.

Visitors stop by, and the DeVores graciously interrupt their labors to take them on little tours. Virtual tours can be taken at www.lynnhall-restoration.com.