Hollyhock House

About

The Hollyhock House is a house museum at Barnsdall Art Park in the East Hollywood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, United States. The house, designed by the architect Frank Lloyd Wright for the heiress Aline Barnsdall, is named for the hollyhock-inspired motifs in its design. The main house, incorporating elements from multiple architectural styles, consists of three wings around a central courtyard. It was built alongside two guesthouses called Residence A and B, a garage building, the Schindler Terrace, and the Spring House. Rudolph Schindler, Richard Neutra, and Wright's son Lloyd Wright helped design the main house and the other buildings.

Barnsdall had tentatively planned to build a theatrical complex since 1915, and she acquired the site, then known as Olive Hill, in 1919. She hired Wright to design the complex, plans for which were revised multiple times. The house and its outbuildings, completed in 1921, were the only parts of the complex to be built, though they were not used for theatrical purposes. The Los Angeles city government acquired Hollyhock House and some of the surrounding land in 1927, establishing Barnsdall Park and leasing the main house to the California Art Club for 15 years. Barnsdall retained one of the guesthouses until her death. Dorothy Clune Murray leased the main house in 1946 and began renovating it. The city government added a temporary art-gallery wing in the 1950s; the wing was closed in 1967 and demolished soon afterward. Further renovations to the main house took place in the 1970s and the early 21st century.