Ornaments Stolen From Wright’s Hollyhock House

Police are investigating the theft of two exterior ornaments from Frank Lloyd Wright’s celebrated Hollyhock House in Los Feliz. The concrete ornaments, each worth up to $1,200, were chiseled off and taken in late October, but the thefts were not publicized until this week.

The two abstract, Mayan-inspired blocks, each measuring approximately 14 inches wide by nine inches high, were taken from an exterior wall of the Pump House, a non-functioning satellite building that symbolized the elaborate water system Wright designed for the 1920s home, site curator Virginia Kazor said.

Detective Doug Evans of the Los Angeles Police Department’s Northeast Division said there are no suspects in the theft, which occurred overnight on Oct. 28. Kazor said the ornaments were reported missing several days later in the hope they will be recognized if they turn up.

Kazor, who has worked in the Hollyhock House for 12 years, said this is the first successful attempt to take objects from the house. Hollyhock House, a sweeping hilltop structure in Barnsdall Park, is considered to be among Wright’s most significant works in Southern California.

Kazor said that Frank Lloyd Wright works have increased in value recently. She estimated that, if the pieces were sold on the legitimate art market, they would be worth between $700 and $1,200 each.

However, Margaret O’Brien, director of the Art Theft Registry in New York, said she suspects the pieces were taken by someone who did not appreciate their value.

“It seems unlikely that this would be an order theft,” O’Brien said, describing a scenario in which a collector would hire someone to steal the items. “It’s so identifiable. The pieces are documented and there are others on the building, they’d be so obvious. I can’t see anyone buying them.”

O’Brien said there have been no other reports of thefts of Wright’s work recently, although some decorative pieces such as windows have been reported missing in the past.

Kazor said the missing pieces could be duplicated by making a new mold, but said that is unlikely because of the cost.

Hollyhock House, on Hollywood Boulevard near Vermont Avenue, was given to the city of Los Angeles by oil heiress Aline Barnsdall in the late 1920s. The Cultural Affairs Department has been criticized for not maintaining the house properly.