Hollyhock House - History

History

Barnsdall originally intended the house to be part of an arts and theater complex on a property known as Olive Hill, but the larger project was never completed. This was Wright's second project in California, and, 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 designing the house to his assistant, Rudolph Schindler, and his son, Lloyd Wright.

Disillusioned by the costs of construction and maintenance, Barnsdall donated the house to the city of Los Angeles in 1927 under the stipulation that a fifteen-year lease be given to the California Art Club for its headquarters, which it maintained until 1942. 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. It was again restored, and is currently open to the public as of June 2005.

The U.S. Department of the Interior designated Hollyhock House a National Historic Landmark in 2007. It was the seventh site in the city of Los Angeles to receive that designation.

In 2008, the U.S. National Park Service submitted the Hollyhock House along with nine other Frank Lloyd Wright properties to a tentative list for designation as World Heritage Site. The ten sites were submitted as one total site.

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.