Brian:

What, you never have black moods? Or tough days at work? Or have small children running around scattering everything and yelling loudly? Or just want to put Aunt Martha's bureau someplace in the house to remember the old gal by? If you don't recognize any of these situations as part of your daily life, then FLW was the designer for you. If you have any interest in living in a space that is YOUR space, FLW would be about the last person on earth to hire as your architect.

Since he is now gone, if you miss him so, you could try moving into a window display at a nice upscale department store. That has very much the same homey feel as the Hollyhock House. BTW, none of this is to dismiss his obvious talent at graphic design. But if you haven't been in that house, I don't think you can understand the many, many parts of it that seem to make no sense other than design sense. (Including items like dining room chairs that work just dandy as sculpture and would kill your back and hindquarters to sit on for more than 20 minutes.)

AND...there are elements of that house that virtually constitute negligence on the part of an architect (unnecessary changes in floor level so you're always walking up and down a few steps, long dark windowless hallways, doors so low a very short person would concuss themselves on them if walking in the dark, etc. etc.) To call aspects of the design quick-and-dirty is to be generous.

I, for one, would go crazy in that sort of environment. I notice the original patron lived in the house for a few years, then moved out and donated it to the city of L.A. She spent her declining years in another structure. Geeze, I wonder why.

Posted by: Friedrich von Blowhard on September 11, 2006 7:35 PM