Page 52 - The Hunt - Winter 2019/2020

TRAVELER
By Sharon Hernes Silverman
Romanza Holiday
Frank Lloyd Wright’s Hollyhock House shines a light on the past.
When oil heiress Aline Barnsdall decided to create a performing arts complex, complete with residences and a theater, she enlisted architect Frank Lloyd Wright to helm
the project. Southern California and its nascent entertainment industry drew the pair west. Barnsdall purchased 36 acres on a Los Angeles hilltop, and Wright designed several structures for the property, with Hollyhock House serving as Barnsdall and her daughter’s home.
Construction began in 1919, but cost overruns, technical problems and personality conflicts surfaced almost immediately, leading Barnsdall to fire Wright two years later. She never lived in the house, instead donating the buildings and 12 acres—now known as Barnsdall Art Park—to the City of Los Angeles in 1927. Although her grand plan wasn’t realized, Hollyhock House
survived. This National Historic Landmark is an architectural treasure that offers a fascinating glimpse into design, construction, history and the two iconoclasts responsible for its existence.
Wright and Barnsdall were kindred spirits in many ways. Neither let conventional morality dictate their behavior. Barnsdall was educated in Europe, pursued a career
in theater and music, supported radical
causes, and didn’t try to hide the fact that her daughter, nicknamed “Sugartop,” was born out of wedlock. Wright left his wife and kids to pursue an affair with Mamah Borthwick Cheney, who was married to one of his clients.
The architect and the heiress also shared
an interest in Asian art, recognized the dominance that Los Angeles would soon have in theater and movies, and understood that “freedom” and “power” really meant “money.”
Aline Barnsdale and her daughter at Hollyhock House, circa 1923.
Barnsdall’s Olive Hill land purchase was 82 THE HUNT MAGAZINE winter 2019-20
COURTESY OF DAVID AND MICHAEL DEVINE (ABOVE) COURTESY OF HOLLYHOCK HOUSE