Wikipedia

Hollyhock House

The Aline Barnsdall Hollyhock House is a residence in the East Hollywood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, United States. Designed by Frank Lloyd Wright for the oil heiress Aline Barnsdall, it was built between 1919 and 1921. The house is now the centerpiece of the city's Barnsdall Art Park. It is noted for developing an influential architectural aesthetic, which combined indoor and outdoor living spaces.[4] In July 2019, it was added as a UNESCO World Heritage Site along with seven other buildings designed by Wright.[5] The building is also a National Historic Landmark.[2]

Hollyhock House
The Hollyhock House
Location4800 Hollywood Boulevard, Los Angeles, California, United States
Coordinates34°06′00″N 118°17′40″W / 34.10000°N 118.29444°W / 34.10000; -118.29444
Built1921
ArchitectFrank Lloyd Wright
Architectural style(s)Mayan Revival architecture
Governing bodyLocal
CriteriaCultural: (ii)
Designated2019 (43rd session)
Part ofThe 20th-Century Architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright
Reference no.1496-004
RegionEurope and North America
Official nameAline Barnsdall Complex
DesignatedMay 6, 1971[1]
Reference no.71000143
Official nameAline Barnsdall Complex
DesignatedApril 4, 2007[2]
DesignatedApril 1, 1963[3]
Reference no.12
Hollyhock House is located in the Los Angeles metropolitan area
Hollyhock House
Location of Hollyhock House in the Los Angeles metropolitan area
Hollyhock House is located in California
Hollyhock House
Hollyhock House (California)
Hollyhock House is located in the United States
Hollyhock House
Hollyhock House (the United States)

History

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Aline Barnsdall originally intended the house to be part of an arts and live-theater complex on a property known as Olive Hill, but the larger project was never completed.[6] This was Wright's second project in California (the first one being the George C. Stewart House, 1909, in Montecito). Atypically for Wright, he was not able to personally supervise much of the construction due to his preoccupation with designing the Imperial Hotel in Japan at the time. He delegated many of the responsibilities involved in completing the house to his assistant, Rudolph Schindler, and his son, Lloyd Wright. The elder Wright was fired from the project in 1921 due to cost overages on the project.[7]

Disillusioned by the costs of construction and maintenance, Barnsdall donated the house to the city of Los Angeles in 1927[8] under the stipulation that a fifteen-year lease be given to the California Art Club for its headquarters. The club was there until 1942 when the house was almost demolished.[9] The house has been used as an art gallery and as a United Service Organizations (USO) facility over the years. Beginning in 1974, the city sponsored a series of restorations, but the structure was damaged in the 1994 Northridge earthquake.

On April 10, 2000, the building was again closed to the public for a three-year renovation and seismic retrofit.[10] Following delays,[11] Hollyhock House reopened in mid-2005.[12]

 
Lighted round-fountain pool and long lines at the re-opening, 2015

In 2005, Project Restore, a non-profit organization dedicated "to the historic restoration and preservation of the civic integrity of the City of Los Angeles," initiated a 10-year restoration project.[13] The $4,359,000 restoration, spanning 2008 to 2014,[14] included work on the building's floor, wood, doors, windows, art stone, and plaster. In January 2015 it was announced that, following the extensive renovations, the house would once again open for tours on February 13.[15] The free 24-hour event drew large crowds through the night, with many waiting in line for over three hours for admittance.[16] On February 15, 2014 self-guided "Walk Wright In" tours commenced, running Thursdays through Sundays.[17] Tours were paused due to the COVID-19 pandemic but resumed on August 18, 2024.[18]

Architecture

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Southwest terrace detail with abstracted Hollyhock blossom reliefs.

As with many of Wright's residences, Hollyhock House has an "introverted" exterior with windows that seem hidden from the yard, and is not easy to decode from the outside. The house is arranged around a central courtyard with one side open to form a kind of theatrical stage (never used as such), and a complex system of split levels, steps and roof terraces around that courtyard. The design features exterior walls that are tilted back at 85 degrees (which helps provide a "Mayan" appearance sometimes referred to as the Mayan Revival style), leaded art glass in the windows, a grand fireplace with a large abstract bas-relief, and a moat. Water is meant to flow from a pool in the courtyard through a tunnel to this inside moat, and out again to a fountain.

The front doors are stepped similarly to the entryway. The split doors rest on pins and swing open easily despite their massive weight. The keyhole is concealed with a decorative flap.

The hollyhock (Aline Barnsdall's favorite flower) is used as a central theme to the house, with many symmetrical decorations adapting the plant's general appearance.[9] Planters are decorated with the motif and filled with the plants themselves, and Wright's stained glass windows feature a highly stylized hollyhock pattern. An interesting feature is the mitered glass corners at the windows; an early idea Wright later used at Fallingwater. Wright notably referred to the architecture of Hollyhock House as "California Romanza", borrowing from a musical term translating to "freedom to make one's own form."[19]

Hollyhock House has 17 rooms and seven bathrooms.[20] The entertainment room contains possibly the first built-in entertainment center, complete with LP-sized cabinets along the floor. Other notable rooms include a child's play area as well as a modernist kitchen, which long housed the museum gift shop.

Hollyhock House proved to be better as an aesthetic work than as a livable dwelling. Water tended to flow over the central lawn and into the living room, and the flat roof terraces were conceived without an understanding of Los Angeles's rains. The cantilevered concrete also did not stand up well to the area's earthquakes.

There were a considerable number of revisions. Two smaller structures, called Studio Residences A and B, were built on the grounds. Residence A still stands. Barnsdall also commissioned a private kindergarten which was never built. The property also includes a smaller building designed by modernist architect Richard Neutra.[7]

Impact

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Landmark designations

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The U.S. Department of the Interior designated Hollyhock House a National Historic Landmark in 2007.[21] It was the seventh site in the city of Los Angeles to receive that designation. The house was included in a list of all time "top ten" Los Angeles houses in a Los Angeles Times survey of experts in December 2008.[22] The United States Department of the Interior nominated the Hollyhock House to the World Heritage List in 2015, alongside nine other buildings.[23][24] UNESCO added eight properties, including the Hollyhock House, to the World Heritage List in July 2019 under the title "The 20th-Century Architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright".[25][26]

Media

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The house and grounds were used as the temple of the Piranha Women in 1989's Cannibal Women in the Avocado Jungle of Death.

Friends of Hollyhock House

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The Friends of Hollyhock House (FOHH) helps to increase public awareness of Frank Lloyd Wright, Aline Barnsdall, and Hollyhock House through public tours, special events, and the Friends of Hollyhock House Library, a small research library containing books and articles on Wright and Barnsdall. All docents are members of FOHH.

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  •  
    Tunnel-like entrance with hollyhock carvings
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    Hollyhock House living room, with fireplace and skylight (toward the southeast, 1965) The fireplace hood features a geometric sculptured relief by Wright.
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    View over the round pool, with the central courtyard and living room beyond (2005)
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    View over the round pool, with the central courtyard and living room beyond (1921)
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    Round pool after restoration (2015)
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    Part of central courtyard and overhanging with stairway leading to roof terrace, 1921
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    Hollyhock House from downhill with children playing in pool, 1921
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    Hollyhock House from downhill, 1921
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    Hollyhock House with broad flat lawn, ornamental square pool, showing parts of the wings layout, 1921
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    Hollyhock House, and ornamental square pool, Los Angeles, 1921
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    Wright's glass designs recall the hollyhock theme; note the glass corner
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    Hollyhock carvings decorate this exterior planter

See also

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  • Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monuments in Hollywood
  • List of Registered Historic Places in Los Angeles
  • Storer House
  • California Art Club
  • Ennis House
  • List of Frank Lloyd Wright works
  • Storrer, William Allin. The Frank Lloyd Wright Companion. University Of Chicago Press, 2006, ISBN 0-226-77621-2 (S.208)

References

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  1. ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. January 23, 2007.
  2. ^ a b "Aline Barnsdall Complex". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. Archived from the original on November 14, 2007. Retrieved October 9, 2007.
  3. ^ Department of City Planning. "Designated Historic-Cultural Monuments". City of Los Angeles. Archived from the original on June 9, 2010. Retrieved June 15, 2010.
  4. ^ "The 20th-Century Architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright". UNESCO World Heritage Centre. Archived from the original on August 9, 2019. Retrieved July 7, 2019.
  5. ^ Kamin, Blair (July 7, 2019). "Column: Why the addition of Frank Lloyd Wright buildings to World Heritage List is a big deal". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on July 12, 2019. Retrieved July 8, 2019.
  6. ^ Friedman, Alice T. (2006). Women and the Making of the Modern House. Yale University Press. p. 35. ISBN 0300117892.
  7. ^ a b Barragan, Bianca (July 8, 2019). "Frank Lloyd Wright's Hollyhock House now a UNESCO World Heritage site". Curbed LA. Archived from the original on September 23, 2020. Retrieved August 26, 2020.
  8. ^ Marantos, Jeanette (August 3, 2019). "Want to see more of Frank Lloyd Wright's Hollyhock House? Now you can". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on August 10, 2019. Retrieved August 10, 2019.
  9. ^ a b Castillo, Andrea (February 23, 2020). "Plaque marks Frank Lloyd Wright's Hollyhock House as L.A.'s first UNESCO World Heritage Site". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on February 23, 2020. Retrieved February 24, 2020.
  10. ^ Rabin, Jeffrey L. (April 10, 2000). "Hollyhock House Restoration Starts". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved December 24, 2024.
  11. ^ Boehm, Mike (March 25, 2005). "Patched and polished, a Wright fixer-upper prepares to reopen". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved December 24, 2024.
  12. ^ Preservation: The Magazine of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Preservation: the magazine of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The Trust. 2005. p. 37. Retrieved December 24, 2024.
  13. ^ "About". Project Restore LA. Archived from the original on October 1, 2020. Retrieved August 26, 2020.
  14. ^ Heet, Erika (February 11, 2015). "A Frank Lloyd Wright Gem in Los Angeles Reopens to the Public". Dwell. Retrieved December 24, 2024.
  15. ^ Boone, Lisa (February 6, 2015). "Frank Lloyd Wright's Hollyhock House to reopen". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on January 23, 2021. Retrieved February 8, 2015.
  16. ^ Lelyveld, Nita (February 14, 2015). "At Hollyhock House, thousands celebrate an architectural treasure". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on February 15, 2015.
  17. ^ "Hollyhock House Tours". Barnsdall Art Park. Retrieved December 24, 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  18. ^ "Frank Lloyd Wright's Hollyhock House, Los Angeles". web.archive.org. August 6, 2022. Retrieved December 24, 2024.
  19. ^ "Hollyhock House". Los Angeles Conservancy. August 16, 2024. Retrieved August 16, 2024.
  20. ^ Roderick, Kevin (June 10, 2017). "Photos from inside Hollyhock House today". LA Observed. Retrieved December 24, 2024.
  21. ^ "Interior Secretary Kempthorne Designates 12 National Historic Landmarks in 10 States". U.S. Department of the Interior. Archived from the original on October 27, 2007. Retrieved May 12, 2008.
  22. ^ Mitchell, Sean (December 27, 2008). "The best houses of all time in L.A." Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on December 27, 2008. Retrieved December 27, 2008.
  23. ^ Hopey, Don (January 30, 2015). "Fallingwater one of 10 Wright structures nominated for World Heritage List". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. ISSN 2692-6903. Retrieved December 9, 2024.
  24. ^ "Ten Frank Lloyd Wright Buildings Nominated for UNESCO Distinction". Metropolis. May 17, 2022. Archived from the original on November 28, 2024. Retrieved November 28, 2024; Winston, Anna (February 3, 2015). "Frank Lloyd Wright buildings nominated for UNESCO World Heritage List". Dezeen. Archived from the original on July 2, 2024. Retrieved November 28, 2024.
  25. ^ "The 20th-Century Architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright". UNESCO World Heritage Centre. Archived from the original on July 9, 2019. Retrieved July 7, 2019.
  26. ^ Tareen, Sophia (July 8, 2019). "Guggenheim Museum Added to UNESCO World Heritage List". NBC New York. Archived from the original on July 8, 2019. Retrieved July 8, 2019.
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