- Reservations: Tickets for tours can be purchased at the Municipal Art Gallery on the grounds and reservations are not required except for large groups
- Cost: Admission fee to tour inside, but you can see the outside anytime the park is open
- Location: Near the intersection of Hollywood Boulevard and Vermont Avenue, directions below
- How Long: Allow 1.5 to 2 hours
- Best Time to Visit: Public tours given Wednesday through Sunday, but closed on all major holidays. Clear days will give the best views.
Visiting Hollyhock House
Hollyhock House tours are scheduled to last an hour, but it's not uncommon for an enthusiastic docent with a curious tour group to take longer to see everything. Try to arrive at least 45 minutes before tour time or plan to stay a half hour after to watch the film about the Hollyhock House restoration, which is shown in the museum lobby on request. To see all of Hollyhock House, you should be able to walk up a few steps at the entrance and to climb up and down the staircase inside.
Unfortunately, there is no cafe or gift shop at Hollyhock House. However, this is a great place for a picnic.
You can see the outside of Hollyhock House even when it isn't open for tours as long as the surrounding park is open and it's worth a stop just for the panoramic city views. Some of the landmarks sights you can see from the hilltop include the Griffith Observatory (large white structure with black, dome-shaped roofs), the Hollywood Sign. The large, mud-colored structure almost directly across the valley is the Ennis House, another Frank Lloyd Wright-designed home.
Hollyhock House History
The design motif for Hollyhock House was taken from owner Aline Barnsdall's favorite flower, a tall-stemmed plant with flowers running up the stems. Architect Frank Lloyd Wright created a formalized, geometric interpretation of it which he used throughout. Combining many architectural styles for his first California commission, Wright named the style California Romanza. Breaking his own rule that a house should never sit on top of a hill but instead just below the "brow," he sited Hollyhock House squarely on the hilltop to take advantage of 360-degree views that are some of the best in the Los Angeles basin. Hollyhock House was built between 1919 and 1923.
Oil heiress Aline Barnsdall was an independent young woman who loved the arts. She purchased a large tract of land and intended to build an arts colony that would include a home for herself and her young daughter, two secondary residences, artsts' apartments, a theater and shops where resident artisans could sell their creations.
While Hollyhock House was being built, Wright was busy working on Tokyo's Imperial Hotel, and travel to the far-away city took 11 days each way by boat. Barnsdall also traveled extensively, and the two rarely found time to meet. Wright left details of Hollyhock House's construction to his son Frank and Rudolph Schindler, both of whom became influential Los Angeles architects.
Poor communication plagued the project, leaving Barnsdall frustrated and she later complained about many parts of the house she didn't like. Like most Wright projects, costs far exceeded estimates. By the time three residences were built, Wright and Barnsdall parted ways and the rest of the complex was never realized.
Barnsdall eventually moved to one of the smaller residences and after her death, Hollyhock House was used for various purposes. By the 1950s, one of the residences had been torn down. Today, the second one languishes in need of repair. A seismic retrofit project finished in 2005 made Hollyhock House safe for tours and facilitated the research needed to restore the living room to its original color scheme. However, much remains to be done to completely restore Hollyhock House to its original state, and you may still find peeling stucco or plastic draped over the roof to keep out the rain (a problem exacerbated by Wright's refusal to install rain gutters because they were unsightly).
Getting to Hollyhock House
Hollyhock House
4800 Hollywood Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA
323-644-6269
Hollyhock House Website
From US 101 southbound, exit at Hollywood Boulevard, turn left onto Hollywood Boulevard and right into the entrance to Barnsdall Art Park. Hollyhock House is at the top of the hill.
From US 101 northbound, exit at Vermont Avenue, turn right onto Vermont Avenue and left onto Hollywood Boulevard. Turn left into the entrance to Barnsdall Art Park.
You can get to the Hollyhock House on the MTA Red Line, but it's a long walk up the hill to reach it. Get off at the Vermont/Sunset stop.
