Frank Lloyd Wright's Runyon Canyon Designs

While jogging through the hills of Runyon Canyon, an exhilarating appreciation unfolds while immersed in nature and beauty. The rigid crestlines along the mountain edge meander to along the foreground of the horizon leading to grand plateaus. Fresh air whisks above the high land from the ocean. Bright sunshine gleams as a pewtery sterling glow. The sense of solidarity occurs while sharing the experience of the great outdoors with the other park goers.

The area was not always so free to roam. Long before it was public land, Huntington Hartford acquired the 160-acre Runyon Canyon homestead in 1942. He relocated there and gave the property the new name "The Pines." He hired Hollywood-based architects Frank Lloyd Wright and his son Lloyd Wright in 1947 to build a sprawling estate. His son Lloyd Wright, who had a business in Los Angeles, assisted as the landscape architect. It's possible that the initiative was a kibosh from the start. Hundreds of locals attended a conference to voice their opposition and it was ultimately abandoned.

Hartford then hired Lloyd Wright to create a structure with a view of Hollywood. The “Headley - Handley House” in the middle of Runyon Canyon has a pyramidal design with 3 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, and 360-degree views. According to The Story of Hollywood, "As a consolation, Hartford got [Lloyd Wright] to design a pool pavilion on the hill above his house. After Errol Flynn was thrown out of his Mulholland home for failure to pay alimony, he lived in the pavilion. Flynn threw wild parties there regularly."

**LA Historic-Cultural Monument No. 563 (Los Angeles Historic Cultural Monument)**
Headley/Handley House. Designed by Lloyd Wright Built 1945. Historic Places LA. http://www.historicplacesla.org/reports/5fc1a5e0-953e-46b9-b65b-366e5c640fb4

After building the house, he focused on developing an artistic community on the property. The Huntington Hartford Foundation was established in December 1948 by Huntington Hartford with the aim of fostering community creativity in the arts through fellowships that provided stipends, housing, and partial supplies at the Foundation's location in Rustic Canyon, Pacific Palisades, California, according to the UCLA Library's Special Collection, which houses all the Foundation-related documents. Three admissions panels assessed candidates for fellowships (literary, music and art). To design a studio apartment building for the property, he employed Lloyd Wright, Frank Lloyd Wright's son. The Foundation was halted by Huntington in September 1965.

The projects were never finished since he left and moved on. He tried to make a gift of the property to the city in 1964, but the city declined, thus he had to sell it. Runyon Canyon Park was acquired from the proprietors in 1984 so that it could be used as a city park.

Five projects were designed as a part of the Huntington Hartford Scheme I:

1. Cottage Group Center, Scheme I (4721)