Itinerary: Wright Here, Wright Now

Frank Lloyd Wright, America’s most famous architect (and some say greatest artist, period) was born on June 8, 1867, in Richland Center, Wis.

His work took him across the globe, including a stop in Los Angeles in the 1920s. Two of his best-known local houses are closed to repair earthquake and other damage: Hollyhock House, the home he designed for oil heiress Aline Barnsdall in 1921, and the Freeman House, his concrete-block house built in 1924. But there are other ways--and places--to worship the Master.

Thursday

This evening, stop by MOCA at the Geffen Contemporary (152 N. Central Ave., Little Tokyo, downtown Los Angeles, [213] 626-6222) to see the exhibit “At the End of the Century: One Hundred Years of Architecture.”

Wright and his proteges figure prominently. In the section titled “Minimum Versus Maximum Houses: Mass Housing and Villas in the 1920s and 1930s,” there is a large model of Wright’s famous Fallingwater; it also has several of his sketches.

The advantage to going on Thursday evenings: Admission is free and the museum is open until 8 p.m. At 6:30 p.m. there will be a lecture by architectural historian Beatriz Colomina. The show itself is massive, so don’t try to take it all in before dinner. It’s open through Sept. 24.

Friday

Wright designed about 10 buildings--mostly houses--around Los Angeles, but his reach extended through two architects whom he influenced.

The first was his son, Lloyd Wright, who first came to L.A. as a landscape architect in 1911 before starting to design houses. The Wright House (a private residence at 858 N. Doheny Drive, West Hollywood) shows his father’s influence. The stucco frame is decorated with precast concrete blocks.

R.M. Schindler, who worked for Wright’s studio in Chicago, came to Los Angeles in 1920 to supervise construction of Hollyhock House. In 1921 he opened his own studio and built his own home-studio. It now houses the MAK Center for Art and Architecture (835 N. Kings Road, West Hollywood, [323] 651-1510).

The double house, with guest quarters and a shared kitchen, became a sort of prototype for California houses: an open floor plan on one story with a flat roof and sliding doors opening into a garden. The center is open Wednesdays through Sundays, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. The photography exhibit “Dennis Hopper: American Pictures 1961-1967” is on view through Sept. 17.

Saturday

You’ve seen the Ennis-Brown House dozens of times. It was the exterior of Angel’s mansion on “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” a location for “Bladerunner” and the original “House on Haunted Hill.”

Built in 1924, this is one of the most elaborate of Wright’s “knit block” construction experiments. Caretaker (and owner from 1968 until he turned it over to a nonprofit organization in 1980) Augustus Brown, who still lives in the Hollywood Hills home noted that the house has a magnificent bedroom--a rarity since Wright usually emphasized a home’s common living space.

Public tours of the Ennis-Brown House (2655 Glendower Ave., Los Angeles) are regularly scheduled on the second Saturday of odd-numbered months. Alas, June is not an odd-numbered month. But make reservations now because tours fill up quickly.

Brown also allows tours during the week for groups and out-of-town visitors. Call (323) 660-0607. Tours are $10 per person and $5 for seniors.