Frank Lloyd Wright's Hollyhock House: The Illustrated Story of an Architectural Masterpiece

by Donald Hoffmann

Book Overview

At the behest of oil heiress Aline Barnsdall, the twentieth century's greatest architect created one of his most imaginative and controversial residential designs. Built in Hollywood in 1920-21, Hollyhock House attests to the genius of Frank Lloyd Wright and was eventually designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. This splendid home and its construction are documented here in more than 120 illustrations -- photographs, floor plans, elevations, sketches,...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0486271331
• ISBN13: 9780486271330
• Release Date: April 2017
• Publisher: Dover Publications
• Length: 128 Pages
• Weight: 0.20 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 9.3" x 10.8"

Customer Reviews

Hollyhock Blame Game

I have owned this book for well over 10 years and it is worn from the many times I have referred to it. My attraction to the Hollyhock House has been the Mayan temple aesthetics. I have within the last couple of days found the time to actually read it. It is strictly a black and white book with no color at all. However, the photos are either from around the time it was built or post 1947 after FLW's son Lloyd Wright renovated it. This house was built during the construction of the Imperial Hotel which means that FLW did not spend much time in the States. The owner/contractor/architect team was very dysfunctional. A design this unique needed FLW to conduct site visits which he turned over to one of his draftsman, R. M. Schindler. Even Lloyd Wright avoided the house construction and spent his time landscaping Olive Hill. One of my favorite excerpts from one of his letters to the owner Arline Barnsdale in his explanation for why things went wrong or simply did not go at all is "Nobody really cared to protect the rich woman or understand the freak architect and his fool-work anyway......" In spite of such dysfunction, the house is clearly a Masterpiece! To add to the dysfunction, the owner never lived in the house. Of further interest is how much the building aged/deteriorated in such a short period of time which can be clearly seen in the B & W photos. In such an arid climate, you would think that the building would hold up to the weather. To me this is proof that the wrong materials were used (IE plaster over concrete block vs. cast-in-place concrete). This might explain why the owner gave the house away to the city after construction. She could afford to build it but could not afford to maintain it!