Brittany Whyte

Hollyhock House in L.A. was designed for oil heiress Aline Barnsdall by Frank Lloyd Wright. The strong-willed single mother repeatedly butted heads with the famous architect and eventually brought in another architect to finish the project. Construction began in 1919. Hollyhocks were Ms. Barnsdall’s favorite flowers, so Wright incorporated linear shapes inspired by these tall flowering stalks into his designs. The dining room furniture is original and was designed by Wright to foster conversation (he thought that it was not possible to have a good dinner conversation with more than 6 people, so he made the table hexagonal.) Unfortunately, much of the original furniture was lost or stolen during the time when the house sat abandoned. A local arts council moved to preserve the house in the 1940s, and it is now surrounded by a peaceful park and an art gallery.