Well Sunday’s rather hastily thrown together “Frank/Lloyd Wride” was a definite joy (although I’m kicking myself for not packing a spare memory card as my cam’s filled up immediately upon arrival to Ennis House, the second to last stop, thus preventing a start-to-finish video).
All-in it involved a 26.5 mile, 3-hour tour, the first third or so of which consisted of me biking from Silver Lake to Beverly Hills. Over all, the ride involved visits to seven landmark structures built by Frank Lloyd Wright or his son Lloyd Wright. There are plenty more done around L.A. by Lloyd Wright, but I wanted to stick to the more renowned ones. Thanks to Instagrammer @etandoesla for the tip about the Lloyd Wright property on Ogden. And since they were near to my route across Hollywood between Freeman House and Sowden House, I went ahead and made bonus stops both on North Ivar Avenue first at the residence where Nathanael West wrote one of my favorite novels, “Day of the Locust,” (h/t Kim and Richard of @esotouric) and second up the block at the real life Alto Nido apartments that was the fictional residence of William Holden’s doomed writer in “Sunset Boulevard.”
Locations visited and time-marked:
1. 46:27 – Anderton Court, FLW (Rodeo Dr)
2. 1:00:21 – Studio & Residence, LW (Doheny Dr)
3. 1:17:14 – Storer House, FLW (Hollywood Bl)
4. 1:23:21 – Bollman House, LW (Ogden Dr)
5. 1:35:01 – Freeman House, FLW (Glencoe Wy)
6. 1:46:38 – Nathanael West residence (Ivar Av)
7. 1:49:45 – Alto Nido apartment (Ivar Av)
8. 2:00:08 – Sowden House, LW (Franklin Av)
9. 2:16:43 – Ennis House, FLW (Glendower Av)
10. Hollyhock House, FLW (Barnsdall Pk; not shown due to camera shutdown)
Instead, here’s this brief video I made of the east side of Hollyhock House upon my arrival from Ennis House:
I took a mess of photos as well. Link to Flickr Photo Album: https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjB2dWt
Notes:
- I was horribly disgusted to see the state of Freeman House, allowed to deteriorate under the ownership of USC for years, who, reportedly sold the landmark last year (the idea USC made some sort of profit from their failed stewardship is grating). The buyer was Richard Weintraub, owner of Weintraub Real Estate Group who’s supposedly committed to restoring the home per preservation guidelines, but apparently has done nothing since or yet. Dude’s got a LOT of work to do and even more side-eye to face.
- I was very pleasantly surprised to find no foliage blocking Bollman House and Sowden House. The most recent Google images show greenery seriously impeding views of the facades , but as shown in my video and stills they have been removed.
I could not have asked for a better or more wonderful day to roll more than a marathon’s distance around Los Angeles in search of historic architecture. If you’re a diehard and watch the whooooooole video you’ll see me poach a roll under the “Levitated Mass” boulder at LACMA, as well as cuss out one idiot pulling out of a driveway directly in front of me on Yucca Street in Hollywood, and another right hooking me from Vermont onto Los Feliz. No matter how spectacular the morning, unfortunately a bike ride is just not complete without incidents like that.
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