Can this house really be found in State College, PA? One feels on observing it that the viewer has been transported to a palace from the Arabian Nights. Actually it can quite easily be found on the other side of the hill going south from the Post Office (just be careful of the one-way street).
Like the many contemporary houses in general in the area, the artistry of Phil Hallock is a best kept secret. And like Frank Lloyd Wright’s Taliesen home in Wisconsin, the dwelling has been a continuous work in progress, with four major stages of completion.
Much of the construction was done by Phil himself, along with help from his deceased wife Kitty. Throughout the home one finds various shades of their favorite color, purple. Perhaps you have seen Phil or his son driving around town in their purple Corvette or Camaro. Just look fast because even in his nineties, Phil still loves to zip, and he recently trimmed the large hedge to the right.
This view is of the northwest corner of Prospect and Fraser Streets.
A new master bedroom suite occupies the top floor behind a screened sun porch.
A new dining room, den, and workshop are on the right of the main level.
The main entry to the home is up a stairs of natural stones.
The entry to Phil’s offices is at ground level to the right.
Phil’s dried money plant welcomes visitors in the entry way.
Likewise, one of Phil’s lamps welcomes visitors inside the door.
The new dining room has a divider buffet and hutch between it and the kitchen.
Phil centered the range for efficient cooking and service.
To the left of the entry, the former outside patio area is now the deck area for the indoor lap pool. Notice how the glass panels are beveled into the stone columns.
Kitty loved to swim, so Phil created this radiantly heated indoor lap and diving pool for her.
The spiral staircase leads up from the main floor to the master bedroom suite.
A divider wall separates the sleeping area from the dressing and bathroom areas.
From the front sitting area, a door leads to an enclosed sun porch.
The bathroom was jointly decorated by Kitty and Phil.
The entry to the dressing area is open from the sleeping area.
The adjoining sun porch features more of Phil’s money plant.
In addition to his architectural skills, Phil is an excellent amateur horticulturalist and cabinet maker. He is shown below in his well-equipped workshop with a bucket of seeds which he harvested from his flower gardens. Less obvious are his sliding pegboard tool holders; there are several layers of tools on pegboards which efficiently store his extensive tool assortment. In addition to his built-in furnishings, a special interest is the design and construction of lamps; these may be found scattered throughout the house. A selection of his annuals, featuring purple, of course, is shown above.
