Frank Lloyd Wright's Hollyhock House as a branch of the Los Angeles Public Library?

(Modified) Aline Barnsdall in front of Hollyhock House [n.d] Security Pacific National Bank Collection, Los Angeles Public Library Photo Collection

No joke. It almost happened. Heiress Aline Barnsdall (b. April 1, 1882) gifted part (various sources list the size between 6-10 acres) of Olive Hill, including the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Barnsdall House (aka Hollyhocks), to the city of Los Angeles. The house was to be used as a public library and the rest of the land would become a municipal park. 

                                                         

                                                       

Ms. Barnsdall's gift was given in memory of her oilman father, T.N. Barnsdall, on December 6, 1923. As she explained to the Los Angeles Record, "There must be many people in Los Angeles who want an oasis like this in the desert of jazz. I feel it...should be the property of the people." The park and library departments accepted the gift, pending the city's "legal department" preparing the deed of gift and engineering details.

Artist's Drawing of Barnsdall Olive Hill Donation, Los Angeles Times, February 24, 1924

By late March 1924, the Public Welfare Committee of the City Council was urging the Council to decline Aline Barnsdall's gift, citing too many strings attached. For example, Ms. Barnsdall asked the city to spend $20,000 a year for the property's upkeep. Additionally, no palms or geraniums were to be planted; no war monuments or displays were to be placed on the property; and the library was to keep a fire burning from October to April. Indeed, the city declined the gift but thanked Ms Barnsdall for her offer.

Aline Barnsdall soon found another tenant for the Hollyhock House-- the California Art Club moved in at the end of August 1927 and stayed fifteen years.