Hollyhock House was built for oil heiress and single mom Aline Barnsdall just after World War I. The setting was a stunning hilltop olive grove surrounded by 36 acres, with 360-degree views of a then very picturesque, perhaps even quaint, Los Angeles. Barnsdall designed her homestead as a multi-structure arts complex, complete with theaters for both live performances and films. Today, that spirit remains, as the property is now the Barnsdall Art Park, housing the Los Angeles Municipal Art gallery, theater, and art center where numerous art and music classes are held.

The front of the house

Pulling into the park off of Hollywood Blvd., you proceed up a windy road and are immediately transported back in time. Wright called the style of the Hollyhock House “California Romanza”. That’s a made-up term which apparently means “I’ll do whatever I want”. Some people refer to the style as “Mayan” due to the geometric shapes, especially the slant of the roof line. However, that’s a bit of a misrepresentation. For example, the details around the roof are not Mayan gods, but rather, modernized portrayals of the Hollyhock flower which Aline Barnsdall liked so much, and which gave the house its name.

Anyway, it works. The Hollyhock House must have been radically modern when built, just a few years after fru-fru Victorian homes were still being constructed and stuffed with chintz. Hollyhock is full of hard surfaces, skylights, and out-of-the-box concepts like the ultra-modern carved living room fireplace with its lily pond moat. Everywhere you look, whether on the walls, the ceilings, or the windows, there’s a fascinating and largely functional detail. For example, in the child’s play room, Wright pioneered his glass-on-glass window corners that create a nearly seamless transition between indoors and outdoors.

View of living room windows, with lily pond that flowed inside

Unfortunately, as with other Wright homes, proper function sometimes falls victim to form at the Hollyhock House. The design and materials trapped moisture and cold, and Hollyhock reportedly was too cool, dark, and drafty to be a truly comfortable home for Aline Barnsdall and her daughter. Indeed, it feels rather uninviting upon entry. The moisture also wreaked considerable damage on Hollyhock over the years, and a major three-year repair and renovation is now underway, with two more years to go. As a result, any tour taken during this time is abbreviated.

The play room, with it's glass-on-glass window corners

Still, touring the Hollyhock House is like walking into a three-dimensional painting by one of the masters. It’s a spectacular way to enter the mind of a genius, and to take a step back into the Los Angeles of nearly a century ago.

Frank Lloyd Wright's Hollyhock flower design

Hollyhock's rooftops are accessible via stairways and foot bridges

Five Guys El Segundo, open at night

I’m a big fan of Five Guys burgers and fries, but rarely make the trip down to Carson. So it was a nice surprise at about 9:30 the other night, after a day of negotiations down in the South Bay, to be driving up Sepulveda Blvd. just short of LAX and to see the red and white Five Guys sign on the east side of the road. A quick maneuver into the parking lot, and more luck as Five Guys was open until 10 p.m. I saw, I scarfed. It’s in an office park-nice little shopping plaza with a courtyard and outdoor tables.

Five Guys also has other locations, and planned locations, in and around the Los Angeles area. Of these, the El Segundo outlet may be the most dangerous for me. The In-N-Out Burger just on the other side of LAX may have better views, but I’m partial to Five Guys’ food.

Runners may be distracted by the Marina Harbor views

The 13.1 Los Angeles half marathon (13.1 miles) takes place next Sunday, January 15, against “a new scenic backdrop.” The half marathon, part of the “13.1″ series of races in major U.S. cities, starts at 7 a.m. at the Venice Boardwalk (Rose Ave. intersection), winds around the Marina del Rey Harbor, and ends in Playa del Rey. Area drivers should plan accordingly.

In addition to the half marathon, there will be a separate “Karhu 5k” race along Dockweiler Beach, in which racers will compete against — insert joke here — a runner dressed as the Karhu Bear. Runners who “Beat the Bear” will win a pair of Karhu brand running shoes.

Marina Harbor with Burton Chace Park, a prime viewing location, on the far side

Good news for many area residents: the annual Marina del Rey New Year’s Eve fireworks show is a go.

After L.A. County canceled this year’s July 4 fireworks show at the Marina due to budget tightening, private interests stepped up to assist with funding to put on the New Year’s Eve display. That’s cause for a double celebration.

The fireworks show gets warmed up at 11:55 p.m., but, given the public parking and traffic challenges during Marina del Rey events, I’d plan to get there quite a bit earlier.

Venice, home of the World's smallest Occupy protest

This Christmas, amid all my gift-giving, I’m thinking of the Occupy protesters, who have been out there for up to three months, fighting for the rights of regular folks like you and me. That’s why I’m highlighting the Occupy movement for this Blogging Los Angeles series on holiday giving.

In the Los Angeles area, we have Occupy Los Angeles, one of the largest Occupy protests in the U.S. (Note: the LAPD evicted the Occupy L.A. protesters from their encampment a couple of weeks ago, but, as their website indicates, the protesters are holding many daytime and evening assemblies). Occupy L.A.’s website has a “Donate” section, where they ask for cash or other supplies.

Two other well-known Occupy protests in California are Occupy Oakland and Occupy Davis (notorious for the police pepper spraying of peacefully seated protesters), which, as the links indicate, are soliciting donations in a manner similar to Occupy L.A.

On a national level, the Crooks and Liars website solicits donations to feed and supply the Occupy protesters, where possible. Likewise, the Firedoglake website has an Occupy Store where you can buy Occupy-badged cold-weather gear for yourself, with the proceeds going to the protesters for their supplies, or you can purchase items for them directly.

I’m sure some of you may view the Occupy protests as a partisan effort. Certainly, some in the media have tried to push that narrative. But consider the following:

1. From the very beginning, the Occupy protesters have identified themselves as, and said they were demonstrating for, “the 99%”.

2. The Occupy protesters have also said, from the beginning, that big corporations have undue influence over our political process, and that they use this influence to make large contributions to politicians, which pay off in much larger tax subsidies and other goodies paid for by us, yet we’re left out of the process.

3. The Occupy protesters routinely blame both Republicans and Democrats for being corrupted by the current political process.

4. The Occupy protesters have focused on saving homeowners from the big banks’ foreclosure practices, which have affected many Americans without regard to their political persuasion.

As the Occupy protesters say, “corporations got bailed out, we got sold out.” That’s why I think the Occupy movement in L.A. and elsewhere deserves to be helped out a little bit this Christmas.

(This post is part of the Blogging.LA Holiday Giving series)

Marina Boat Channel by day

If you’re an L.A. lover of the life aquatic, you’re in luck: this weekend, we’ve got two boat parades in a row.

First up, on Saturday, December 10, is the Marina Holiday Boat Parade at the Boat Channel in Marina del Rey. The boat parade, where the vessels are decked out in lit holiday splendor, begins at 6 p.m., preceded by a fireworks show at 5:55, which some people may be eager to see after the annual July 4 fireworks display was canceled due to budget cuts. There will be judging in various categories for the boats. See the first link above for all details.

Then on Sunday, December 11, the Venice Canals right down the street will play host to their own boat parade. This parade, which starts at 4:30 p.m. (boat lineup at 4), will feature decidedly smaller boats due to the smaller waterways, but the intimate setting is sure to provide your monthly dosage of quaintness. Awards will be given for the best-decorated boats, and the fine print in the flyer (see link) indicates that the bridge and home decorations will be judged the day before at 4 p.m., so you could check that out before the Marina Boat Parade on Saturday if you’re really ambitious. Some of those homes along the canals are famous for their amazing Christmas light displays, which may be up, or at least in the process of going up, by now. Who says quaint can’t be a bit blingy too?

MINI Coupe: all fun, no mess

Like many Los Angeles area folks, I’m crazy about cars. Fortunately, I’m able to incorporate my love into my work, and covered the L.A. Auto Show on Press Day 1 yesterday. Unfortunately, my day was ruled as much by the cars on the roads outside than by the shiny new models inside the Convention Center.

I left my house by the beach after rush hour to avoid traffic, hit the show very hard, then skedaddled out of there by about 4:15 p.m. to avoid the evening rush. As a result, the compressed time I spent at the show was somewhat manic. Stopping off at Langer’s on the way home? Forget it.

Inside the show, the car companies advertise their cars based on many attributes: quality, value, economy, luxury, technology, and driving fun. But I didn’t see or hear one mention of anything to do with traffic. Such a discussion would seem to be antithetical to the car companies’ mission, which is of course to sell more of those shiny sexy cars.

As a car lover, I’m guilty of moving out here and contributing to the problem. In my defense, however, I work mostly from home, and put on very little mileage. My car is over 8 years old, and I’m going to hang onto it as long as I can. My trips to L.A. city proper are rare.

I know it’s not a new subject area, but what is the toll — to our psyche, our finances, and our quality of life — that we in the Los Angeles areas pay each year for our traffic? Can anything be done about it, or is all hope lost? I’m no traffic expert, but I would think that living closer to where we work, having a shorter commute, is one way to make the problem better. Another is more and better mass transit, to the extent possible in sprawling, designed-for-cars L.A. Maybe the new Expo Line will help.

I hope something will help. The Auto Show demonstrates that we’re putting out amazing cars. The roads in and around L.A. show that there are fewer and fewer places to put them.

Marky Ramone getting some California Sun

East Coast vs. West Coast rivals laid down their Glocks and picked up spoons last Saturday, as Marky Ramone, former drummer of the Ramones, flew in from Brooklyn to the Venice Whole Foods to promote his new pasta sauce. The sauce is called Marky Ramone’s Brooklyn’s Own Pasta Sauce, a fittingly complicated name from someone whose job it was to keep time for the rapid Ramones.

Marky sat down while a small line formed to have him autograph each purchased jar (including smiley faces on the lid and bottom). The sauce sells for $6.99 per jar, which isn’t bad considering (a) it’s Whole Foods; (b) Rao’s sauce sells for $8.99 a jar there, and what band was he ever in?; and (c) you could probably sell your autographed jar for quite a bit more on eBay. There were a couple of tasting stations nearby, and this former New Yorker can attest that the sauce is excellent, with a simple list of ingredients, ending with the words “Drums not included.”

Marky was very friendly, down-to-earth, and happy to talk to each of us for as long as we wanted. In fact, there was a young boy on line in front of us who told us that he plays the drums (yes, a little drummer boy), and who had dragged his mom there so he could meet Marky Ramone. Marky engaged the boy in conversation for a few minutes. Who knows, perhaps the boy will become a famous drummer and this cycle will repeat itself in 30 or 40 years.

Bizarre? Sure, but that’s what I call rock ‘n roll.

Brentwood bike racers

This year, the Amgen Tour of California bike race got as close to Los Angeles as Mt. San Antonio a/k/a Mt. Baldy. Now, race organizers have announced that the 2012 Tour will finish at L.A. Live. Details are still sketchy as to just how the finish will take place next May, but it could be like the Tour de France finish in Paris, where the racers make a series of high-speed laps around the Champs-Elysees to the delight of cheering crowds.

The 2012 Tour will also again include a stage at Mt. Baldy, which is becoming the equivalent of the Alps in the Tour de France. So if you’re thinking of trying to compete in the 2012 race or ride the local stages of the route yourself, you have about six months to get those legs and lungs in shape.