It was announced late last week that Frank Lloyd Wright’s Hollyhock House, located in Barnsdall Park, will be part of a nominated group vying to be placed on the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s (UNESCO) World Heritage List — just two weeks before the house is set to re-open to the public after $4.395 million in restorations.

The Hollyhock House in Barnsdall Park has been submitted for inclusion on the UNESCO World Heritage List. (photo by Jonathan Van Dyke)

“Well it doesn’t get any better than being a UNESCO World Heritage site,” said Jeffrey Herr, curator of the Hollyhock House.

Worldwide, there are approximately 1,000 natural and cultural sites on the list. The United States has approximately 20 sites and California has just two. The submission of 10 Wright buildings is America’s first modern architecture nomination.

“You’re either on the list or you’re not, and Frank Lloyd Wright is arguably the most well known architect in history,” said Los Angeles City Councilman Mitch O’Farrell, 13th District.

UNESCO officials have set a series of site visits for 2015 to vet the nomination, and a decision is expected in the summer of 2016.

The fact that the restorations are being completed so close to the announcement was not intentional, Herr said, but it dovetails nicely with the nomination.

“We have a really good chance now when they visit the site,” he said.

The Hollyhock House was built in 1921. Aline Barnsdall, a Pennsylvanian oil heiress, was interested in building her own theatre venue, so she purchased the 36-acre site known as Olive Hill in 1919. There, she commissioned Wright to build the Hollyhock House, which morphed into a performing arts complex that also included her residence.

She deeded it to the city in 1927, and it became the home of the California Art Club for 15 years. After a major restoration from 1974 to 1976, the building became a public museum. It was among the first Los Angeles historic-cultural monuments and it was named a National Historic Landmark in 2007.

Experts said the building was meant to meld with the nature around it, creating the California Romanza style — meaning “freedom to make one’s own form.”

“It really represented what the people migrated and immigrated here for,” O’Farrell said. “Romanza is the style of architecture that really defined a whole new design of the culture of Los Angeles. You make your own rules, you move to the West Coast and you build a society on what is possible with no limits. It’s the physical manifestation of that and I think it fits perfectly as a World Heritage site in that sense.”

The west façade of the building is best known, Herr said, as it faces toward the Griffith Observatory and Hollywood. The building has some Egyptian influences, and Hollyhock flowers are evident in many of its details — the flower was Barnsdall’s favorite.

The latest phase of restoration has been taking place since 2008 and was partially funded by grants from the California Cultural and Historic Endowment and the National Park Service’s Save America’s Treasures program. The Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs operates the building.

“Frank Lloyd Wright’s Hollyhock House is a crown jewel of Los Angeles’ architecture,” Mayor Eric Garcetti said in a statement. “Restoring this landmark to its original glory is a great example of how the city can preserve its unique history while providing Angelenos access to art in everyday places.”

The building’s exterior stucco experienced a big change with the renovation, Herr said. Previously it had been changed in the 1970s to a fleshy, semi-pink and cottage cheese texture, but now it is restored to its traditional 1920s color, thanks to the unearthing of a 6-inch square of original stucco that architects could use as a guide.

“What you are looking at is far more harmonious than what you were looking at in the past,” Herr said. “A really good restoration shouldn’t be obvious.”

Floors, windows, doors, decorative moldings and paint colors have been recreated with attention to 1920s details. Herr said the “impact changes” are approximately 60 percent inside and 40 percent on the exterior.

“It takes a lot of time and effort, and, in the end, it takes a lot of money,” he said. “Restoration is a great thing, but it is very arduous. What we had the opportunity to do here was to reinvigorate a wonderful house. It had lost its exotic lush interior surfaces and had lost a lot of detail. So it needed more than mere Botox. It really needed some major TLC. What we have now is an interior that really reflects more of what Frank Lloyd Wright wanted and what Aline Barnsdall experienced when she was here.”

The grand re-opening of the Hollyhock House will take place at 4 p.m. on Feb. 13. To celebrate the renovations, it will be open to the public for free, self-guided tours from 4 p.m. on Feb. 13 until 4 p.m. on Feb. 14. Visitors are encouraged to use the #WrightAtNight hashtag on social media to document the 24-hour event. After that, the house will be open to the public from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday through Sunday, with a fee of $7 for adults and $3 for students and seniors.

“The house will be more accessible to more people than ever before,” O’Farrell said. “And there’s a lot more work to be done. We aren’t just opening the house and calling it a day. We’re opening it and exploring future improvements.”

A UNESCO designation could help the city receive more grants to make further improvements, officials said, so it is key they ace the site visit.

“[It’s about whether] the site visitor feels this represents what we put on paper and are we able to fulfill the UNESCO World Heritage listing,” Herr said, adding he believed anybody would be impressed by what they’ve accomplished in the last few years.