Late last month, a ceremony was held for the unveiling of a plaque that recognized the beloved Hollyhock House, built by famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright, as Los Angeles’s first UNESCO World Heritage site.
Rep. Adam B. Schiff (D-Burbank), Los Angeles City Councilman Mitch O’Farrell, and officials from the city’s Department of Cultural Affairs attended the event. O’Farrell states, “The structure represents an unparalleled symbol of cultural heritage and an outstanding contribution to design in the city of Los Angeles…”
The house is located in what is now known as Barnsdall Art Park. It was built in 1919 and 1921, as a personal residence for oil heiress Aline Barnsdall. Wright incorporated the hollyhock flower to the building’s concrete exterior design because it was Barnsdall’s favorite flower.
Back in July 2019, the Hollyhock House was inscribed as one of the eight sites on “The 20th-Century Architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright,” which is part of the UNESCO World Heritage List. Unity Temple in Oak Park, Illinois, the Frederick C. Robie House in Chicago, Taliesin in Spring Green, Wisconsin, Fallingwater in Mill Run, Pennsylvania, the Herbert and Katherine Jacobs House in Madison, Wisconsin, Taliesin West in Scottsdale Arizona, and the Solomon Guggenheim Museum in New York complete the list that represents the first modern architecture designation in the country.
Visitors can tour the interior and exterior of the house as well as the gardens for a small admission price. Docent-led tours are also available. For more details, please visit their website at httpss://barnsdall.org/ .
