Best for Last

This was my last weekend in LA, so I tried to pack in all the things I haven't been able to do, and what a weekend it was.

I started off Saturday by attempting to attend the 2:30 tour of the Hollyhock House by Frank Lloyd Wright, which I didn't even realize was in LA until I read about it in Frommer's Day by Day Guide, but thanks to the metro bus, I didn't make it there in time. The bus decided to just stop at Hollywood Blvd and Vine, so I ended up walking 12 blocks to get there. Luckily I passed a Jamba Juice so it wasn't too bad. By the time I arrived, I attended the 3:30 tour instead.

This house was very much Frank. The house is located on top of a hill which has this fantastic view of the Griffith and the Hollywood sign. The house itself reminded me a lot of his home and studio in Chicago, especially when you walk through the 250 pound concrete doors and feel compressed by the entry way and then you're exposed to this great space. Our docent also told us that Schindler worked on the interior for a bit, and then Lloyd (Frank's son) also tried to modernize parts of it. There were other Frank buildings on the hill as well that were all part of this complex owned by Aline Barnsdall. Frank always came back to the land to design more buildings or change the landscape.

After the tour, I took the bus over to Beverly Hills for my friend Nicole's birthday at the Avalon Hotel. It's a cute hotel that resembles the style of the 70s. Her boyfriend reserved a poolside cabana for us, and there ended up being about 10 people. Let me tell you; Beverly Hills is not cheap. One martini cost me $17. That's right, $17!! The bill at the end of the night totaled about $950. This is why I love dive bars... they're dirt cheap and I can dress as crappy as I want to. Anyways, it was a fun night nonetheless. It was great to see Nicole, who I've known since 6th grade back in Chelmsford. She's out here starting an internship as I'm about to leave. The group decided to head to another location around 11pm, but I decided to go home because I had to depend on the bus. It was going to take me three buses to get back home, but I ended up walking the route of the first two buses (the first one was taking too long to get to me, and I wasn't sure if the second bus was still running so as I walked away from the bus stop, of course the bus came flying by me and I missed it) which was about 3 miles. By the time I got home, all my muscles hurt.

Today, my roommate James and I finally visited the Stahl House. Completely worth the $26 admission fee. It really is amazing to see and experience in person. The Stahl house was case study house #22, designed by Pierre Koenig, and made famous by a photo taken by Julius Shulman. Even though Koenig was the architect, Buck Stahl was really the designer. He had a vision and Koenig just executed it. I can't even describe how breath-taking it is to see this transparent house that overlooks LA, having the pool reflect the sun, seeing the steel and glass and white... simply awesome. I have no words, so hopefully these pictures will convey what I'm trying to say. Side note: I can say that I peed in the Stahl House as well!

Our docent told us about case study house #21, which was also designed by Koenig, and apparently it was nearby, so James and I jumped on the opportunity to see it since we were in the neighborhood. When we got there, we ran in to some other visitors who were at the Stahl House. The house is privately owned but no one lives there except for security cameras, so we walked around and took a couple pictures. It was obvious that some of its elements were influential to the Stahl House, but it was nowhere near as impressive. It lacked a certain feeling of home.

After that, James and I attempted to find John Lautner's Chemosphere which was also nearby, but we ended up getting lost in the mountains and watching the beautiful sunset instead. I'll admit; LA has some pretty sweet sunsets. The sky just fills up with oranges, pinks, purples, and reds, and the clouds turn into cotton candy. Really, really beautiful colors. As the day turned into night, we headed home and drove past the Beverly Hilton, where only a line of security guards and a wall separated us from the Golden Globes. I'd say that's a good way to spend my last weekend in LA

Next up: San Francisco in the morning!