Aline Barnsdall & Hollyhock House
In 1915, Aline Barnsdall, an oil heiress, first approached Frank Lloyd Wright not to build a house but a theater. A passionate supporter of the arts, she was a stage producer—earning critical acclaim for her avante-garde productions for children and adults alike in Chicago, New York, and Los Angeles (while awaiting a Wright-designed theater that never came). In 1919, she purchased Olive Hill, a 36-acre mount on Hollywood’s eastern edge and far north of downtown Los Angeles. With the site secured, the commission grew to include plans for the theater, a cinema, artist residences, commercial shops, two guest houses, and a residence for Barnsdall. For Hollyhock House, Barnsdall asked Wright to incorporate her favorite flower, the hollyhock, into the home’s design. The motif can be seen in cast stonework, art glass, furniture and textiles.
California captivated both Barnsdall and Wright, and here the architect had the opportunity to develop a new regional expression, which broke from the acclaimed Prairie style he had developed in the Midwest. He took inspiration from building precedents native to the Southwest—the Pre-Hispanic and the Pueblo. He also imbued his design with spectacle, fitting for an arts and theater complex and a client he described as being “as domestic as a shooting star.” With dramatic vistas, water features, and sweeping indoor/outdoor entertaining spaces, Hollyhock House was a theatrical statement and celebration of the region. Wright called it California Romanza.
However, by 1921 Wright had built only the main house and two guest houses. With project delays and cost overruns, he then left the project only partially realized. Within a few years, Barnsdall began to consider gifting the house and surrounding parklands to the City of Los Angeles. She never questioned the beauty or significance of Wright’s work on Olive Hill, but with early leaks and no theater to speak of, the house had lost its luster for Barnsdall. She did, however, reengage with Wright on numerous occasions after 1921, enlisting him to design a school house for the property as well as preliminary plans for another residence in Beverly Hills; neither were realized.
In 1927, Barnsdall gave Hollyhock House, 12 acres, and the Residence A guest house to the City of Los Angeles. Now with two Wright-designed houses, the Municipal Art Gallery, a theater, and art centers (all operated by the City’s Department of Cultural Affairs), Barnsdall Park has become the dynamic arts park that Aline Barnsdall had envisioned for Los Angeles.
A UNESCO World Heritage Site
On July 10, 2019, Hollyhock House was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List as part of “The 20th-Century Architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright,” which includes eight sites spanning 50 years of Wright’s career. The collection represents the first modern architecture designation for the U.S. In addition to Hollyhock House (Los Angeles’s only World Heritage Site), the group inscription includes Unity Temple (constructed 1906-09, Oak Park, Illinois), the Frederick C. Robie House (constructed 1910, Chicago), Taliesin (begun 1911, Spring Green, Wisconsin), Fallingwater (constructed 1936-39, Mill Run, Pennsylvania), the Herbert and Katherine Jacobs House (constructed 1936-37, Madison, Wisconsin), Taliesin West (begun 1938, Scottsdale, Arizona), and the Solomon Guggenheim Museum, (completed 1959, New York).
Timeline
| 1919 | Aline Barnsdall purchased Olive Hill (36 acres) for $300,000 |
| 1919-1921 | Hollyhock House constructed (planned cost: $50,000; actual cost: approximately $150,000). |
| 1927 | Hollyhock House and 11 acres donated by Aline Barnsdall to City of Los Angeles as an art park honoring her late father, Theodore Barnsdall. |
| 1927-1942 | California Art Club used Hollyhock House as its headquarters. |
| 1942-1946 | Hollyhock House sat vacant. |
| 1927-1942 | California Art Club used Hollyhock House as its headquarters. |
| 1946-1948 | Hollyhock House rehabilitation financed by Dorothy Clune Murray, who established the Olive Hill Foundation at Hollyhock House until 1956. |
| 1954 | Residence B, a Frank Lloyd Wright-designed guest house, was demolished. |
| 1954 | Frank Lloyd Wright-designed temporary art gallery constructed to host the exhibition Frank Lloyd Wright: Sixty Years of Living Architecture. It was demolished in 1969. |
| 1967 | Barnsdall Junior Arts Center constructed (architects Hunter and Benedict with Kahn, Farrell and Associates). |
| 1971 | Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery constructed (architects Wehmueller and Stephens). |
| 1974-1976 | Hollyhock House underwent a major restoration by the City of Los Angeles. |
| 1976 | Hollyhock House opened to the public as a house museum. |
| 2010-2014 | Hollyhock House restored with $4.36 million in funding from the City of Los Angeles, California Cultural and Historical Endowment, and the National Park Service. |
| 2016 | City of Los Angeles begins restoration of Residence A, the remaining Frank Lloyd Wright-designed guest house. |
| 2019 | Hollyhock House added to UNESCO World Heritage List along with seven other Frank Lloyd Wright structures. |
| 2021 | City of Los Angeles completes phase I of the Residence A restoration, including structural and seismic retrofits, building system upgrades, and reinstating exterior finishes. Phase II work begins and will provide interior detailing, furnishings, and finishes, as well as exterior landscaping to reopen the site to the public. |
Virtual Tour
The Hollyhock House Virtual Accessibility Experience allows you to explore Frank Lloyd Wright’s Hollyhock House virtually. With striking 360° photography, easy navigation, room descriptions, and collection highlights, this virtual tour provides an immersive and inclusive experience for visitors of all abilities.
Hollyhock House Archive
The Hollyhock House Archive contains original drawings and blueprints detailing plans for the ambitious arts complex that was partially realized by Aline Barnsdall and her architect Frank Lloyd Wright. With 81 digitized documents, this repository offers a closer look into the site’s rich history.
Preservation
Preserving LA’s one-and-only UNESCO World Heritage site is an ongoing effort, and the work began almost immediately after Frank Lloyd Wright completed construction in 1921. In recent years, the City of Los Angeles has undertaken transformative restoration projects at both Hollyhock House and Residence A, the Wright-designed guesthouse also in Barnsdall Park.
Education
Frank Lloyd Wright revolutionized how we live and build. Learn about the architect’s principles of design as seen at Hollyhock House. Age-specific art activities for kids inspire hands-on exploration. Guides, puzzles, and digital resources provide new opportunities for all to engage with Los Angeles’s only UNESCO World Heritage site and its rich history as a center for the arts.
Current Events
Hollyhock House offers free virtual IN FOCUS Live Tours on Facebook. Check the calendar for upcoming tours led by expert docents, which provide a special look at the site and its history with the chance to ask questions.
Interested in exploring other Frank Lloyd Wright sites too? Once a month, Wright Virtual Visits on Facebook presents a live tour of two public sites exploring a shared topic or theme.
Hollyhock House has been involved in the Wright Virtual Visits program since its inception in April 2020, when sites prerecorded and shared short, informal videos on partner sites, highlighting specific design features and spaces. Check out the tours of sites like Fallingwater, Taliesin West, and Unity Temple HEREand tours of Hollyhock House created for partner sites HERE.
