Hollyhock House Designed for Aline Barnsdall
Frank Lloyd Wright's First Los Angeles Project, 1919-1921
May 18, 2009
The Hollyhock House was Frank Lloyd Wright's first project in Los Angeles. The original thirty-six-acre site is on a parcel of land once called "Olive Hill" with a striking view over the city straight to the Pacific Ocean. The subject of Barnsdall's Hollyhock House has been the subject of numerous studies. The most definitive is Kathryn Smith’s “Frank Lloyd Wright: Hollyhock House and Olive Hill.”
Architect Frank Lloyd Wright
Wright is an architectural icon who developed a truly American form of architecture in the 20th century. Beginning his formative career as an apprentice to Louis Sullivan, Wright's early work consisted largely of designing private homes. A large number of these homes were built in Oak Park, Illinois, which serves as a lasting record of his Prairie School movement of architecture. The Hollyhock House was designed toward the end of his Prairie House era and directly followed the folding of his domestic architectural practice.
Aline Barnsdall
Aline Barnsdall, a native of Pennsylvania, was wealthy philanthropist and an unconventional woman in her time. With an affinity for arts and theater, she traveled to Chicago in 1910 as the director of a theater company. There, she first met Frank Lloyd Wright and was taken with his designs. In 1915, Barnsdall commissioned Wright to build the Hollyhock House to serve as an experimental arts and theater community including a private residence, a theater, guesthouse, dormitories, and studios for visiting artists.
Hollyhock House Design
The main house, designed for Barnsdall and her daughter, is a sophisticated system of split levels and terraces organized around a central courtyard. Numerous large glass windows provide spectacular views of the surrounding gardens and landscapes.
The hollyhock, Barnsdall's favorite flower, is employed as a central theme throughout the house. The abstracted flower motif was designed by Wright and is incorporated through relief sculpture on the exterior. On the interior, the abstracted hollyhock design is found in the woodwork, leaded glass windows, and even carpeting.
The Hollyhock House is an outstanding example of Wright's ability to relate a building to its site through interconnecting private and public spaces. Wright seamlessly extended each major interior space to a corresponding exterior garden or terrace, often only separated by a glass door or colonnade.
One such innovative -- yet ultimately unsuccessful -- means of integrating the interior and exterior space was with a small moat that surrounded the massive fireplace in the large sitting room. The moat connected to an outdoor pool via a small underground stream, but often became stagnant and posed a problem indoors.
Hollyhock House Construction and Completion (1919-21)
Unlike most of his other projects, Frank Lloyd Wright did not directly supervise the construction of the Hollyhock House, as he was preoccupied with designing the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo, Japan. He left much of the responsibility to his son, Lloyd Wright and his assistant, Rudolph Schindler.
Barnsdall and Wright's relationship was strained throughout the construction process due to his absence and propensity to run over budget. Due to conflicts regarding design and cost, the campus plan was left largely unrealized. Aline Barnsdall only lived in the house a very short time before donating it along with the surrounding eleven acres to the City of Los Angeles in 1927 for use as a public art park.
Friends of the Hollyhock House (FOHH)
Following years of being leased to various organizations, disrepair, and earthquake damage, the Friends of Hollyhock House have worked to gain awareness of the house in addition to raising funds for restoration projects. The Hollyhock House is open to the public by guided tour only. Visit the Friends of Hollyhock House website for tour pricing and hours. The tour highly recommended, as the Hollyhock House has been impeccably restored with care to its original appearance.
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