HOLLYWOOD—Frank Lloyd Wright, inventor of the Hollyhock House that was built for an oil heiress will be the first UNESCO World Heritage Site in Los Angeles. The Hollyhock House has a Mayan Revival style set-up and includes 17 rooms and 7 bathrooms and was built in 1921.
Oil heiress, theater producer, single mother, and social activist Aline Barnsdall commissioned the home, which was originally intended to be part of an avant-garde arts and theater complex known as Olive Hill. It is now known as Barnsdall Art Park. According to the Getty Museum, Barnsdall tapped Wright for the job when she bought Olive Hill in 1919.
Councilmember Mitch O’Farrell tweeted, “This just in! The #HollyhockHouse in East #Hollywood is now a #unescoworldheritage site! The designation as a UNESCO World Heritage site underscores the significance of Los Angeles’ rich history of modern architecture.”
”The inscription of this nomination marks the first modern architectural cultural property designation not only in California but in the United States,” O’Farrell said via Facebook.
Eight of Wright’s structures around America constitute as the first United States contemporary architecture designations on the UNESCO World Heritage site.
Barnsdall Art Park is providing self guided tours to view the Hollyhock House. The tours are being held form 11 a.m. – 4 p.m. until Sunday, July 14.
