More Frank Lloyd Wright, with hollyhocks
Frank Lloyd Wright experimented with architectural styles all his life. The cement block houses of Los Angeles were intriguing but apparently are not surviving nature very well.
Wright came up with an interesting representation of the hollyhock flower in the decor of this house. The hollyhock was the favorite flower of the woman who commissioned the house to be built. There's even a feeling of the old millefiore style in this house.
Wright hyper-designed his houses - the inside, the outside, the furniture, the lampposts. In the lamppost one can even see the same hollyhock pattern.
Another of Wright's methods was to narrow down the entrance as one approached until the visitor was in a small space. That way, the contrast was even greater when the visitor would suddenly enter an open, well-lighted space. We weren't allowed to take pictures inside the house, but the entryway was intriguing.
Sadly, the Hollyhock House in Los Angeles has serious roof problems. The carpet got destroyed by rain. According to the guide, most FLW houses seem to have serious roof problems. He didn't work well with engineers. Too bad, because if there was one thing that FLW wanted it was a legacy, but if more of his houses start falling down, there goes the legacy.
Frank Lloyd Wright in Iowa
If you live in east central Iowa, treat yourself to a visit to Cedar Rock, one of FLW's Usonian houses. It was built for an Iowa businessman; once he and his wife passed away, they left their beloved house to the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, including a trust to take care of the house in perpetuity. So it's free to visit.
My brother, also a fan of FLW, visited from Los Angeles where he has gone through FLW houses such as Hollyhock. He's been to Taliesen. After seeing Cedar Rock, he said it's his favorite Wright house, period. It's small and intimate and only so many people at a time are there with you. For a short while you can almost imagine yourself living in this beautiful house on a beautiful bend in the Wapsipinicon River just outside of Quasqueton.
This is one of the houses that Wright deigned to "sign," shown by the red glazed tile with his initials that is near the entryway to the house. Notice also how the grout between the bricks is visible in the horizontal plane, but that the vertical grout has been darkened. Wright did this to emphasize the horizontal appearance of the long, low house, anchoring it to the landscape.