Louis I. Kahn was an influential American architect known for his unique approach to design and his mastery of form, light, and materials. A few months before his passing, he completed a commission to design a six-bedroom house in Fort Washington, Pennsylvania, for Steven and Toby Korman. The house, which embodies Kahn’s signature style, represents a significant moment in his career and stands as a testament to his enduring legacy in the field of architecture.
Kahn Korman House Technical Information
- Architects: Louis Kahn | Biography & Bibliography
- Location: Broad Acre Rd, Whitemarsh, Fort Washington, Pennsylvania, United States
- Topics: American Houses, Brick Architecture
- Project Year: 1971 – 1973
- Photographs: © Cemal Emden, © Matt Wargo, © Jon Rohrer
An architect can build a house and build a city in the same breath, if he thinks about it as being a marvelous, inspired, expressive realm.
– Louis Kahn
Kahn’s Legacy: The Kahn Korman House
Louis Isadore Kahn was an American architect based in Philadelphia. After working in various capacities for several firms in Philadelphia, he founded his atelier in 1935. While continuing his private practice, he served as a design critic and professor of architecture at Yale School of Architecture from 1947 to 1957.
A few years before his death, in 1973, the architect Louis I. Kahn completed the commission from Steven and Toby Korman to design a six-bedroom house in Fort Washington, Pennsylvania: a project that began in 1971. The Korman House represents Kahn’s unconventional and enduring vision of the American country home.
The Korman house is the largest and most glamorous of the private homes Kahn built, with nine bathrooms, six bedrooms, and a two-story, glass-walled living room. The house showcases exquisite materials, with its exterior composed of cypress, glass, and brick, featuring three 30-foot brick chimneys and a concrete foundation. The interior comprises Douglas fir beams, white oak, and pine ceilings.
Architecture and Spatial Experience
The Korman House unfolds as a study in proportion, materiality, and the interplay of light. Its exterior combines cypress, glass, and brick, anchored by three monumental 30-foot brick chimneys and a concrete foundation. Inside, Douglas fir beams, white oak, and pine ceilings create a warm yet rigorous domestic environment.
The entry hall centers on a vertical sequence of Douglas fir beams that frame the staircase, establishing rhythm and order from the basement to the roof. Beyond that, the double-height living room dissolves the enclosure with floor-to-ceiling glass walls that open directly onto the surrounding fields. This dramatic gesture brings the landscape into the house, giving the space both intimacy and a sense of expansiveness.
Private areas are carefully organized on the second floor: three children’s rooms, a guest suite, and a large master bedroom with its own fireplace. The balance between shared gathering spaces and secluded retreats reflects Kahn’s sensitivity to family life.
Enduring Legacy
While Kahn is best known for monumental works such as the Salk Institute or the National Assembly Building in Dhaka, the Korman House reveals how his architectural principles translated to the scale of a dwelling. It embodies his disciplined detailing, respect for natural materials, and poetic choreography of structure and light.
Today, the house continues to serve as a year-round residence for the Korman family’s second generation. More than half a century after its completion, it remains a destination for architects and students worldwide, offering rare insight into Kahn’s vision of the home as both timeless and profoundly human.
About Louis Kahn
Louis Isadore Kahn (1901 – 1974) was a renowned American architect and educator based in Philadelphia. He was one of the most influential architects of the 20th century, known for his unique architectural style and innovative ideas. Kahn’s work is characterized by his use of massive, monolithic forms and a focus on the honesty of materials and construction. His buildings often reveal the weight of their materials and the way they were assembled, giving them a sense of monumentality.
Some of Kahn’s most important works include the Phillips Exeter Academy Library, the Kimbell Art Museum, the Salk Institute, and the Jatiyo Sangshad Bhaban. These buildings, along with his influential teaching and writing, solidified Kahn’s legacy as one of the great architects of the modern era. Today, his ideas continue to shape the field of architecture and inspire new generations of architects and designers.
Full Bio of Louis Kahn | Works of Louis Kahn
- Kahn, “The Room, the Street, and Human Agreement” (AIA Gold Medal acceptance speech, Detroit, June 24, 1971), AIA Journal 56 (September 1971): 33. From Brownlee and De Long. Louis I. Kahn, 203.
- Louis I. Kahn: Complete Works (English and German Edition) by Klaus-Peter Gast
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