Frank Lloyd Wright Aline M. Barnsdall House (Hollyhock House)
The Hollyhock House is one of the most famous landmarks in California. It has been one of the most popular tourist spots for tourists visiting Los Angeles, California for decades and decades. The Hollyhock House was constructed in the period of 1919 to 1921 by the expert architect Frank Lloyd Wright. In fact, just because of the fact that Frank was going to architect the house, it became famous and people were curious about its structure, even before its completion. The house was initially meant to be used as the residence of the very famous oil heiress Aline Barnsdall. She requested Frank to be in charge of the construction project, because she wanted to have a perfectly architected home in her own style. Frank started the construction work and worked on the designs very well, much to the delight of Aline Barnsdall. But at that time, he had to concentrate on Imperial Hotel, Japan and he was not able to be physically present during the construction of Hollyhock House. However, after its completion, Aline Barnsdall was not satisfied with the amount of money spent on the house and she was also concerned about the large amount of money that was required to maintain a house of that magnitude. So, she donated it to Los Angeles after a few years.
The house’s construction method is something that is still marveled by people and it is very attractive to look at, to say the least. It is filled with a highly planned system of small windows, tilted walls, roof terraces, split levels, and many other innovative designs. The entire theme of the house is based on the hollyhock plant and the genius of Frank in bringing out the similarity between the plant’s structure and the house’s structure is appreciated by a lot of architects even today. The U.S. Department of Interior has declared the Hollyhock House a National Historic Landmark recently and ever since that announcement, the house has become even more popular. |
