That Far Corner: Frank Lloyd Wright in Los Angeles | Artbound | Season 9, Episode 1 | KCET

Summary

The video script explores the enigmatic architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright, particularly his early 20th-century works in Southern California. The narrative delves into the personal and professional life of Wright, linking his designs to his mid-life crisis, love affairs, and the brutal murder of his lover, Mamah Borthwick Cheney. The script suggests that Wright's use of Pre-Columbian motifs, especially Mayan influences, and his innovative concrete block system were influenced by his emotional state and the desire to create an original American architecture distinct from the prevailing Spanish Colonial style. The houses, described as muscular, brutal, and romantic, are analyzed for their imposing presence and the sense of sorrow they convey, possibly reflecting Wright's personal grief. The video also touches on the cultural impact of these structures, their adaptation in modern media like video games, and the ongoing efforts to preserve and interpret them.

Takeaways

• 🏠 The script discusses Frank Lloyd Wright's unique architectural designs, particularly focusing on his early 20th-century houses in Southern California, which are described as enigmatic and temple-like.
• 🔍 The narrator, an architecture critic, explores the influence of Pre-Columbian architecture on Wright's work, especially following a personal tragedy and a mid-life crisis that led him to Southern California.
• 🕊️ The story of the Alice Millard House by Frank Lloyd Wright is highlighted, showcasing Wright's use of Pre-Columbian ornament and the crypt-like nature of the building, which is seen as both mysterious and not typically domestic.
• 🌟 Wright's houses in L.A. are contrasted with the conventional Spanish Colonial style prevalent at the time, with Wright rejecting European influences in favor of creating an original American architecture.
• 🏢 The script describes Wright's development of a new modular system using concrete blocks made from the soil of the building site itself, which was both a structural and decorative solution.
• 👥 The impact of Wright's personal life, including his relationship with Mamah Borthwick Cheney and the subsequent murders at Taliesin, is suggested to have influenced the somber and dramatic nature of his L.A. houses.
• 🎨 The houses are analyzed in terms of their cultural and historical context, with connections drawn to Mayan temples, Pre-Columbian designs, and the concept of a 'Mayan god' as described by Wright's biographer Brendan Gill.
• 🏛️ The script touches on the reception of Wright's houses in L.A., noting that they were seen as unconventional and not well-received by all, with some critics finding them too severe and lacking joy.
• 💡 The influence of Wright's time in California extends beyond his personal work, as his son Lloyd Wright continued designing in the area, though without the same gravitas as his father's designs.
• 📚 The script concludes with a reflection on the legacy of Wright's L.A. houses, their status as anomalies in architectural history, and their influence on modern media such as video games.
• 👴 A personal perspective is provided by Eric Lloyd Wright, Frank Lloyd Wright's grandson, who shares insights into his grandfather's state of mind and the reasons behind his move to L.A.

Q & A

What was the Alice Millard House designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, and why was it considered mysterious?

The Alice Millard House, located in Pasadena, was one of the five remarkable houses designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in Southern California in the early 1920s. It was considered mysterious due to its strikingly inscrutable and enigmatic design, which didn't resemble typical domestic architecture of the time.

Why did the narrator spend a night alone in the Alice Millard House?

The narrator, an architecture critic, was given the opportunity by the house's owner, who collected famous houses as others do with art pieces. The owner allowed the narrator to explore the house, even spend the night there, which was an intriguing and eerie experience for the narrator.

What was the architectural style of Frank Lloyd Wright's early work in Oak Park, and how did it evolve?

Frank Lloyd Wright began with a Shingle Style house, using his Home and Studio in Oak Park as a laboratory to break away from traditional Victorian architecture. His designs evolved into the Prairie House style, which hugged the ground with a horizontal momentum well-suited to the Midwest landscape.

How did Frank Lloyd Wright's personal life influence his architectural work?

Wright's personal life, including his relationship with Mamah Borthwick Cheney and the tragic murder at Taliesin, deeply influenced his work. These events led him to seek new directions in his architecture, experimenting with new materials and styles, and moving beyond traditional residential architecture.

What was the significance of the 1915 Panama-California Exposition in San Diego for Wright's work?

The 1915 Panama-California Exposition in San Diego exposed Wright to a rich variety of Pre-Columbian designs, particularly Mayan architecture, which fascinated him. This exposure likely influenced his later work, including the design of the Alice Millard House and other buildings in Southern California.

What was the impact of the murder at Taliesin on Frank Lloyd Wright's life and work?

The murder of Mamah Borthwick Cheney and others at Taliesin deeply affected Wright. It led to a period of despair and a significant shift in his work, as he sought to move away from the Midwest and explore new architectural styles and designs.

Why did Frank Lloyd Wright choose to use concrete blocks in his Los Angeles houses?

Wright chose concrete blocks for his Los Angeles houses because they were indigenous to Southern California and could be democratic and affordable on a mass scale. He also liked that concrete could be easily stamped with Maya patterns, making the material and decoration of the house one and the same.

What was unique about the textile block system used in the Freeman House?

The textile block system used in the Freeman House allowed the concrete blocks to be stacked without any mortar, requiring less skilled labor. The blocks were then woven together with vertical and horizontal steel rods, creating a unique structural and decorative element.

How did the Ennis House reflect Frank Lloyd Wright's vision of a Pre-Columbian temple relocated to Southern California?

The Ennis House, with its monumental and impenetrable design, looming over Los Feliz, embodied Wright's vision of a Pre-Columbian temple. It was dense, introverted, and suggestive of a crypt, much like the other concrete block houses Wright designed in Los Angeles.

Why did Frank Lloyd Wright leave Los Angeles in 1923?

Wright left Los Angeles in 1923 because he felt alienated from the real estate market and did not receive the reception he had hoped for. His experimental concrete block houses were not well-received, and people were not willing to take the risk to build with these unconventional materials.

How have Frank Lloyd Wright's Los Angeles houses been perceived over time, and how do they influence contemporary culture?

Over time, Wright's Los Angeles houses have been seen as muscular, brutal, romantic, and strange. They have influenced contemporary culture by appearing in movies, video games like Minecraft, and even as a setting in a video game starring Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Outlines

00:00

🏛️ The Enigmatic Alice Millard House by Frank Lloyd Wright

The narrator, an architecture critic in Los Angeles for nearly 15 years, introduces the Alice Millard House by Frank Lloyd Wright as an enigmatic and strikingly mysterious building. Located in Pasadena, it is one of five remarkable houses designed by Wright in Southern California in the early 1920s. The critic's curiosity was piqued when the owner invited him to explore the house and even spend the night. Describing the house as temple-like with Pre-Columbian ornamentation, the narrator reflects on its crypt-like qualities and questions the reasons behind its design. He recalls a quote by Brendan Gill, a biographer of Wright, who suggested that Wright's L.A. houses seemed more suited to shelter a Mayan god than an American family, prompting further inquiry into the influence of Pre-Columbian architecture on Wright's work in Southern California.

05:01

🎭 The Dramatic Story Behind Wright's California Architecture

The video script delves into the personal and professional life of Frank Lloyd Wright, exploring the reasons behind his unique architectural style in Southern California. It discusses Wright's trajectory from his early work in Oak Park, Illinois, to his Prairie Houses, and his eventual move towards larger projects. The story takes a dramatic turn with the mention of a mid-life crisis, a love affair with Mamah Borthwick Cheney, and a brutal mass murder at Wright's Wisconsin property, Taliesin. The narrative suggests that these events, along with Wright's desire to reinvent himself in Southern California, influenced his architectural designs, leading to the creation of houses that were more dramatic and complex than ever before.

10:02

📰 Wright's Scandal and Tabloid Fame

Despite his professional success, Wright felt stifled in Oak Park and sought change. The script highlights his relationship with Mamah Cheney, an intellectual and feminist, which eventually led to scandal. The pair's unconventional relationship and Wright's decision to leave his family for her captivated the public and media, making him a subject of sensationalistic tabloid coverage. The couple's adventurous spirit led them to Europe, where Wright further developed his architectural style, but the scandal persisted even after his return to the United States. Wright's focus on his artistic impulses over social propriety and obligations is emphasized, highlighting his commitment to taking riskier paths in his architectural designs.

15:03

🕍 The Influence of Pre-Columbian Architecture on Wright

The script explores Wright's exposure to Pre-Columbian architecture, particularly at the 1915 Panama-California Exposition in San Diego, where he encountered a rich variety of Pre-Columbian designs, including those of the Maya. This experience, along with his childhood memories of books on Central American architecture, significantly influenced his work. The narrative suggests that Wright's interest in Pre-Columbian architecture was linked to its association with death and human sacrifice, which resonated with his personal experiences, including the murder of Mamah Cheney. This influence is seen as a key factor in the development of his architectural style in Southern California.

20:06

🏡 The Textile Block System and Wright's Experimentation

The video script discusses Wright's innovative use of a modular concrete block system in his Southern California houses, which allowed for quick and cheap construction. The blocks were made with soil from the building site, providing a connection to the location. Wright's use of concrete, a material he once called the 'cheapest and ugliest thing in the building world,' was seen as a way to challenge conventional architectural norms. The script also mentions the textile block system, where blocks could be stacked without mortar and then woven together with steel rods, creating a unique architectural language that was both structural and decorative.

25:07

🌅 The Ennis House: A Monumental and Imposing Structure

The Ennis House, one of Wright's designs in Los Angeles, is described as the biggest and most imposing of his works in the city. It is noted for its grandeur, achieved through the use of concrete block, and its Pre-Columbian temple-like appearance. The house is seen as a significant example of Wright's vision, relocated to Southern California. Despite its monumental nature, the house is noted to lack intimacy, reflecting the Ennis couple's taste and desire for a house that matched their aspirations. The house's connection to Hollywood and its appearance in films contribute to its aura and cultural significance.

30:11

🏡 The Freeman House: A Bohemian Abode

The Freeman House, designed for a young bohemian couple, is highlighted as an exception to the dark and sinister tones of Wright's other L.A. houses. The clients, Harriet and Samuel Freeman, were enthusiastic about Wright's work, and the house was tailored to their needs, including a large open living room for Harriet's dance performances. The house is noted for its structural issues, which were exacerbated by the 1994 Northridge earthquake. Despite these challenges, the Freeman House remains a significant example of Wright's concrete block houses and a testament to his experimental approach to architecture.

35:14

🏙️ The Legacy of Wright's Los Angeles Houses

The video script reflects on the legacy of Wright's concrete block houses in Los Angeles, noting their anomalous character and their distinct difference from the rest of the city's architecture from that period. The houses are described as muscular, brutal, romantic, and strange, with a presence that has transcended into popular culture, including movies and video games. The narrative also touches on Wright's grandson, Eric Lloyd Wright, who has worked on restoring several of his grandfather's houses and shares his insights on Wright's time in L.A. and the impact of personal tragedy on his architectural designs.

40:27

📚 Funding and Support Acknowledgement

The script concludes with an acknowledgment of the various organizations that have provided support for the project. These include the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs, the California Arts Council, and others.

Keywords

💡Frank Lloyd Wright

Frank Lloyd Wright is a renowned American architect, the protagonist of the video's narrative. He is known for designing some of the most iconic buildings in the United States, including the houses discussed in the video. Wright's architectural philosophy and designs are central to the video's theme, showcasing his innovative approach and the emotional impact of his work.

💡Pre-Columbian architecture

Pre-Columbian architecture refers to the building styles and structures that were developed by indigenous cultures in the Americas before the arrival of Europeans. In the video, Wright's fascination with these designs is highlighted, particularly their use in his Los Angeles houses, reflecting his desire to create an original American architecture that deviates from European influences.

💡Mayan

The Mayan civilization is an ancient culture from Mesoamerica, known for its sophisticated architecture and art. The video mentions Mayan designs as a significant influence on Wright's work, especially in the context of the Alice Millard House, where Mayan motifs are seen as a means for Wright to express a Pan-American pride and a connection to the indigenous heritage.

💡Hollyhock House

Hollyhock House is one of the five remarkable houses designed by Wright in Southern California during the early 1920s. It is a notable example of Wright's exploration of Pre-Columbian themes in his architecture and serves as a symbol of his ambition to create a unique architectural identity for Southern California that resonates with the region's cultural and climatic context.

💡Textile Block System

The Textile Block System is an innovative construction technique developed by Wright, which involves interlocking concrete blocks without the use of mortar. This system was used in several of his Los Angeles houses and is highlighted in the video as an example of his experimental approach to design and construction, aiming for a structurally sound and aesthetically pleasing result.

💡Alice Millard House

The Alice Millard House, also known as 'La Miniatura,' is a significant architectural work by Wright, designed for Alice Millard in Pasadena. The house is depicted in the video as a particularly mysterious and striking example of Wright's use of Pre-Columbian motifs and the Textile Block System, embodying themes of privacy, escape, and a deep connection to the site.

💡Millard House

The term 'Millard House' is used synonymously with the Alice Millard House in the video. It is highlighted for its unique design that seems to grow from its site and its use of concrete blocks with Mayan patterns, illustrating Wright's desire to create a modular system that is both structural and decorative.

💡Ennis House

The Ennis House is one of Wright's concrete block houses in Los Angeles, known for its imposing grandeur and its Pre-Columbian temple-like appearance. The video discusses the house's monumental quality and its role in establishing a distinctive architectural presence in the city, as well as its use in Hollywood films, which adds to its mysterious aura.

💡Freeman House

The Freeman House, designed by Wright for a young bohemian couple, is noted in the video for its open living space suitable for performances and salons. Despite facing structural issues, the house is celebrated for its successful integration into the lives of its owners and its role as a setting for a successful relationship, reflecting Wright's ability to tailor designs to the needs of the residents.

💡Los Angeles

Los Angeles is the setting for the video and the location where Wright's architectural journey unfolds. The city is portrayed as a place of reinvention and new beginnings for Wright, who sought to establish a new life and architectural identity there after personal tragedy. The video explores how the city's cultural and geographical context influenced Wright's designs.

💡MAMAH Borthwick

MAMAH Borthwick Cheney was a significant figure in Wright's life, and her murder had a profound impact on him. In the video, her influence and the sorrow stemming from her loss are suggested as a possible source of the somber and introspective quality of Wright's Los Angeles houses, adding an emotional depth to the narrative.

Highlights

The Alice Millard House by Frank Lloyd Wright in Pasadena is considered enigmatic and architecturally unique.

Wright's curiosity about the house deepened when the owner invited him to explore the inside, even offering to lend the key for an overnight stay.

The house's interior and exterior are reminiscent of a temple with Pre-Columbian ornament, evoking a crypt-like ambiance.

Wright's biographer, Brendan Gill, suggested that Wright's L.A. houses seemed more suited to sheltering a Mayan god than an American family.

Wright's work in L.A. is influenced by his mid-life crisis, a love affair, and a brutal mass murder, contributing to the dramatic and complex nature of his designs.

Wright's early work in Oak Park, Chicago, showed a departure from traditional Victorian architecture with the development of the Prairie House style.

Wright's relationship with Mamah Borthwick Cheney and the subsequent scandal influenced his life and work significantly.

The tragedy at Taliesin, Wright's Wisconsin home and studio, where Mamah Cheney and others were murdered, had a profound impact on Wright's life and work.

Wright's first trip to Southern California was a means of escape and healing, where he was exposed to Pre-Columbian designs at the Panama-California Exposition in San Diego.

Wright's use of Pre-Columbian motifs in his L.A. houses was a reflection of his interest in indigenous American architecture over European styles.

The Hollyhock House, commissioned by Aline Barnsdall, is a theatrical and Mayan temple-inspired design that was never fully realized as a residence.

Wright's textile block system, using concrete blocks with soil from the building site, was an innovative approach to architecture that was both structural and modular.

The Alice Millard House, or 'La Miniatura,' is a dramatic and mysterious work of L.A. architecture that seems to grow from its site while remaining closed off from the outside world.

Wright's grandson, Eric Lloyd Wright, suggests that the L.A. houses were influenced by Frank Lloyd Wright's sorrow following Mamah Borthwick's murder.

The L.A. houses have a lasting impact on architecture and culture, with their unique designs influencing modern media such as video games.

Wright's L.A. houses are seen as precursors to L.A. Noir, with their dark and moody atmospheres reflecting the violence and death associated with Pre-Columbian cultures.

The houses' vocabulary, including words like 'drama,' 'sinister,' and 'tragedy,' suggests a psychological reading that aligns with Wright's own approach to his work.

Transcripts

NARRATOR: I'VE BEEN AN

ARCHITECTURE CRITIC IN LOS

ANGELES FOR NEARLY 15 YEARS,

AND IN ALL THAT TIME I DON'T

THINK I'VE EVER COME ACROSS A

BUILDING QUITE AS INSCRUTABLE, AS STRIKINGLY MYSTERIOUS AS

THIS ONE.

IT'S THE ALICE MILLARD HOUSE BY

FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT, IN PASADENA.

ONE OF 5 REMARKABLE HOUSES

WRIGHT DESIGNED AND BUILT IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA IN THE

EARLY 1920S.

MY CURIOSITY ABOUT THE HOUSE

DEEPENED WHEN ITS OWNER ASKED

ME A FEW YEARS AGO IF I WANTED

TO SEE THE INSIDE. IT WAS JUST SITTING THERE

EMPTY, SAID THE OWNER, A MAN

WHO COLLECTED FAMOUS HOUSES THE

WAY OTHER PEOPLE COLLECT

PICASSOS OR DIEBENKORNS.

I COULD EVEN SPEND THE NIGHT,

IF I WANTED; HE'D JUST LEND ME

THE KEY.

IT WAS THRILLING, AND A BIT

EERIE, TO SPEND 24 HOURS ALONE

IN THAT HOUSE. WHAT I REMEMBER MORE THAN

ANYTHING IS HOW MUCH OF A TEMPLE IT SEEMED INSIDE AND

OUT, WITH ITS ROWS OF

PRE-COLUMBIAN ORNAMENT, EVEN

HOW CRYPT-LIKE.

I MEAN, LOOK AT THE PLACE. IT'S NOT EXACTLY WARM,

WELCOMING, OR ESPECIALLY

DOMESTIC IN ANY TYPICAL SENSE

OF THAT WORD.

IT'S SOMETHING ELSE: OPAQUE AND

TOUGH TO READ, TIGHT-LIPPED.

I STARTED TO WONDER: WHY DOES

THE HOUSE LOOK THIS WAY?

WHY DID L.A. ELICIT THIS KIND OF WORK FROM WRIGHT?

I REMEMBERED A LINE BY BRENDAN

GILL, ONE OF THE ARCHITECT'S MOST PERCEPTIVE BIOGRAPHERS,

WHO WROTE THAT WRIGHT'S L.A.

HOUSES ARE "BETTER SUITED TO

SHELTERING A MAYAN GOD THAN AN AMERICAN FAMILY."

WAS HE RIGHT ABOUT THAT? AND WHY A MAYAN GOD?

WHAT WAS IT ABOUT PRE-COLUMBIAN

ARCHITECTURE SPECIFICALLY THAT MADE IT SO ATTRACTIVE TO WRIGHT

IN THOSE YEARS?

WHAT YOU'RE ABOUT TO SEE IS THE

STORY OF MY ATTEMPT TO FIND ANSWERS TO THOSE QUESTIONS.

AS IT TURNS OUT, THE ANSWERS

MAKE UP A STORY MORE

FASCINATING, AND MORE

COMPLICATED, THAN I EVER WOULD

HAVE GUESSED.

A STORY THAT EVEN A NOVELIST MIGHT COMPLAIN WAS MELODRAMATIC

AND OVERSTUFFED; ONE INVOLVING

A MID-LIFE CRISIS OF EPIC PROPORTION, A LOVE AFFAIR,

AND A BRUTAL MASS MURDER.

A STORY STARRING AN ARCHITECT WHO TRIED TO REINVENT HIMSELF

AS SO MANY OTHER AMERICANS HAVE

DONE IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA, A

PLACE WRIGHT WOULD LATER

DESCRIBE AS "THAT FAR CORNER OF

THE UNITED STATES."

THE FIRST THING TO DO, IN

LEARNING EXACTLY HOW FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT WOUND UP IN

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA, SEEMED

OBVIOUS: I HAD TO GO BACK TO

THE BEGINNING, TO OAK PARK, THE SUBURB JUST WEST OF CHICAGO

WHERE WRIGHT OPENED AN OFFICE IN 1893, AFTER WORKING WITH THE

ACCLAIMED ARCHITECT LOUIS

SULLIVAN.

WRIGHT AND HIS WIFE CATHERINE,

KNOWN AS KITTY, WOULD SOON HAVE 6 CHILDREN.

I ALSO HOPED TO SIT DOWN WITH

SOME EXPERTS ON WRIGHT'S WORK

FROM THAT PERIOD. I BEGAN WITH A FELLOW

ARCHITECTURE CRITIC.

BLAIR KAMIN: IT'S FASCINATING TO WATCH HIS TRAJECTORY. I MEAN,

HE BEGINS WITH A SHINGLE STYLE

HOUSE, THE HOME AND STUDIO IN OAK PARK, AND USES THAT AS A

KIND OF LABORATORY, A WAY TO BREAK OUT OF THE VICTORIAN BOX.

HAWTHORNE: WRIGHT'S HOME AND

STUDIO, FEATURING A PLAYROOM WITH VAULTED CEILING FOR HIS

GROWING FAMILY, WAS REALLY A

DECLARATION OF WAR ON

TRADITIONAL, HIDEBOUND VICTORIAN ARCHITECTURE.

IN THE DESIGNS THAT FOLLOWED,

WRIGHT PRODUCED A MARKEDLY NEW

KIND OF HOUSE--THE PRAIRIE HOUSE--THAT HUGGED THE

GROUND, WITH A HORIZONTAL

MOMENTUM PERFECTLY SUITED TO THE MIDWEST.

IN A SERIES OF HOUSES JUST

AFTER 1900, WRIGHT BROUGHT THIS TYPE NEARER AND NEARER TO

PERFECTION.

KAMIN: YOU SEE THAT CULMINATE, REALLY, IN THE ROBIE HOUSE.

THIS KIND OF GREAT STATEMENT

WHICH IS, YOU KNOW, SEEMINGLY BOTH GROUNDED IN THE EARTH OF

THE MIDWEST AND FLYING FORWARD,

LIKE A SHIP, WITH ITS

CANTILEVERED ROOFS. IT'S A TREMENDOUS STATEMENT OF

A HOUSE THAT SEEMS BOTH ROOTED

AND STATIC BUT ALSO INCREDIBLY DYNAMIC.

HAWTHORNE: MY NEXT STOP WAS TO

TALK WITH A FORMER ARCHITECTURE CRITIC, LEE BEY, WHO NOW WORKS

AT CHICAGO'S DUSABLE MUSEUM OF

AFRICAN-AMERICAN HISTORY. BEY: SO, IN 1909, IT PROVIDES AN

INTERESTING BREAK IN HIS CAREER BECAUSE UP UNTIL THEN,

PARTICULARLY THE LAST FEW

YEARS, HE'S REALLY HAD AN INCREDIBLE CREATIVE OUTBURST.

HAWTHORNE: IN THESE YEARS,

WRIGHT WAS BEGINNING TO MOVE

BEYOND RESIDENTIAL ARCHITECTURE TO LARGER PROJECTS.

BEY: IF HIS CAREER WERE TO STOP

THERE, HE'D BE A LEGEND, BUT AS

WE KNOW, IT GOES ON BEYOND THAT.

HAWTHORNE: DESPITE THIS

PROFESSIONAL SUCCESS, WRIGHT

BEGAN TO FEEL STIFLED IN OAK PARK.

HE WAS REACHING MIDDLE AGE. AND HE HAD PUSHED THE PRAIRIE

STYLE JUST ABOUT AS FAR AS IT

WOULD GO. ONE OF THE MOST STRIKING OF THE

PRAIRIE HOUSES, JUST A

HALF-MILE FROM HIS OWN, WAS

DESIGNED FOR A COUPLE NAMED

EDWIN AND MAMAH CHENEY. MAMAH BORTHWICK CHENEY WAS AN

INTELLECTUAL, A TRANSLATOR,

AND A FEMINIST.

A WOMAN WHO COULD MORE THAN

HOLD HER OWN IN DEBATES WITH

WRIGHT. THE ARCHITECT AND HIS WIFE

BEGAN SOCIALIZING WITH THE

CHENEYS,

AND BEFORE LONG, ACCORDING TO

TIM SAMUELSON, CHICAGO'S

CULTURAL HISTORIAN, PEOPLE BEGAN TO TALK.

SAMUELSON: THERE WERE CERTAINLY

WHISPERS ABOUT THE IDEA OF A

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN FRANK

LLOYD WRIGHT AND MAMAH BORTHWICK CHENEY.

IT'S NOT UNUSUAL FOR THINGS LIKE THAT TO GO ON, BUT WRIGHT

WAS A PRETTY UNCONVENTIONAL

FIGURE. HE LOOKED DIFFERENT, HE ACTED

DIFFERENTLY, AND SO, THIS IS

SOMETHING THAT WOULD CATCH

PEOPLE'S CURIOSITY.

HAWTHORNE: WRIGHT'S RELATIONSHIP

WITH MAMAH CHENEY SEEMED TO

GIVE HIM A NEW TASTE FOR ADVENTURE.

SAMUELSON: THIS IS SOMEBODY WHO

CHALLENGED WRIGHT, WHO COULD BE ON EQUAL WITH HIM.

WHO I THINK YOU CAN SAY, IN

ALL CONFIDENCE, WAS THE LOVE OF HIS LIFE.

HAWTHORNE: IN THE FALL OF 1909,

WRIGHT ABRUPTLY SHUTTERED HIS

OFFICE, LEFT HIS WIFE AND

CHILDREN BEHIND, AND SAILED TO EUROPE WITH MAMAH.

SAMUELSON: ONCE HE LEAVES, THEN

THE JOURNALISTS TAKE OVER.

IT BECOMES SENSATIONALISTIC.

KAMIN: WRIGHT IS A TABLOID NEWSPAPER EDITOR'S DREAM. I

MEAN, HE'S RIGHT OUT OF CENTRAL

CASTING IN TERMS OF HOW HE

LOOKS, HIS BRAGGADOCIO.

HE'S A GUY WHO MANIPULATES THE MEDIA, WHO HAS A LOVE-HATE

RELATIONSHIP WITH THE MEDIA.

THE MEDIA HELPS MAKE HIM AND IT

ALSO HELPS TEAR HIM APART.

HAWTHORNE: FRANK AND MAMAH

SETTLED IN ITALY'S TUSCAN COUNTRYSIDE.

WRIGHT ALSO TRAVELED WIDELY,

SEEING THE NEWEST LANDMARKS OF

EUROPEAN MODERNISM, AND SPENT

SIGNIFICANT TIME IN BERLIN.

SAMUELSON: HE IS ENGAGED TO PRODUCE THE PLATES FOR A

PUBLICATION OF HIS WORK IN

EUROPE FOR THE GREAT GERMAN

PUBLISHING HOUSE OF WASMUTH. BEY: THIS LEAVING WAS ONE OF A

STUNNING PROFESSIONAL GROWTH

AS WELL.

HE COMES BACK TO AMERICA A

DIFFERENT ARCHITECT THAN HE DID WHEN HE--WHEN HE LEFT IT.

HAWTHORNE: ON HIS RETURN IN

1910, WRIGHT TRIED TO

REESTABLISH HIS ARCHITECTURAL PRACTICE IN OAK PARK, BUT IT

SOON BECAME CLEAR THAT THE SCANDAL HAD HARDLY DISSIPATED

WHILE HE WAS AWAY.

WHEN I SAT DOWN INSIDE THE

ROBIE HOUSE WITH THE CHICAGO

ARCHITECT ARIC LASHER, HE TOLD

ME THAT WRIGHT HAD OTHER

PRIORITIES THAN QUIETING THE TABLOIDS.

LASHER: HE WAS SOMEONE DRIVEN

BY ARTISTIC IMPULSES ABOVE ALL OTHERS.

OBVIOUSLY, SOCIAL PROPRIETY AND

OTHER OBLIGATIONS WERE LESS

IMPORTANT THAN HIS MISSION AS

AN ARTIST AND AS A CREATIVE

THINKER.

HAWTHORNE: THAT MAY SOUND IN

THE ABSTRACT LIKE BOILERPLATE

PRAISE, THE KIND OF THING YOU'D

HEAR FROM A TOUR GUIDE, BUT I THINK THIS POINT IS A KEY ONE.

WHAT I WAS BEGINNING TO LEARN

WAS THAT WRIGHT, WHEN FACED

WITH A CHOICE BETWEEN PRODUCING

ARCHITECTURE THAT HE KNEW WAS

POPULAR AND ARCHITECTURE THAT

MIGHT PUSH HIS WORK IN NEW

DIRECTIONS, ALMOST ALWAYS TOOK THE RISKIER PATH.

IT WAS A KIND OF COMPULSION FOR

HIM, THIS INSTINCT.

AS ONE WRITER PUT IT, "WRIGHT

SEEMED UNCOMFORTABLE AS SOON AS

HIS LIFE REACHED ANY SORT OF EQUILIBRIUM."

AS HE HAD THE YEAR BEFORE,

WRIGHT DECIDED HE NEEDED TO GET

AWAY.

SAMUELSON: HE RETURNS TO WHAT

WAS PART OF HIS ROOTS, THE HILLSIDE OF WISCONSIN, THE

FAMILY LAND OF THE LLOYD

JONESES.

THIS WOULD BE HIS MOTHER'S

FAMILY.

HAWTHORNE: AS A REFUGE FOR HIMSELF AND MAMAH, WRIGHT BUILT

A REMARKABLY AMBITIOUS HOUSE AND STUDIO.

THE MATERIALS HE FOUND ON

THE SITE OR CLOSE BY, WITH SAND FROM THE WISCONSIN RIVER USED

TO MAKE STUCCO THE SAME OCHER

COLOR AS THE RIVER'S BANKS.

BEY: AND IN A SENSE, HE'S HOME,

RIGHT? HE'S WELSH

BY EXTRACTION AND HE NAMES IT TALIESIN, "SHINING

BROW," A WELSH WORD.

SO, IT'S HIM RETURNING TO

SOMETHING, AND SOMETHING DEEPER AND--AND SOMETHING ROOTED.

HAWTHORNE: WALKING THROUGH

TALIESIN, I WAS REMINDED THAT

IT'S WITHOUT ANY DOUBT ONE OF

THE SUPREME ACHIEVEMENTS OF WRIGHT'S CAREER.

IT WAS SYMBOLIC FOR HIM OF TWO

THINGS: HIS BREAK WITH

CONVENTIONAL SOCIETY IN OAK PARK AND HIS INTEREST IN

CREATING AN ARCHITECTURE THAT SEEMED NOT ONLY TO GROW FROM

THE LANDSCAPE BUT TO BE ALMOST CONTINUOUS WITH IT.

BUT WRIGHT DIDN'T CUT TIES WITH

CHICAGO ALTOGETHER. SAMUELSON: HE MAINTAINED A

CHICAGO OFFICE WHERE HE COULD

MEET CLIENTS, AND THERE WERE

SOME BIG PROJECTS. SOME WERE

DREAM PROJECTS.

FOR EXAMPLE, THE MIDWAY GARDENS

IN CHICAGO, WHICH WAS LIKE MADE FOR WRIGHT, BECAUSE IT WAS

SOMETHING THAT WAS MADE TO

APPEAL TO ALL THE SENSES.

HAWTHORNE: IT WAS WHILE WRIGHT

WAS WORKING AT THE MIDWAY

GARDENS SITE ONE AFTERNOON IN

AUGUST OF 1914 THAT HE RECEIVED THE NEWS THAT WOULD

RADICALLY CHANGE HIS LIFE. SAMUELSON: WORD REACHES HIM OF

AN UNFOLDING TRAGEDY AT TALIESIN, SOMETHING THAT WAS

TOTALLY UNIMAGINABLE.

A SERVANT UP AT TALIESIN HAD MURDERED NOT ONLY MEMBERS OF

THE STAFF, BUT MURDERED

BRUTALLY THE LOVE AND PASSION OF HIS LIFE, MAMAH BORTHWICK

CHENEY. HAWTHORNE: THE KILLER WAS A

COOK AND HANDYMAN NAMED JULIAN CARLTON.

HIS MOTIVE REMAINS UNCLEAR,

ALTHOUGH HIS WIFE TOLD POLICE HE'D BEEN GROWING INCREASINGLY

PARANOID IN THE WEEKS BEFORE

THE CRIME. AFTER

SERVING LUNCH TO MAMAH AND HER

TWO CHILDREN, HE ATTACKED AND KILLED ALL 3 OF THEM

WITH A HATCHET.

THEN HE LIT THE TALIESIN STUDIO

ON FIRE AND KILLED SEVERAL

MEMBERS OF WRIGHT'S STAFF IN

THE SAME GRUESOME FASHION. WITH 7 DEAD, IT WAS, AND REMAINS

TO THIS DAY, THE LARGEST MASS

MURDER IN WISCONSIN HISTORY.

JUST DOWN THE HILL FROM

TALIESIN, I VISITED THE GROUNDS OF THE CHAPEL WHERE WRIGHT

BURIED MAMAH IN A PLAIN PINE

COFFIN. THIS WAS AN INTENSELY

PERSONAL SPOT FOR WRIGHT:

THE CHAPEL ITSELF

WAS THE FIRST BUILDING HE EVER

HELPED DESIGN, AS A TEENAGER,

AND HIS MOTHER'S FAMILY, THE

LLOYD JONESES, ALL WORSHIPPED THERE AND WOULD EVENTUALLY BE

BURIED THERE.

IT TOOK ME A WHILE TO FIND MAMAH'S GRAVE.

UNLIKE THOSE OF WRIGHT'S

BLOOD RELATIVES, WHICH ARE QUITE PROMINENT, IT'S HIDDEN

AWAY AT THE BASE OF A TREE.

IN DESPAIR AFTER THE MURDERS, WRIGHT BROKE OUT, JOB-LIKE, IN

BOILS AND THOUGHT HE WAS GOING

BLIND.

ULTIMATELY, THOUGH, MAMAH'S

DEATH WOULD LEAVE A MARK FAR

MORE PSYCHOLOGICAL THAN

PHYSICAL. AS WRIGHT LOOKED ON THE RUINS

OF TALIESIN, HE BEGAN TO SEE

HIMSELF.

"THE GAPING BLACK HOLE LEFT BY

FIRE IN THE BEAUTIFUL

HILLSIDE," HE WROTE, "WAS NO LESS EMPTY, CHARRED, AND UGLY

IN MY OWN LIFE."

IT WAS IN THAT SHAKY STATE OF

MIND THAT WRIGHT MADE HIS FIRST

TRIP TO SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA, IN JANUARY OF 1915, LESS THAN 6

MONTHS AFTER THE MURDERS. BACK

IN LOS ANGELES, I SAT DOWN WITH THE WESTERN HISTORIAN WILLIAM

DEVERELL TO ASK HIM WHAT KIND

OF CITY WRIGHT FOUND HERE.

DEVERELL: LOS ANGELES COMES OUT OF THE 19TH CENTURY BRASH.

SO, THE POPULATION GROWTH IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA IS

PRODIGIOUS, FROM THE FIRST

3 DECADES OF THE 20TH CENTURY.

HAWTHORNE: THE L.A.

OF THAT ERA WAS ALMOST

PERFECTLY SUITED TO DISTRACTING A GRIEVING ARCHITECT WITH THE

PROSPECT OF NEW WORK AND NEW

CLIENTS.

DEVERELL: SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA, AND CALIFORNIA GENERALLY, HAD

SINCE THE ERA OF THE GOLD RUSH

BEEN SEEN AS A PLACE FOR

REINVENTION. SO, IT HAS THAT REHABILITATIVE

FEEL TO IT. IT ALSO HAS A RECUPERATIVE FEEL

TO IT. SO, PEOPLE COME OUT HERE IN THE

LATE 19TH AND EARLY 20TH CENTURY BECAUSE THEY WANT TO

GET BETTER, THEY WANT TO GET

WELL, THEY WANT TO CONVALESCE. HAWTHORNE: ONE OF WRIGHT'S MOST

IMPORTANT STOPS ON THAT TRIP TO CALIFORNIA WAS A VISIT TO THE

PANAMA-CALIFORNIA EXPOSITION IN

SAN DIEGO. THERE HE CAME FACE TO FACE WITH A

RICH VARIETY OF BUILDING MODELS AND DRAWINGS SHOWING

PRE-COLUMBIAN DESIGNS,

ARTIFACTS OF THE MAYA,

AND OTHER CULTURES THAT ROSE TO PROMINENCE MORE THAN A THOUSAND

YEARS AGO, IN THE CENTURIES BEFORE THE ARRIVAL OF THE

SPANISH. ACCORDING

TO MEGAN O'NEIL AND JESSE

LERNER, THE EXPERTS IN PRE-COLUMBIAN CULTURE I SPOKE

WITH NEXT, THE SAN DIEGO EXPO

CELEBRATED MAYA DESIGNS AS PART OF A REGIONAL ARCHITECTURE

INDIGENOUS TO THE AMERICAS.

O'NEIL: THE 1915 EXPOSITION IN

SAN DIEGO, THE EXTERIOR OF THE

CALIFORNIA BUILDING WAS SPANISH COLONIAL, AND THEN THE INTERIOR

WAS THIS SORT OF MAYA FANTASY

WORLD, LET'S SAY, THAT WAS

PARTIALLY VERY ARCHAEOLOGICAL,

I THINK, BUT THEN ALSO ABOUT

THIS FANTASY IMAGINATION OF RUINS, ET CETERA.

LERNER: ALL THE VISITORS TO THE SAN DIEGO EXHIBITION WOULD HAVE

HAD A CHANCE TO SEE VERY ACCURATE REPRODUCTIONS OF MAYA

SCULPTURE AND SOME MORE

FANCIFUL REPRESENTATIONS OF

MAYA CITIES AT THEIR PRIME.

HAWTHORNE: IN ADDITION, THE EXPO MAY WELL HAVE CEMENTED IN

WRIGHT'S MIND A LINK BETWEEN

THIS ARCHITECTURE AND DEATH.

PRE-COLUMBIAN TEMPLES WERE

SOMETIMES NOT ONLY THE SETTINGS FOR HUMAN SACRIFICE BUT ALSO

PART OF COMPLEXES WHERE

IMPORTANT FIGURES WERE BURIED. PLACES WHERE THE LIVING COULD

COMMUNE WITH AND REMEMBER THE

DEAD.

SAMUELSON: WITH WRIGHT'S MIND, HE SEES IT ALL.

HE TAKES IT ALL IN.

IT BECOMES PART OF HIS TOOLBOX FOR FUTURE USE.

HAWTHORNE: WRIGHT HAD SEEN

PRE-COLUMBIAN ARCHITECTURE

BEFORE. HE'D SEEN IT AT THE 1893

WORLD'S COLUMBIAN EXPOSITION IN CHICAGO. AND

ACCORDING TO THE UCLA ARCHITECTURAL HISTORIAN THOMAS

HINES, THERE WERE ALSO MEMORIES

FROM HIS CHILDHOOD. HINES: HIS PARENTS, HIS MOTHER,

HAD GIVEN HIM BOOKS WITH PICTURES OF THE BUILDINGS FROM

CENTRAL AMERICA, MEXICO,

AND THE YUCATAN.

THOSE IMAGES STAYED IN HIS MIND

MOST OF HIS LIFE. LERNER: IN THE 1840S, THERE ARE

4 BOOKS, A SERIES OF TWO

VOLUMES CALLED "INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL IN YUCATAN" AND

"INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL IN CENTRAL

AMERICA, CHIAPAS, AND YUCATAN,"

THAT WERE VERY SUCCESSFUL.

THEY WENT THROUGH MANY

REPRINTINGS AND THEY ARE REALLY THE PRINCIPAL SOURCE OF U.S.

AWARENESS OF THE RUINS OF THE ANCIENT MAYA.

THE AUTHOR OF THESE 4 BOOKS

IS JOHN LLOYD STEPHENS, AND HE TRAVELED WITH AND COLLABORATED

WITH A PHOTOGRAPHER AND ILLUSTRATOR CALLED FREDERICK

CATHERWOOD.

SHORTLY AFTER THE PUBLICATION OF THOSE 4 BOOKS, YOU START

TO SEE ALL KINDS OF REFERENCES

TO THE ANCIENT MAYA AND TO MAYAN RUINS IN POPULAR CULTURE.

HAWTHORNE: THOSE REFERENCES

INCLUDED THIS PAIR OF SIBLINGS

THAT P.T. BARNUM

PUT IN HIS FREAK SHOWS, THOUGH

HE CALLED THEM AZTEC, NOT MAYAN.

AND, INCREDIBLY, THESE FLOATS,

AT LEAST ONE WITH A FAKE DEAD

BODY DRAPED ACROSS IT, DESIGNED BY ARCHITECT SUMNER HUNT.

THEY WERE PART OF THE LA FIESTA PARADE IN 1895 THROUGH THE

STREETS OF L.A.

SO, LET'S PAUSE HERE TO CONSIDER

THE EVIDENCE WE'VE COLLECTED SO FAR AND WHAT IT MEANS FOR THE

DIRECTION OF WRIGHT'S WORK

AFTER THE MURDERS AT TALIESIN. WHAT DO YOU GET WHEN YOU ADD UP

WRIGHT'S INTEREST IN

PRE-COLUMBIAN ARCHITECTURE, THE ROLE OF DEATH IN THAT

ARCHITECTURE, AND THE MURDER OF

MAMAH BORTHWICK?

YOU GET THIS, ONE OF THE FIRST MAJOR BUILDINGS WRIGHT DESIGNED

AFTER RETURNING TO THE MIDWEST

FROM HIS TRIP TO CALIFORNIA.

IT'S A WAREHOUSE COMMISSIONED BY A WHOLESALE GROCER NAMED A.D.

GERMAN FOR A SITE IN WRIGHT'S

BIRTHPLACE, THE SLEEPY WISCONSIN TOWN OF RICHLAND

CENTER. I

GOT A TOUR FROM A COUPLE OF

LOCAL RESIDENTS WHO ARE WORKING

TO BRING THE BUILDING BACK TO LIFE. TO PUT IT MILDLY,

IT DOES NOT LOOK LIKE A TRADITIONAL WAREHOUSE,

OR A FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT DESIGN,

OR THE KIND OF BUILDING YOU'D EXPECT TO FIND IN SMALL-TOWN

WISCONSIN. IT

LOOKS A TEMPLE, LIKE SOMETHING

STRAIGHT OUT OF A CATHERWOOD

DRAWING.

LERNER: IF YOU PUT THAT SIDE BY

SIDE WITH THE SO-CALLED NUNNERY STRUCTURE AT UXMAL, ONE OF THE

BUILDINGS THAT HE WOULD HAVE

SEEN REPRODUCED BOTH AT THE

CHICAGO COLUMBIAN EXPOSITION

AND PHOTOGRAPHS OF IN SAN

DIEGO, YOU CAN SEE A REAL SORT

OF DIALOGUE AT THE VERY LEAST.

HAWTHORNE: IT'S CLEAR THAT WRIGHT WAS USING THE RICHLAND

CENTER COMMISSION TO TEST OUT

THE MAYAN AND OTHER

PRE-COLUMBIAN MOTIFS THAT HE'D JUST SEEN IN SAN DIEGO AND THAT

WOULD SOON FORM THE BASIS OF

HIS RESIDENTIAL WORK IN LOS

ANGELES. AND

THOUGH HE WAS IN A NEW

RELATIONSHIP BY NOW, A

TEMPESTUOUS ONE, WITH A WOMAN

NAMED MIRIAM NOEL, WHOM HE WOULD LATER MARRY AND THEN

QUICKLY DIVORCE, HE WAS ALSO

STILL STRUGGLING TO RECOVER

EMOTIONALLY FROM THE MURDERS,

AND INCREASINGLY DESPERATE TO

WORK ANYWHERE BUT THE MIDWEST.

LUCKILY FOR WRIGHT, HE FOUND

TWO COMMISSIONS THAT HELPED HIM

ACCELERATE HIS ESCAPE. HE

WAS ASKED TO DESIGN THE GIANT

IMPERIAL HOTEL IN TOKYO, AND IN CALIFORNIA HE BEGAN WORK ON

A PROJECT THAT WOULD ULTIMATELY

BE DUBBED HOLLYHOCK HOUSE, FOR A WEALTHY, AMBITIOUS, AND

INCONSTANT NEW CLIENT NAMED ALINE BARNSDALL.

HINES: WRIGHT WAS IN NEED OF

ESCAPE AND HELP. PART OF IT HE FOUND IN JAPAN,

THE IMPERIAL HOTEL COMMISSION,

AND HERE IN THE BARNSDALL COMMISSION.

THOSE TWO GREAT, RATHER EXOTIC

COMMISSIONS IN EXOTIC PLACES FROM HIS MIDWESTERN STANDPOINT,

AND THOSE WERE IMPORTANT

SOURCES OF HEALING, REALLY, FOR

HIM.

HAWTHORNE: ACCORDING TO JEFFREY

HERR, WHO NOW OVERSEES

HOLLYHOCK HOUSE, ALINE BARNSDALL HOPED TO BUILD NOT

JUST A RESIDENCE BUT A

PERFORMING-ARTS COMPLEX. HERR: SHE WAS EDUCATED IN

EUROPE AND BECAME INTERESTED IN THEATRE, SPECIFICALLY

AVANT-GARDE THEATRE.

HAWTHORNE: WHILE WRIGHT WAS OFF

IN TOKYO, SHE FOUND A 36-ACRE

HILLTOP SITE ON THE EASTERN

EDGE OF HOLLYWOOD, A SPOT CALLED OLIVE HILL.

HINES: WITH ALINE BARNSDALL'S MONEY, HER INHERITED FORTUNE

FROM HER FATHER WHO HAD BEEN AN

OIL BARON, THERE WERE LIMITLESS

POSSIBILITIES.

HAWTHORNE: AND WHILE HER DREAMS

OF BUILDING A THEATER WERE

NEVER REALIZED, THE HOUSE

WRIGHT PRODUCED FOR HER IS

PLENTY THEATRICAL ON ITS OWN.

HERR: WHEN WRIGHT DESIGNED

HOLLYHOCK HOUSE, HE NOT ONLY

CONCEDED TO ALINE BARNSDALL'S IDEA THAT THIS HOUSE WOULD BE

NAMED HOLLYHOCK HOUSE BECAUSE IT'S HER FAVORITE FLOWER, BUT

HE WENT 10 STEPS FURTHER

DESIGNING AN AMAZING

ABSTRACTION OF THE PLANT AND

THEN RIFFING ON THAT WITH INNUMERABLE ADAPTATIONS

OF THAT DESIGN.

HAWTHORNE: THERE IS A RANGE OF

STYLES IN HOLLYHOCK HOUSE,

INCLUDING VIENNESE MODERN AND

JAPANESE ARCHITECTURE. BUT IT IS, ABOVE ALL, A MAYA

TEMPLE.

HERR: IF YOU LOOK AT THE WEST

FAÇADE, YOU HAVE THIS MONUMENTAL

SORT OF TEMPLE-STYLE BUILDING.

IT HAS ORNAMENTATION THAT IS CERTAINLY REMINISCENT OF MAYAN

OR PRE-COLUMBIAN RUINS.

HAWTHORNE: IN THE FINAL

ANALYSIS, DESPITE ITS UNORTHODOX POWER AND MOMENTS OF

REAL BRILLIANCE, HOLLYHOCK

HOUSE WAS AN IMPERFECT L.A.

DEBUT FOR WRIGHT. IT NEVER CAME CLOSE TO

FULFILLING BARNSDALL'S

AMBITIONS, THAT'S FOR SURE. AND IN A FORESHADOWING OF

WRIGHT'S L.A.

HOUSES TO COME, IT NEVER

SUCCEEDED AS A RESIDENCE, A DOMESTIC SETTING. BARNSDALL

STARTED THINKING ABOUT DONATING

IT TO THE CITY OF LOS ANGELES BEFORE IT WAS EVEN A YEAR OLD,

AND SHE WOULD MAKE THE GIFT

OFFICIAL IN 1927.

IT'S PROBABLY DIFFICULT

FOR US TO REALIZE NOW JUST HOW

IDIOSYNCRATIC A HOUSE DESIGNED TO RESEMBLE A MAYA TEMPLE WOULD

HAVE SEEMED IN THE LOS ANGELES

OF THAT TIME.

DEVERELL: BY THE TEENS, AND CERTAINLY BY THE 1920S, THE

ELITE ARCHITECTURAL CLIENTS

HAVE MORE OR LESS CHOSEN THAT THE ARTICLE OF FAITH IS THE

SPANISH COLONIAL STYLE.

HAWTHORNE: WRIGHT WAS FULL OF

DISDAIN FOR THIS ARCHITECTURE AND ITS SUITABILITY FOR LOS

ANGELES.

HE CALLED IT "FRAUDULENT" AND

COMPLAINED THAT THE RED TILE ROOFS OF SPANISH COLONIAL AND

MISSION-STYLE BUILDINGS HERE

"GIVE BACK THE SUNSHINE

STAINED PINK."

WHEN I WENT TO SEE KATHRYN SMITH, AMONG THE LEADING

AUTHORITIES IN L.A.

ON WRIGHT'S WORK, SHE EXPLAINED SOMETHING IMPORTANT: THAT

WRIGHT'S DISLIKE FOR THE

SPANISH COLONIAL WAS PART OF

HIS BROADER IMPATIENCE WITH THE

IDEA THAT AMERICAN ARCHITECTS SHOULD LOOK TO EUROPE FOR THEIR

CULTURAL INSPIRATION.

SMITH: FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT WANTED TO CREATE A GENUINE,

ORIGINAL AMERICAN ARCHITECTURE.

SO, EVEN FROM THE 1890S TO THE 1900S, HE REJECTED VICTORIAN

ARCHITECTURE, GREEK ARCHITECTURE, ROMAN REVIVAL,

ROMANESQUE REVIVAL.

HINES: WRIGHT WAS ALWAYS SOMETHING OF A CULTURAL

NATIONALIST DETERMINED TO FIND

THE ROOTS OF AN AMERICAN

CULTURE. HAWTHORNE: WRIGHT WAS ARGUING,

IN EFFECT, THAT PRE-COLUMBIAN

ARCHITECTURE WAS MORE AMERICAN

THAN THE SPANISH COLONIAL AND THAT LOS ANGELES HAD MORE IN

COMMON IN TERMS OF CLIMATE,

LANDSCAPE, AND CULTURE WITH

PRE-COLUMBIAN MEXICO THAN WITH NEW YORK OR SPAIN. THIS

POINT OF VIEW WAS IN CERTAIN

WAYS DEEPLY NAIVE.

WRIGHT NEVER VISITED ANY

PRE-COLUMBIAN RUINS IN PERSON.

AS HE WOULD LATER DO WITH

NATIVE AMERICAN DESIGNS, WRIGHT

TENDED TO RATHER INDISCRIMINATELY MIX TOGETHER

MAYA CULTURE WITH AZTEC OR INCA.

LASHER: THERE IS SOMETHING

PECULIAR ABOUT LOOKING TO

INDIGENOUS ARCHITECTURES OF

NORTH AND CENTRAL AMERICA AND APPROPRIATING THEM WHEN, IN

FACT, YOU'RE THE DESCENDANT OF,

YOU KNOW, WHITE SETTLERS THAT

ACTUALLY PUSHED THESE

INDIGENOUS CULTURES ASIDE.

HAWTHORNE: AND YET THERE WAS

ALSO SOMETHING GENUINE IN

WRIGHT'S USE OF PRE-COLUMBIAN

FORMS.

WHAT HE WAS EXPRESSING WAS A

KIND OF HEARTFELT, IF SCATTERSHOT, PAN-AMERICAN PRIDE.

"WE CAN'T LEARN ANYTHING FROM

EUROPE," HE SAID. "THEY HAVE TO LEARN FROM US."

BY EARLY 1923, DESPITE THE FACT

THAT THE BARNSDALL JOB HADN'T WORKED OUT THE WAY HE'D HOPED,

WRIGHT DECIDED HE WANTED TO

SETTLE IN LOS ANGELES FOR GOOD.

HIS SON FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT JR.,

KNOWN AS LLOYD WRIGHT AND AN ARCHITECT LIKE HIS FATHER, HAD

PRECEDED HIM TO L.A.

FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT FOUND A

STUDIO AT THE CORNER OF

FOUNTAIN AND HARPER AVENUES, IN WHAT'S NOW WEST HOLLYWOOD.

SMITH: FORTUNATELY FOR HIM,

THERE WAS SOMEONE HERE WHO

KNEW HIM, AND THIS WAS A WOMAN

NAMED ALICE MILLARD. SHE AND HER HUSBAND HAD

COMMISSIONED HIM FOR A HOUSE IN

CHICAGO.

HAWTHORNE: MILLARD HAD MOVED TO

CALIFORNIA AFTER HER HUSBAND DIED AND ASKED WRIGHT TO DESIGN

A HOUSE FOR A PIECE OF LAND

SHE'D FOUND IN PASADENA.

IT WAS A COMMISSION THAT WOULD PROPEL HIS WORK IN A DRAMATIC

NEW DIRECTION. WRIGHT

WANTED TO OFFER AN ANSWER TO

THE LEAN, MACHINE-MADE MODERNISM THAT WAS GAINING

TRACTION IN EUROPE,

BUT HE WANTED TO DO IT IN A WAY THAT WOULD NOT ONLY SEEM

INDIGENOUS TO SOUTHERN

CALIFORNIA BUT THAT MIGHT BE

DEMOCRATIC, AFFORDABLE ON A MASS SCALE. SO,

WRIGHT DEVISED A BRAND-NEW

MODULAR SYSTEM MADE,

SURPRISINGLY ENOUGH, OF CONCRETE BLOCKS CREATED WITH A

RECIPE THAT USED SOIL FROM THE

BUILDING SITE ITSELF.

CONCRETE BLOCKS THAT COULD BE CHEAPLY PRODUCED AND THEN

STACKED QUICKLY BY HAND. SAMUELSON: YOU HAVE CONCRETE,

WHICH IS A NATURAL MATERIAL THAT IS OF THE EARTH ITSELF.

ITS MATERIALS ARE PART OF THE

EARTH, BOUND TOGETHER BY THE NATURAL SANDS AND THE CRUSHED

GRANITES THAT ARE PUT TOGETHER BY CONCRETE INTO BLOCKS AND

FORMED. HAWTHORNE: CONCRETE ALSO

APPEALED TO WRIGHT BECAUSE HE

COULD EASILY STAMP THE BLOCKS

WITH THE MAYA PATTERNS HE'D

GROWN SO FOND OF.

THE MATERIAL OF THE HOUSE AND THE DECORATION ON THE HOUSE

WOULD BE ONE AND THE SAME.

PERHAPS THINKING BACK TO

TALIESIN, WRIGHT TOLD ALICE

MILLARD THAT ONE VIRTUE OF THE

BLOCKS WAS THAT THEY WERE

FIREPROOF. WHEN I WENT TO SEE UCLA'S MICHAEL

OSMAN, AN EXPERT IN THE

MATERIALS OF MODERN ARCHITECTURE, HE TOLD ME THAT

THERE WERE SOME BASIC

CONTRADICTIONS INHERENT

IN WRIGHT'S NEW SYSTEM.

OSMAN: WHEN I THINK ABOUT WHAT AN ARCHITECT

IS DOING WHEN THEY TRY AND MAKE

A MODULAR SYSTEM OUT OF

CONCRETE, IT SEEMS TO ME TO BE

AGAINST THE GRAIN OF THAT

MATERIAL, WHICH IN A CERTAIN WAY

LENDS ITSELF TO BEING MORE OF A

MASS AND LESS OF A UNIT. SO,

WITH WOOD, BECAUSE IT GROWS IN A TREE AND YOU TAKE THE TREE DOWN,

YOU'RE ALREADY GIVEN A UNIT, THE LOG, AND THERE'S A LOT OF

INVESTIGATION INTO WHAT THE LOG

CAN DELIVER IN TERMS OF LUMBER.

BUT WHEN IT COMES TO AN

AGGREGATE MADE UP OF SAND,

CEMENT, GRAVEL, AND REINFORCEMENT BARS, IT'S A

FRANKENSTEIN BODY IN A WAY, SO, TO MAKE IT INTO A UNIT IS A KIND

OF COUNTERINTUITIVE THING, EVEN

THOUGH PEOPLE NOW, WE TAKE IT FOR GRANTED THAT CONCRETE COMES

IN MODULAR UNITS.

HAWTHORNE: CONCRETE WAS FAR

FROM A HIGH-DESIGN MATERIAL IN THOSE DAYS. WRIGHT CALLED IT THE

"CHEAPEST AND UGLIEST THING IN

THE BUILDING WORLD."

AND, IN FACT, THIS WAS PART OF THE CHALLENGE FOR HIM.

AS HE PUT IT, "WHY NOT SEE WHAT

COULD BE DONE WITH THAT GUTTER RAT?"

OSMAN: CONCRETE WAS A GUTTER RAT IN CERTAIN CIRCLES, FOR

SURE WITH JOHN RUSKIN IN THE

SEVEN LAMPS OF ARCHITECTURE, THE LAMP OF TRUTH IS NEVER

USE--THERE'S A FOOTNOTE: NEVER

USE CONCRETE BECAUSE IT HAS NO

CHARACTER.

IT DOESN'T COME FROM NATURE, AND THEREFORE IT ONLY TAKES ON

THE CHARACTER OF EITHER WHAT

YOU COVER IT WITH, OR THE

FORMWORK THAT IT'S POURED INTO. HAWTHORNE: FOR WRIGHT, THIS

QUALITY WAS CENTRAL TO

CONCRETE'S APPEAL. HE SAW THE MATERIAL AS A

SHAPESHIFTER, CAPABLE OF

SOLVING SEVERAL ARCHITECTURAL

PROBLEMS AT ONCE.

SMITH: SO, WITH THIS ONE

ELEMENT, THE SQUARE BLOCK, FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT CREATED SOMETHING

THAT WAS STRUCTURAL, MODULAR,

MATERIAL, AND A POETIC CONNECTION TO THE SITE ITSELF.

HAWTHORNE: ONCE WRIGHT HAD AN APPROACH IN MIND FOR ALICE

MILLARD'S PROPERTY, HE DECIDED

TO PUT THE HOUSE NOT IN THE

PERFECTLY FLAT MIDDLE OF THE

LOT, AS PRETTY MUCH ANY OTHER ARCHITECT WOULD HAVE DONE, BUT

DOWN IN A RAVINE ALONG ONE

EDGE. THOUGH THIS MADE

THE HOUSE SUSCEPTIBLE

TO FLOODING FROM DAY ONE, IT'S

ALSO WHAT GIVES THE DESIGN,

VEILED BY TREES, SUCH AN OTHERWORLDLY LOOK.

THE RESULT, WHICH

WRIGHT NICKNAMED

"LA MINIATURA," IS A SINGULARLY BRILLIANT WORK OF L.A.

ARCHITECTURE, ONE THAT SEEMS TO GROW ALMOST INEXORABLY FROM ITS

SITE WHILE ALSO CLOSING ITSELF

OFF FROM THE WORLD AT LARGE.

FLAT-ROOFED LIKE A WORK OF

A EUROPEAN MODERNIST, BUT

ALTOGETHER MORE MYSTERIOUS, CLOSED-OFF, AND DRAMATIC.

A SMALL TEMPLE IN A EUCALYPTUS

GROVE. REMEMBER

BRENDAN GILL'S MAYAN GOD?

HE MIGHT HAVE FELT VERY MUCH AT HOME HERE.

O'NEIL: WHEN I SAW THE DESIGNS ON THE MILLARD HOUSE WITH THAT

CROSS, I THOUGHT, "WELL, COULD THAT BE A REFERENCE TO THIS

MESOAMERICAN UNDERSTANDING OF

THE SHAPE OF THE UNIVERSE?" THE MESOAMERICAN UNIVERSE, OF

WHICH THE MAYA WERE A PART, SHARED WITH THE MAYA, AZTECS,

MIXTECS, ZAPOTECS, ALL THESE CULTURES, THE CARDINAL

DIRECTIONS AND INTERCARDINAL

DIRECTIONS WERE ABSOLUTELY

IMPORTANT TO ESTABLISHING

THE UNIVERSE. SO, YOU GET STORIES OF GODS OR

HEROES WHO MEASURE OUT THE

SIDES OF THE UNIVERSE.

SO, WHEN YOU SEE THIS CROSS,

LET'S SAY, EQUIDISTANT, IT IS

SHOWING, IT'S POINTING TO THOSE

CARDINAL DIRECTIONS, ESTABLISHING OR SHOWING THE

SHAPE OF YOUR UNIVERSE.

BUT THAT SPECIFIC DESIGN IS ALSO THE SYMBOL FOR GOLD FOR

THE AZTECS. AND I HAVE NO IDEA IF FRANK

LLOYD WRIGHT KNEW THAT, BUT

IT'S PRETTY NEAT TO SEE THE MILLARD HOUSE WITH ALL OF THESE

DESIGNS FOR GOLD.

IT'S SORT OF THIS SORT OF CHANGING OF MATERIALS WHERE YOU

GET CONCRETE TURNING INTO GOLD,

SO, SORT OF TRANSUBSTANTIATION

OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT.

HAWTHORNE: BY THIS POINT, I'D

SPOKEN TO A NUMBER OF EXPERTS

ON WRIGHT'S WORK, BOTH IN THE

MIDWEST AND IN LOS ANGELES.

WHAT I HADN'T DONE IS SPEAK TO ANYBODY WHO LIVES IN ONE OF

THESE HOUSES. AND

WHILE THAT WAS IMPOSSIBLE IN A LITERAL SENSE--NONE OF WRIGHT'S

L.A. HOUSES IS NOW USED AS A

FULL-TIME RESIDENCE--I FOUND THE NEXT BEST THING VIA MY

8-YEAR-OLD DAUGHTER.

[PIANO PLAYING]

WOMAN: BEAUTIFUL.

HAWTHORNE: SHE TAKES PIANO LESSONS IN THE STUDIO ATTACHED

TO THE MILLARD HOUSE, WHICH

WRIGHT'S SON LLOYD

ADDED IN 1926.

HER TEACHER, CINDY LAM, ACTS AS A CARETAKER FOR THE MAIN HOUSE.

LAM: TWO.

NOTES WERE CORRECT.

I DID THINK IT WAS

STRANGE-LOOKING.

WHEN I FIRST SAW PICTURES OF

THIS PLACE, I THOUGHT, "REALLY?

LIKE, WHO MAKES A CONCRETE

HOUSE? THAT'S JUST, LIKE, SO

UGLY. WHO DOES THAT?" [LAUGHS]

I DIDN'T REALLY SEE THE

DARKNESS. I THINK I SAW THIS PLACE--REALLY, IT

REPRESENTED STRENGTH AND BEAUTY TO ME.

I HAD A BREAK-UP WITH A

BOYFRIEND AND WE WERE IN THE

PROCESS OF BREAKING UP AND HE

WAS SAYING ALL THESE THINGS TO

ME THAT WERE, YOU KNOW, LESS

THAN DESIRABLE.

I JUST REMEMBER THERE WAS LIKE A MOMENT, LIKE THIS LIGHT BULB

WENT OFF AND I THOUGHT, "THIS

IS MY FORTRESS. YOU DON'T GET

TO BE IN HERE. YOU NEED TO

LEAVE NOW."

THIS HOUSE REALLY EMBOLDENS

PEOPLE.

I'VE FOUND PEOPLE IN THE YARD. I HAVE A SIGN OUT FRONT THAT

SAYS THAT THERE ARE NO TOURS

BUT IF YOU FEEL ENTITLED TO ONE

THEN YOU CAN LEAVE A BOTTLE OF WINE AND WE CAN TALK ABOUT IT.

[LAUGHS]

SO FAR, NO WINE. I THINK PEOPLE

GET A LITTLE BIT SHAMED BY THAT MESSAGE AND THEY GO THEIR OWN

WAY.

HAWTHORNE: THE NEXT HOUSE

WRIGHT DESIGNED IN LOS ANGELES,

AFTER MILLARD, HAS ALWAYS BEEN

SOMETHING OF AN ENIGMA.

AND SO IS THE MAN IT'S NAMED

FOR, A DOCTOR FROM WISCONSIN NAMED JOHN STORER.

SMITH: WE DON'T KNOW A LOT

ABOUT HIS BIOGRAPHY, BUT

THROUGH THE DRAWINGS AND SOME

CORRESPONDENCE, IT HAS COME TO

LIGHT THAT THIS WAS PROBABLY A SPEC HOUSE, SOMETHING THAT

STORER WAS BUILDING FOR RESALE.

HAWTHORNE: THOUGH THE CURRENT OWNER TURNED DOWN OUR REQUEST

TO FILM THERE, WE GOT A PEEK INSIDE THANKS TO

MARTHA STEWART, WHO FEATURED

THE HOUSE ON HER TELEVISION SHOW NEARLY 20 YEARS AGO. THE

FOOTAGE SUGGESTS A GOOD DEAL OF

CONTINUITY WITH THE MILLARD

HOUSE, WITH A STRONG MAYA INFLUENCE, STACKED CONCRETE

BLOCKS, A REDWOOD CEILING, AND

A RATHER STANDOFFISH

RELATIONSHIP TO THE STREET.

HINES: YOU LOOK UP AT IT FROM

HOLLYWOOD BOULEVARD, THAT

LITTLE STRETCH OF HOLLYWOOD BOULEVARD, AND IT'S A REAL

PRESENCE THERE. YOU'RE NOT GOING TO MISS IT.

IT DOES NOT NESTLE IN. HAWTHORNE: WRIGHT PUT THE LIVING

ROOM ON THE TOP FLOOR,

INSIDE A TALL CENTRAL

PAVILION THAT OPENS ONTO A PAIR

OF TERRACES.

THE HOUSE IS EVEN MORE VERTICAL AND TEMPLE-LIKE THAN MILLARD AS

SEEN FROM THE STREET, BECAUSE

INSTEAD OF BEING SUNK INTO A RAVINE, IT STARTS ON A HILLSIDE

AND GOES UP FROM THERE. THE

AUTHOR AND WRIGHT EXPERT ROBERT

SWEENEY TOLD ME THAT AS THE STORER HOUSE WAS UNDER

CONSTRUCTION, WRIGHT WAS

CONTINUING TO EXPERIMENT WITH

THE CONCRETE BLOCK SYSTEM.

SWEENEY: HE DID A DESIGN FOR

ALINE BARNSDALL ON OLIVE HILL CALLED THE LITTLE DIPPER; IT

WAS A KINDERGARTEN.

AND THERE ARE MANY DRAWINGS

SHOWING THE EVOLUTION OF THE CONCRETE BLOCK SYSTEM.

IT WAS WORKED OUT FOR THE LITTLE DIPPER.

HAWTHORNE: ONE CHANGE FROM MILLARD WAS THAT THE BLOCKS

COULD BE STACKED WITHOUT ANY MORTAR, REQUIRING LESS SKILLED

LABOR, AND THEN WOVEN TOGETHER WITH VERTICAL AND HORIZONTAL

STEEL RODS.

WRIGHT CALLED IT A

TEXTILE BLOCK SYSTEM.

SWEENEY: WRIGHT WENT BACK TO

WISCONSIN DURING CONSTRUCTION

OF THE STORER HOUSE AND TURNED

THE PROJECT OVER TO HIS SON

LLOYD. HAWTHORNE: WHEN HE RETURNED TO

CALIFORNIA, WRIGHT WAS DEEPLY

DISAPPOINTED.

COMPARED TO ALICE MILLARD,

STORER WAS A LESS INVOLVED AND DEDICATED CLIENT.

ON TOP OF THAT, WRIGHT'S BLOCK

SYSTEM WAS PROVING TRICKY TO

EXECUTE, ESPECIALLY ON A HILLSIDE.

WRIGHT TOLD LLOYD THAT HE

CONSIDERED THE HOUSE A

"TRAGEDY" AND THAT IT WAS

"LACKING JOY." IN LATER YEARS, ONE RESIDENT OF

THE HOUSE, EVEN IN PRAISING IT,

COMPARED THE LIVING ROOM TO "A DRAMA OF SOPHOCLES," AS IF

WRIGHT'S OWN FAMILY STRIFE AND

VIOLENT RECENT PAST WERE WRITTEN INTO THE CONCRETE

BLOCKS THEMSELVES.

THE HOUSE, TO BE FAIR, HASN'T

ALWAYS PROMPTED THAT SORT OF REACTION.

IN THE 1980S, THE FILM PRODUCER

JOEL SILVER BOUGHT IT AND

UNDERTOOK A COMPLETE AND ENTHUSIASTIC RESTORATION.

IN THE PROCESS, HE BECAME SO OBSESSED WITH WRIGHT THAT HE

BEGAN DROPPING REFERENCES TO

THE ARCHITECT INTO HIS WORK.

IN "DIE HARD," THERE'S A TV NEWS

STATION CALLED KFLW, AND THE

MOVIE'S VILLAIN, HANS GRUBER,

PLAYED BY ALAN RICKMAN, PAUSES

AT ONE POINT TO ADMIRE A BRIDGE

DESIGN THAT WRIGHT IN REAL LIFE

PROPOSED NEAR THE END OF HIS CAREER FOR SAN FRANCISCO BAY.

GRUBER/RICKMAN: --EXACTNESS,

THE ATTENTION TO EVERY

CONCEIVABLE DETAIL.

IT'S BEAUTIFUL.

HAWTHORNE: THE STORER HOUSE

ITSELF DOESN'T SHOW UP IN ANY

OF SILVER'S MOVIES, OR ANY

FAMOUS MOVIES, FOR THAT MATTER. BUT

FOR THE NEXT OF WRIGHT'S LOS

ANGELES HOUSES, FOR THE COUPLE

CHARLES AND MABEL ENNIS, IT'S A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT STORY.

[DOOR CREAKING]

[MAN LAUGHING]

VINCENT PRICE: I'M VINCENT PRICE, AND YOU'RE INVITED TO MY

PARTY IN THE HOUSE ON

HAUNTED HILL.

HAWTHORNE: I VISITED THE ENNIS HOUSE NOT LONG AFTER THE

COMPLETION OF AN IMMACULATE

RESTORATION OVERSEEN BY ITS NEW OWNER--RON BURKLE.

WHAT STRUCK ME WAS THAT THE HOUSE IS NOT JUST THE BIGGEST

BUT THE MOST IMPOSING OF

WRIGHT'S L.A.

DESIGNS, ONE THAT MANAGES TO WRING GENUINE GRANDEUR FROM

CONCRETE BLOCK.

LOOMING OVER LOS FELIZ, IT'S THE APOTHEOSIS OF WRIGHT'S

VISION OF A PRE-COLUMBIAN

TEMPLE RELOCATED TO SOUTHERN

CALIFORNIA--MONUMENTAL AND

IMPENETRABLE.

HINES: THAT BULWARK, THAT

BASTION UP THERE.

QUITE WONDERFUL, QUITE

STRIKING, BUT NOT INTIMATE. HAWTHORNE: MANY OF THE DETAILS,

THE WROUGHT-IRON DECORATION AND

STAINED GLASS IN PARTICULAR,

REFLECT THE ENNISES' TASTE MORE THAN THEIR ARCHITECT'S.

SMITH: THEY WERE AN INTERESTING

COUPLE. WE DON'T REALLY KNOW A LOT ABOUT THEM.

I DON'T THINK IT'S EVEN PINNED

DOWN AT THIS MOMENT HOW THEY

MET FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT. SWEENEY: I HAVE WRESTLED FOR

YEARS WONDERING WHY THEY BUILT THIS ENORMOUS HOUSE.

IT'S A MAYA PALACE.

SMITH: THEY WERE JUST CLIENTS,

AND THEY WANTED TO HAVE THE HOUSE THAT THEY WANTED TO HAVE

BUILT, AND SO, THERE ARE PARTS

OF THE ENNIS HOUSE, MAJOR, MAJOR

ELEMENTS THAT POP OUT TO

PEOPLE, WHERE THEY TURN TO THE

KIND OF DECORATIVE WORK OF THE PERIOD.

IT SORT OF LOOKS LIKE NORMA

DESMOND'S HOUSE IN "SUNSET

BOULEVARD."

AND PEOPLE WONDER ABOUT THAT, BUT THAT'S BECAUSE THEY WANTED

TO HAVE IT CARRIED OUT AND

COMPLETED TO THEIR OWN WISHES.

IT'S ATTRACTED A CERTAIN AURA ABOUT IT, WHICH PERHAPS HAS

BEEN MADE MORE SO BY THE NUMBER

OF HOLLYWOOD FILMS THAT IT'S

BEEN IN.

BUT I THINK EVEN BEFORE THAT,

IT WAS IN THE HOLLYWOOD FILMS

BECAUSE IT COMMUNICATED THIS

KIND OF MYSTERIOUS AURA ABOUT IT.

APPIS: OH, MRS. ESTEE

DECIDED THE POOL NEEDED A

DEAD HORSE IN IT, SO,

WE GOT ONE.

HAWTHORNE: IF THE ENNIS HOUSE WAS TYPICAL OF WRIGHT'S L.A.

WORK IN SUGGESTING DARK, EVEN

SINISTER OVERTONES, IN SEEMING

TO REPEL THE VERY IDEA OF NORMAL FAMILY LIFE, THE

EXCEPTION CAME IN THE

ARCHITECT'S FOURTH

CONCRETE BLOCK HOUSE, IN THE HOLLYWOOD HILLS. THE

CLIENTS WERE A YOUNG BOHEMIAN

COUPLE NAMED HARRIET AND SAMUEL FREEMAN; THEY'D SCRAPED

TOGETHER THE MONEY TO BUY A

PIECE OF LAND THAT OFFERED A VIEW STRAIGHT DOWN HIGHLAND

AVENUE.

WHAT THE FREEMANS LACKED IN MONEY THEY MADE UP FOR IN

ENTHUSIASM FOR WRIGHT'S WORK.

THE ARCHITECT, IN RETURN, PRODUCED A HOUSE THAT SEEMED TO

FIT THEM LIKE A GLOVE, WITH

A BIG, OPEN LIVING ROOM WHERE

HARRIET, A DANCER, COULD HOLD PERFORMANCES AND SALONS.

THEY LIVED THERE FOR THE REST

OF THEIR LIVES, MORE THAN 60

YEARS. AND UNDER THE STEWARDSHIP OF

USC, TO WHICH THE FREEMANS

DONATED THE HOUSE IN 1986, IT'S

BEEN THE SETTING FOR AT LEAST ONE MORE SUCCESSFUL

RELATIONSHIP.

HARRIS: I'M HANK HARRIS. I'M AN ACTOR. MY WIFE--

TIMME: IS ELIZABETH TIMME, AND

I'M AN ARCHITECT AND MY DAD WAS THE DEAN OF THE

SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE AT USC

FROM 1994 TO 2005 AND--

HARRIS: WE MET AND FELL IN

LOVE IN THE FREEMAN HOUSE. TIMME: AND I HAD THE BENEFIT OF

BEING ABLE TO STAY THERE WHILE

I WAS A STUDENT.

HARRIS: ME, TOO. TIMME: AND HIM, TOO.

HAWTHORNE: YOU'VE PROBABLY

NOTICED BY NOW THAT THE FREEMAN

HOUSE IS IN PRETTY TERRIBLE

SHAPE. IN PART BECAUSE OF ITS STEEP LOT,

AND PERHAPS BECAUSE THE

FREEMANS DIDN'T HAVE THE

RESOURCES OF THE ENNISES OR EVEN ALICE MILLARD, THE HOUSE

HAD STRUCTURAL PROBLEMS FROM

THE BEGINNING.

WRIGHT HAD CLEARLY NOT

PERFECTED HIS NEW

CONCRETE BLOCK SYSTEM. THESE ISSUES WERE COMPOUNDED BY

THE 1994 NORTHRIDGE EARTHQUAKE. HARRIS: THE TEXTILE BLOCKS

WOULD ABSORB RAIN TO A POINT

AND THEN IT WOULD JUST BEGIN TO

DRIP THROUGH CONSTANTLY. TIMME: AND I REMEMBER MY DAD

JUST COMING OVER WITH,

LIKE, TARP. HARRIS: YEAH, IT WAS JUST

PLASTIC EVERYWHERE, JUST TO KEEP

THE WATER OFF THE FLOOR, AND

WE'D GET UP AND SQUEEGEE IT OFF

EVERY MORNING.

TIMME: SO, IT FELT LIKE A RUIN, WHICH WAS REALLY CRAZY TO BE

INSIDE SOMETHING THAT FELT VERY

MUCH LIKE ANGKOR WAT.

IT JUST FELT VERY MUCH LIKE

SOMEONE ELSE'S KIND OF BIZARRE

"BLADE RUNNER" FANTASY.

HAWTHORNE: OUR NEXT INTERVIEWEE, WHO OVERSEES THE HOUSE FOR USC,

UNDERSTANDS AS WELL AS ANYBODY

HOW DIFFICULT THESE PROBLEMS ARE TO SOLVE.

SANDMEIER: WE'RE TAKING THE

APPROACH THAT, YOU KNOW, THIS IS A VERY COMPLICATED KNIT SWEATER

AND WE DON'T WANT TO PULL THE

WRONG THREAD FIRST AND UNRAVEL THE WHOLE THING.

IT IS A COMBINATION OF NOT ENOUGH MONEY TO DO IT AND

TRYING TO DECIDE WHAT THE RIGHT

APPROACH AND, WITH THE SMALL AMOUNT OF MONEY WE HAVE, WHAT

INTERVENTION IS THE MOST

IMPORTANT. WE USE IT NOW, WE TAKE STUDENTS

UP THERE ALL THE TIME, AND IT'S

IN A CONDITION WHERE IT

ACTUALLY PROVIDES SOME REALLY GREAT LESSONS ABOUT HOW THIS

HOUSE WAS ACTUALLY BUILT.

YOU CAN SEE A LOT OF THE

INFRASTRUCTURE. YOU CAN SEE THE

SYSTEMS. THEY'RE EXPOSED RIGHT NOW.

THAT'S AMAZING FOR ARCHITECTURE STUDENTS.

HAWTHORNE: THERE ARE TIMES WHEN

IT CAN SEEM LIKE FOLLY TO KEEP FIXING A HOUSE THAT IN MANY

WAYS HAS PROVED STUBBORNLY

UNFIXABLE. SMITH: AND I'VE THOUGHT A LOT

ABOUT THE SYSTEM, BECAUSE IT WAS

EXPERIMENTAL, BUT THEN, ON THE OTHER HAND, THERE'S NO DOUBT

THAT IT WAS FLAWED. AT THE VERY BEGINNING, I

BELIEVED THAT THE TEXTILE BLOCK

SYSTEM SHOULD BE HELD

SACROSANCT, BUT IF YOU GO TO

JAPAN, YOU SEE, IF YOU FOLLOW

OUT THE IDEA OF BUILDING A

BUILDING IN CONCERT WITH NATURE, IN CONCERT WITH NATURE MEANS

THAT IT HAS A LIFE. AND WHEN YOU CARRY FORWARD

WITH A LIFE, AT SOME TIME,

A LIFE ENDS.

IN SOME WAYS, I KNOW THIS WOULD BE HORRIFIC TO AN AMERICAN

MENTALITY, BUT PERHAPS THEY

SHOULD JUST HAVE BEEN ALLOWED

TO DETERIORATE, AND THAT WOULD

HAVE BEEN THE LOGICAL

CONCLUSION OF THE SYSTEM.

TIMME: WE ALWAYS JOKED THAT WE WOULD, IF WE GOT REALLY RICH

AND FAMOUS, WE WOULD GO BACK THERE AND PAINT IT

GOLD AND THEN BURN IT DOWN. HARRIS: YEAH, YOU CAN'T BURN

CONCRETE, THOUGH.

TIMME: I KNOW. THAT'S WHY IT'S A FUNNY--

HARRIS: --IT'S A JOKE.

TIMME: IT'S A JOKE.

WE COULD MELT IT.

HARRIS: YEAH.

HAWTHORNE: SOME HISTORIANS HAVE

STRESSED THE DIFFERENCES

BETWEEN THIS HOUSE AND THE CONCRETE BLOCK DESIGNS THAT

PRECEDED IT, EVEN SEEING IN ITS CORNER WINDOW THE SEEDS OF THE

CASE STUDY MODERN HOUSES OF

POST-WAR LOS ANGELES. BUT

MORE STRIKING IS HOW SIMILAR THE CONCRETE BLOCK HOUSES ARE

AS A GROUP, HOW CONSISTENTLY DENSE AND INTROVERTED. THE

FREEMAN HOUSE, AS SEEN FROM THE

STREET, IS JUST AS WINDOWLESS,

SECRETIVE, AND OFF-PUTTING,

JUST AS SUGGESTIVE OF A CRYPT,

AS THE MILLARD HOUSE, THE FIRST

OF WRIGHT'S CONCRETE EXPERIMENTS HERE.

SMITH: BY THE END OF 1923, HE WAS FEELING THAT THERE WASN'T

GOING TO BE A BIG FUTURE FOR

HIM.

AND HE SORT OF WAS AT A DEAD END. HE DIDN'T FEEL COMFORTABLE

HERE. HE FELT ALIENATED FROM

THE REAL ESTATE MARKET OF

LOS ANGELES. DEVERELL: CALIFORNIA

HISTORY IS FILLED WITH PEOPLE WHO COME OUT TO CALIFORNIA

IMAGINING A FUTURE FOR

THEMSELVES THAT NEVER TAKES PLACE. THEY NEVER DISCOVER GOLD,

THEY NEVER GET FAMOUS, THEY

NEVER STAR IN A FILM, THEY NEVER

FIND OIL, SO, THEY GO HOME.

SWEENEY: HE WAS NOT

WELL-RECEIVED IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA.

PEOPLE WERE NOT PEOPLE WILLING

TO TAKE THE RISK OR BE

EXPERIMENTAL ENOUGH TO BUILD

WITH THESE CONCRETE BLOCKS, AND

I THINK MANY PEOPLE SIMPLY

DIDN'T LIKE THE HOUSES. THEY ARE NOT DOMESTIC IN ANY

CONVENTIONAL SENSE.

SAMUELSON: HE WAS SOMEBODY WHO

WAS IMPULSIVE AND HE

WOULD CHANGE.

HE WAS PERCEPTIVE. AND SO, IF

IT LOOKED LIKE IT WASN'T GOING WHERE IT WANTED TO GO,

[SNAPS FINGERS] THAT'S IT.

HE WENT BACK HOME.

HAWTHORNE: AFTER LEAVING LOS ANGELES AT THE END OF 1923,

WRIGHT MAINTAINED SOME CONNECTIONS HERE. HIS

SON LLOYD STAYED ON IN L.A.,

AND EVEN CONTINUED THE FAMILY TRADITION OF DESIGNING HOUSES

COVERED IN PRE-COLUMBIAN ORNAMENT.

VISITING THIS HOUSE BY

LLOYD WRIGHT IS

TELLING, THOUGH.

WHAT LLOYD PRODUCED HAS NONE OF

THE GRAVITY, THE POWER, OF HIS FATHER'S L.A. HOUSES.

IT FEELS LIKE A STAGE SET, SOME

CORNER OF DISNEYLAND.

THE HOUSE IS A PASTICHE IN A WAY FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT'S L.A.

HOUSES ARE NOT. ACROSS L.A.,

AS THE 1920S WORE ON,

PRE-COLUMBIAN ARCHITECTURE

BECAME ALL THE RAGE, THOUGH WITH MORE FLAMBOYANCE AND

POPULISM THAN HAD MARKED

WRIGHT'S USE OF IT.

MOST NOTABLY, A BRITISH ARCHITECT NAMED ROBERT

STACY-JUDD CAME HERE, FULLY

EMBRACED PRE-COLUMBIAN CULTURE,

AND NEVER LOOKED BACK.

HE BUILT THE AZTEC HOTEL IN

MONROVIA. HERE

HE IS DOING A MADE-UP PRE-COLUMBIAN DANCE IN MADE-UP

PRE-COLUMBIAN COSTUME. AND HERE'S A DANCER PERFORMING

SOME OF THAT SAME CHOREOGRAPHY

IN FRONT OF THE ENNIS HOUSE IN THE LATE 1920S. LATER

ON, FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT WOULD COME BACK TO DESIGN THE 1939

STURGES HOUSE IN BRENTWOOD, A

CANTILEVERED VERSION OF WRIGHT'S SMALL USONIAN HOUSES.

IN THE 1950S, HE DESIGNED THIS

SMALL SHOPPING CENTER ON RODEO

DRIVE IN BEVERLY HILLS. BUT NONE OF THOSE LATER DESIGNS

HAVE THE PECULIAR FORCE OR

DENSITY OF THE L.A.

HOUSES OF THE 1920S. NOW NEARLY A CENTURY OLD, THESE

CONCRETE BLOCK HOUSES RETAIN THEIR WILDLY ANOMALOUS

CHARACTER. THEY STAND APART FROM WRIGHT'S WORK, AND APART

FROM THE REST OF THE LOS

ANGELES ARCHITECTURE OF THE

PERIOD.

OSMAN: THE L.A. HOUSES ARE MUSCULAR, THEY'RE

BRUTAL, THEY'RE ROMANTIC,

THEY'RE FANTASTIC, YOU KNOW.

THEY'RE STRANGE.

HAWTHORNE: AND ALL THESE YEARS

LATER THEY'VE SETTLED INTO AN ODD PLACE IN THE CULTURE,

POPPING UP NOT JUST IN THE

MOVIES BUT IN THE DIGITAL WORLD. IT TURNS OUT WRIGHT'S BLOCKS

WORK EXCEPTIONALLY WELL IN THE

GAME MINECRAFT, WHICH RELIES ON A SIMILAR MODULAR LOGIC.

THERE'S ALSO A COMPOSITE

VERSION OF THE

BLOCK HOUSES IN A VIDEO GAME

STARRING BUFFY THE VAMPIRE

SLAYER, IN WHICH BUFFY FIGHTS OFF UNDEAD OPPONENTS IN A

SERIES OF APPROPRIATELY DARK

AND MOODY WRIGHTIAN SPACES.

TO GET A FINAL AND MORE PERSONAL

PERSPECTIVE ON WRIGHT'S TIME IN

L.A., I DROVE OUT TO MALIBU ONE MORNING TO MEET ERIC LLOYD

WRIGHT, FRANK'S GRANDSON AND

LLOYD'S SON, AND AN ARCHITECT

IN HIS OWN RIGHT WHO HAS WORKED ON RESTORING SEVERAL OF HIS

GRANDFATHER'S HOUSES. ERIC

WRIGHT LIVES WITH HIS WIFE

MARY IN A COMPOUND OVERLOOKING

THE PACIFIC THAT FEELS VERY MUCH LIKE THE END OF THE ROAD.

IF FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT SOUGHT IN

L.A. THAT FAR CORNER OF THE U.S., HIS GRANDSON, NOW 88,

SEEMS TO HAVE FOUND THAT FAR CORNER OF LOS ANGELES ITSELF.

WE MET IN AN UNFINISHED BUILDING

MADE, APPROPRIATELY ENOUGH,

OUT OF CONCRETE ON THE EDGE OF

HIS PROPERTY. WE

TALKED ABOUT THE TEXTILE BLOCK

SYSTEM, HIS RELATIONSHIP WITH HIS GRANDFATHER, AND ABOUT HIS

WORK ON SOME OF THE L.A.

HOUSES. I ASKED HIM WHY

HE THOUGHT WRIGHT

HAD COME HERE AFTER MAMAH'S

MURDER. WHAT HAD DRAWN HIM

TO LOS ANGELES? WRIGHT: WELL, HE, OF COURSE,

WAS, HAD BEEN VERY UPSET ABOUT

THE DEATH OF HIS COMPANION AND ALL THE ADVERSE PUBLICITY THAT

HAD COME ABOUT BECAUSE OF HIS

LIVING WITH HER AND BEING TOGETHER.

SO, HE THOUGHT THAT

LOS ANGELES,

THIS WAS A NEW TOWN, COMING UP,

HE COULD HAVE A NEW LIFE.

HAWTHORNE: AND THEN, FOR ME, A KEY QUESTION: WHEN FRANK LLOYD

WRIGHT BEGAN WORKING IN LOS

ANGELES, WHAT WAS HIS STATE OF

MIND? WRIGHT: WELL, IT WAS ONE OF, I

THINK, SORROW BECAUSE HE HAD,

THEY HAD HAD A WONDERFUL LIFE.

HE HAD HAD WITH MAMAH BORTHWICK

A WONDERFUL LIFE UNTIL HER

DEATH.

HAWTHORNE: THAT BRINGS US BACK TO MY OVERNIGHT STAY AT

THE MILLARD HOUSE AND THE QUESTION I POSED AT THE START:

WHY DO THE L.A. HOUSES LOOK THE WAY THEY DO?

ARE THEY EXPRESSIONS NOT JUST

OF A DESIRE FOR PRIVACY AND ESCAPE BUT EXPRESSIONS, TO USE

ERIC WRIGHT'S WORD, OF "SORROW"?

SOME OF THE PEOPLE I

INTERVIEWED TOOK ISSUE WITH THAT IDEA.

SAMUELSON: MANY PEOPLE HAVE

LOOKED AT THE CALIFORNIA HOUSES, PARTICULARLY THE

CONCRETE BLOCK HOUSES OF 1923,

AS THINGS THAT ALMOST SEEM LIKE MAUSOLEUMS, OR THEY'RE HEAVY,

AND THAT THIS REFLECTS AN IDEA

OF GRIEF. NOW, I CAN'T GET INTO WRIGHT'S HEAD. I DON'T KNOW

THAT I QUITE BUY THAT.

HAWTHORNE: AFTER A WHILE, IT WAS

IMPOSSIBLE NOT TO NOTICE A SPLIT.

HISTORIANS HAVE TENDED TO PLAY

DOWN THE PRE-COLUMBIAN ASPECTS

OF THE HOUSES AND ESPECIALLY

THEIR CONNECTIONS TO DEATH AND

TO PLAY UP THEIR WIDE RANGE OF

OTHER INFLUENCES. ARTISTS,

FILMMAKERS, HOLLYWOOD LOCATION SCOUTS, AND VIDEO-GAME

DESIGNERS, ON THE OTHER HAND,

HAVE ALL HAD A SIMPLER AND

PERHAPS MORE INSTINCTIVE TAKE. THEY'VE SEEN WHAT'S RIGHT IN

FRONT OF THEM, RIGHT IN FRONT

OF ALL OF US: THAT THESE HOUSES

ARE SHADOWED BY VIOLENCE AND

EVEN DEATH. OVER TIME I CAME TO AGREE WITH

THIS MORE DIRECT VIEW, EVEN TO

THINK OF THE HOUSES AS A

PRECURSOR TO L.A. NOIR.

AND FOR ME, IT HARDLY FELT LIKE

A LEAP.

IF MY EXPERIENCE AS A CRITIC

HAS TAUGHT ME ANYTHING, IT'S

THAT IF YOU SPEND ENOUGH TIME IN A BUILDING AND LISTEN

CLOSELY ENOUGH TO WHAT IT'S

SAYING, IT WILL TELL YOU PRETTY MUCH EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO

KNOW. AND

YOU'D HAVE TO BE PUTTING YOUR

FINGERS IN YOUR EARS NOT TO

HEAR HOW CLEARLY WRIGHT'S LOS ANGELES HOUSES ARE

COMMUNICATING THEIR MORE

FUNEREAL ASPECTS. WHAT'S MORE, THE VOCABULARY

THAT HAS GROWN UP AROUND THE

HOUSES, SOME OF IT FROM WRIGHT

HIMSELF, IS CONSISTENTLY DARK AND EVEN MACABRE: DRAMA OF

SOPHOCLES; BRUTAL; SINISTER; TRAGEDY; LACKING JOY.

PART OF WHAT'S HAPPENING HERE,

I THINK, IS THAT SCHOLARS ARE UNDERSTANDABLY RELUCTANT TO

EMBRACE THE CRUDE CARICATURE OF

PRE-COLUMBIAN CULTURE AND ITS VARIOUS DEATH CULTS, ESPECIALLY

THAT OF THE AZTECS, THAT WAS AN

IMPORTANT PART OF THE WAY

AMERICANS UNDERSTOOD THOSE RUINS DURING WRIGHT'S DAY.

YET THERE'S NO DOUBT THAT THOSE

CARICATURES SHAPED WRIGHT'S

UNDERSTANDING OF PRE-COLUMBIAN DESIGNS AND THEIR MEANING.

AND IT'S NOT AS THOUGH WRIGHT

WAS ONE TO DISCOURAGE A

PSYCHOLOGICAL READING OF HIS

ARCHITECTURE.

TO THE CONTRARY, AS THE CRITIC

HERBERT MUSCHAMP ONCE POINTED OUT, "WRIGHT EXPLICITLY OFFERED

UP HIS LIFE ALONG WITH HIS WORK

FOR CRITICAL APPRAISAL,

INSISTING THAT NEITHER COULD BE

ADEQUATELY UNDERSTOOD WITHOUT THE OTHER."

KAMIN: HIS ARCHITECTURE SAVES HIM, IN A SENSE.

IT BECOMES, YOU KNOW, IT'S THIS

MISSION, THIS PROJECT THAT

HELPS HIM TO RECOVER FROM THAT,

YOU KNOW, JUST CATASTROPHIC PERSONAL TRAGEDY.

HAWTHORNE: IN THE END, I CAME DOWN ON THE SIDE OF THE IDEA

THAT WRIGHT'S L.A. HOUSES, THESE STRANGE

APPARITIONS, ARE NOT JUST HEAVY BUT HEAVY-HEARTED. THERE

WAS SOMETHING IN PRE-COLUMBIAN

ARCHITECTURE, ITS STARKNESS,

ITS STATE OF RUIN, THAT SUGGESTED TO WRIGHT A

SENSIBILITY THAT MIGHT SUIT

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA AND HIS OWN

UNCERTAIN FRAME OF MIND IN THE

YEARS FOLLOWING THE MURDERS. I

DON'T THINK IT'S THE CASE THAT THE HOUSES LOOK OFF-PUTTING AND

CRYPT-LIKE TO US BECAUSE THEY'RE EMPTY, BECAUSE NONE OF

THEM IS NOW USED AS A FULL-TIME

RESIDENCE. I

THINK THE OPPOSITE IS TRUE: I

THINK NONE OF THEM IS NOW USED

AS A FULL-TIME RESIDENCE

PRECISELY BECAUSE THEY'RE OFF-PUTTING AND

CRYPT-LIKE. BECAUSE

THEY WERE A MEANS FOR WRIGHT OF

FINALLY PUTTING A TROUBLED

PERIOD BEHIND HIM FOR GOOD.

MAMAH BORTHWICK IS BURIED IN A LITTLE GRAVEYARD I VISITED

NEXT TO UNITY CHAPEL IN SPRING

GREEN. SHE'S

ALSO BURIED IN LOS ANGELES.

IS MADE POSSIBLE IN PART BY

THE LOS ANGELES COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS

THROUGH THE LOS ANGELES

THE CITY OF LOS ANGELES

DEPARTMENT OF CULTURAL AFFAIRS

THE CALIFORNIA ARTS COUNCIL

AND OTHERS.