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Perched inconspicuously atop the 36-acre hilltop of Barnsdall Art Park, Frank Lloyd Wright’s Hollyhock House is a zenith of Los Angeles architecture. Wright designed the home at the behest of oil heiress Aline Barnsdall with construction beginning in 1921. Following a tense couple of years of design and construction, Barnsdall expressed profound disappointment with the results. But in Wright’s failure to meet her vision, he created a structure that earned the acclaim of the city and, officially as of July 2019, the world.
Dreams of Olive Hill
Long before we’d recognize it as Barnsdall Art Park, the pastoral hill that overlooked Hollywood to the east and Downtown LA to the west was simply known as Olive Hill. Despite its tiny stature compared to the looming ridges of Griffith Park just a mile or so to the north, Olive Hill tended to inspire colossal plans. For one, it was the prophesized post-apocalyptic seat of the 11 queens central to the beliefs of the controversial Blackburn Cult throughout the 1920s. But at the same time, it was the focus of a more subdued, pragmatic dream held by oil heiress Aline Barnsdall.
Barnsdall had already publicly established her as a staunch feminist. But her passions also bled into a patronage of the arts. She was particularly thrilled by avant-garde theater and planned to use Olive Hill as the launchpad for a collaborative arts community. To bring her concept to fruition, she hired architect Frank Lloyd Wright who had only designed one other structure in Los Angeles. During this period, Wright’s name was often mired in scandals derived from extramarital affairs as well as personal tragedies. The fact that Barnsdall looked past the gossip showed her commitment to her vision. Unfortunately, the collaboration was not to be a happy one.
Unlike the majority of his other projects, Wright was not commonly onsite at Olive Hill. Rather, his immediate attentions were consumed by his commitments to the Imperial Hotel he was concurrently designing in Japan. In a vain attempt to keep Hollyhock House on schedule, Wright delegated many of his responsibilities to his assistant, Rudolph Schindler, and son, Lloyd Wright. You may recall Lloyd as the designer of the home that inspired our first LA Home Spotlight, the Sowden House.
The Design Eccentricities of Hollyhock House
Though Wright employed an architectural style he dubbed “California Romanza”, it’s easy to see the distinctly Mayan influences Wright and his son favored through several designs in their careers. The Mayan Revival style is perhaps more obvious in the aforementioned Sowden House. We most recently discussed the aesthetic when covering Monrovia’s Aztec Hotel. But you can see its insinuations in Hollyhock House’s exterior walls, inverted at an 85-degree angle.
Hollyhock House exemplified a theme of blending indoor and outdoor spaces that ran through much of Wright’s architectural oeuvre. It seemed to mirror a request from Barnsdall to create a home resplendent with the wonders of nature; something as much garden as sanctuary. Wright designed rooftop terraces framing panoramic landscapes, pergolas swathed in gracefully hanging flora, and colonnades that insinuated boundaries while remaining open to the pastoral splendors of Olive Hill.
In a way, Hollyhock House offers to the public a visually confounding puzzle box as much as a home. The recessed windows tend to blend right in, sunk back into shadows and further obscured by intricate details. Mitered glass conjoins to create corners that don’t quite keep the natural world at bay. This was a design novelty the architect would further explore in his revered Pennsylvania masterpiece Fallingwater.
Attempts to Appeal to Barnsdall’s Interests
Speaking of water, Wright intended the flowing element to be instrumental in his designs for Hollyhock House. The central courtyard housed a pool that would drain through a tunnel into a moat at the structure’s perimeter, culminating in a lavish fountain. Perhaps in an allusion to Barnsdall’s love of theatre, Wright created a series of steps, platforms, and terraces in the courtyard that conjured images of grand stages. It’s worth noting that not a single production would be enacted upon those platforms.
Wright also prioritized the symbol of the Hollyhock with the knowledge that it was Barnsdall’s favorite flower. The structure seemed to be saturated with visions of hollyhock blossoms. They’re insinuated in stained glass windows, solidified in the ceramics of colossal planters, and characterize finials like concrete flags in the kingdom of Hollywood. Even in its partialness to symmetry, Hollyhock House is redolent with allusions to its namesake.
Yet, this bouquet of concrete hollyhocks left Barnsdall far from enamored. The deadline and budget of Hollyhock House continued to stretch onward as Wright remained in Japan. In her frustrations, Barnsdall fired Wright in 1921. Her ambitious arts complex stalled out at the three buildings Wright had completed. It was still quite an accomplishment. The residence spanned 17 rooms and seven bathrooms. And even aside from the artists’ preferred themes and hallmarks, it offered novel wonders. For example, it may be the first home to feature a built-in entertainment center, just to the right of the entryway.
Barnsdall Rids Herself of Hollyhock House
Yet, Barnsdall seemed to only muster disdain for the resulting structure. While Wright’s reference to “California romanza” spoke to a concept of liberty over form, Barnsdall no doubt felt trapped by the home and its financial pitfalls. The architect had designed it more as an art piece than a functioning environment capable of meaningfully providing shelter. Water was constantly finding its way into the building and leaving considerable damage. And its intricate concrete designs didn’t account for earthquakes. In the wake of such disappointment, Barnsdall completely abandoned her plans for an artists’ complex. Even more telling, she spent few nights in its walls.
By 1923, her contempt for Hollyhock House was so significant that she offered to donate it to the city along with 11 acres of her property. Initially, the city rejected the offer, perhaps assessing the high cost of maintaining a property like Hollyhock House. But in 1927, they finally accepted, including her caveat: that a 15-year lease be extended to the California Art Club. For the next 15 years, Hollyhock House served as its headquarters. When that lease expired in 1942, the historically significant home came very close to being razed.
The Rich Renovation of Hollyhock House
Unlike many of the classic homes we’ve profiled, Hollyhock House remained in decent condition throughout the years. Since 1974, the city has footed the bill for a series of comprehensive restoration projects aimed at preserving the integrity of one of LA’s most historically revered architectural feats. Extensive damage from the 1994 Northridge earthquake was quickly repaired.
Yet, its most ambitious restoration project began in 2005 under the direction of non-profit organization Project Restore. Under this 10-year project, experts conducted restoration work on Hollyhock House that covered a series of the building’s prominent features including:
- Flooring
- Doors
- Wooden fixtures
- Windows
- Stone art fixtures
- Plaster
In addition, efforts began in 2010 to renovate the following aspects of Hollyhock House:
- Water damage repair
- Water damage prevention
- Seismic reinforcement
- Restorative work on historic features
- Reversal of past amendments to structural design
Public Acclaim for Hollyhock House
In February 2015, after a prolonged closure, Hollyhock House once again opened for public tours. The highly awaited event was heralded with a 24-hour continuous cycle of tours that was so popular that people were waiting up to three hours for a glimpse inside the legendary home.
Hollyhock House was ordained a National Historic Landmark in 2007. The restoration efforts spearheaded by Project Restore would go on to earn the 2015 Conservancy Preservation Award. But perhaps the most prestigious of Hollyhock House’s accolades came in July 2019 when it became among the first modern American structures to be included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. All of the other buildings that made the list were also Wright creations.
Hollyhock House remains a distinct design in Wright’s portfolio; a physical segue between his Prairie style and his favoritism for block structures that would overtake his work throughout the 1920s. Today, you can still find it standing proudly at the axis of Barnsdall Art Park. Perhaps it’s not quite the artist commune that Aline Barnsdall wanted. But genius so rarely takes requests.
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