DIRTYBOY VISITS : The Aline Barnsdall Hollyhock House

Built in 1919 - 1921, the Aline Barnsdall Hollyhock House sits atop a hill where Hollywood Blvd meets Vermont in Los Angeles, CA. Originally designed by Frank Lloyd Wright as a residence for oil heiress Aline Barnsdall, the building is now the centerpiece of the city's Barnsdall Art Park.

Born in Bradford, Pennsylvania, Aline's grandfather, William Barnsdall, drilled the second producing oil well in the United States, establishing the fortune that would finance her philanthropy and her extensive travels. Her interest in the American stage led her to Chicago, where she met Frank Lloyd Wright, whose work she admired. In 1915 she hired Wright. The Hollyhock House was Wright's first Los Angeles project, which he referred to as California Romanza.

Ms. Barnsdall originally intended the house to be part of an arts and theater complex on a property known as Olive Hill. Preoccupied with designing the Imperial Hotel in Japan at the time, Wright delegated many of the responsibilities to his assistant, Rudolph M. Schindler, and his son, Lloyd Wright

Disillusioned by the costs of construction and maintenance (see FACTS below), Ms. Barnsdall donated it to the city of Los Angeles in 1927. Beginning in 1974, the city sponsored a series of restorations of the house to try to restore it, but it was damaged again in the Northridge Earthquake in 1994. It was again restored, and is currently open to the public.

On April 4, 2007, the U.S. Department of the Interior announced that The Hollyhock House had been declared a National Historic Landmark. It is the seventh site in the City of Los Angeles to receive that designation.

FACTS culled from Tour of the house:

- The inspiration for much of the design detail of the house came from Wright's fancy for the Hollyhock plant, which he uses extensively throughout the building's design. Almost Mayan and Balinese like, they facet every corner and angle playing with light and shadow.

- The internal walls of the house angle toward the ceiling from the ground up. This is because Wright felt furniture should never be up against walls of a house; that they should be allowed to 'breathe' in their own space, ergo the angled walls preventing any furniture from touching them. He designed and created all the furniture seen in the house too.

- The entrance foyer inside the house is framed by an ultra low ceiling. My fellow visitor, Calvert Wright who's 6'4" felt literally boxed in. Frank Lloyd Wright felt that on entering the house, people should immediately proceed to enjoy the rest of the house and not linger in the foyer. Hence, the claustrophobic ceiling!

- The first mistake Wright made while designing his California Romanza was his lack of understanding of So Cal, or rather Los Angeles weather. He perceived the sunny, arid conditions to be year round and was unaware of the cold nights and the one month of rain the city revels in each year (not always). For example, gaps were left between the beautiful front doors and frame. While this allowed for an exchange of air between the exterior and interiors of the house during the day, it let in the damp cold of the night, which wasn't welcomed especially in the winter.

- Wright's grand design and concept for the house included representations of the elements of Water and Fire, and including them into the architecture of the living spaces in the house. The culmination of this is seen in the main living room, where water from the pond on the exterior of the house travels in a constructed stream which enters the house and ends in a pool beneath the fireplace. Skylight also shafts into this area. Unfortunately, when the rains came and overfilled the pond outside, it flooded the entire sunken living room, damaging furniture and infuriating Barnsdall. Because of this occurrence and other conflicts, Schindler was tasked with completing further developments of the house which included an upper level. There were, of course visible differences in its design, most noticeably, the walls.

by PHIL HAN
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