Frank Lloyd Wright’s Hollyhock House, an iconic architectural masterpiece in the heart of Barnsdall Park in the East Hollywood district of Los Angeles was recently added to the UNESCO World Heritage List.
The first Los Angeles landmark to be designated a World Heritage Site, Hollyhock House is part of a UNESCO group officially titled the 20th-Century Architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright, which includes eight major works spanning 50 years of the famed architect’s career.
Oil heiress Aline Barnsdall commissioned the house as the centerpiece of a cultural arts complex on Olive Hill, which was to include a major theatre, cinema, artist residences, and commercial shops.
For Hollyhock House, her personal residence, Barnsdall asked Wright to incorporate her favourite flower, the hollyhock, into the design. In 1927, Barnsdall donated the house and the surrounding 12 acres (now Barnsdall Park) to the City of Los Angeles. Today, Hollyhock House is owned and operated by the Department of Cultural Affairs (DCA).
