Exotic Revival architecture

Exotic Revival architecture is another style that may reflect a mix of Moorish Revival architecture, Egyptian Revival architecture, and other influences. Just a few of many National Register-listed places identified with this style are El Zaribah Shrine Auditorium, Odd Fellows Rest Cemetery, Fort Smith Masonic Temple, and Algeria Shrine Temple.

Examples in California include Grauman’s Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood, and the Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum in San Jose.

The Mayan Revival architecture style frequently blends Maya architectural and artistic motifs with those of other Mesoamerican cultures, particularly of Aztec architecture.

Examples include: the Mayan Theater in Downtown Los Angeles; the Hollyhock House by Frank Lloyd Wright in East Hollywood; and the Aztec Hotel on historic U.S. Route 66 in Southern California.

Moorish Revival or Neo-Moorish is one of the exotic revival architectural styles that were adopted by architects of Europe and the Americas in the wake of the Romanticist fascination with all things oriental. It reached the height of its popularity after the mid-19th century, part of a widening vocabulary of articulated decorative ornament drawn from historical sources beyond familiar classical and Gothic modes.

In the United States, Washington Irving’s fanciful travel sketch, Tales of the Alhambra (1832), first brought Moorish Andalusia into readers’ imaginations; one of the first neo-Moorish structures was Iranistan, a mansion of P. T. Barnum in Bridgeport, Connecticut. Constructed in 1848 and destroyed by fire ten years later, this architectural extravaganza “sprouted bulbous domes and horseshoe arches”. In the 1860s, the style spread across America, with Olana, the painter Frederic Edwin Church’s house overlooking the Hudson River, Castle Garden in Jacksonville and Longwood in Natchez, Mississippi usually cited among the more prominent examples. After the American Civil War, Moorish or Turkish smoking rooms achieved some popularity. There were Moorish details in the interiors created for the Henry Osborne Havemeyer residence on Fifth Avenue by Louis Comfort Tiffany. The 1914 Pittock Mansion in Portland, Oregon incorporates Turkish design features, as well as French, English, and Italian ones; the smoking room in particular has notable Moorish revival elements. In 1937, the Corn Palace in Mitchell, South Dakota added unusual minarets and Moorish domes, unusual because the polychrome decorations are made out of corn cobs of various colors assembled like mosaic tiles to create patterns. The 1891 Tampa Bay Hotel, whose minarets and Moorish domes are now the pride of the University of Tampa, was a particularly extravagant example of the style. Other schools with Moorish Revival buildings include Yeshiva University in New York City. George Washington Smith used the style in his design for the 1920s Isham Beach Estate in Santa Barbara, California.

Grauman’s Egyptian Theatre
Grauman’s Egyptian Theatre is a noted movie theater located at 6706 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California. Opened in 1922, it is an early example of a lavish movie palace and is noted as having been the site of the first-ever Hollywood film premiere. Since 1998 it has been operated by the American Cinematheque film archive.

The exterior of the theatre is in the Egyptian Revival style. However, the attentive visitor will notice roof pans above the main entrance, items which are not in ancient Egyptian style. The original plans for the theatre show a Hispanic-themed theatre, but at some point these plans were changed to an Egyptian style. It is probable that this was due to public fascination with the multiple expeditions searching for the tomb of Tutankhamun by archaeologist Howard Carter over the preceding years. (Carter eventually discovered the tomb on November 4, 1922—just two weeks after the Egyptian Theatre opened.) At that time the change in architectural style was determined, the Hispanic-styled roof pans had already been delivered and paid for; they were kept and used in the building.

Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum
The Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum (REM) is devoted to Ancient Egypt, located at Rosicrucian Park in the Rose Garden neighborhood of San Jose, California, United States.

It was founded by the Ancient Mystical Order Rosae Crucis. The Rosicrucian Order continues to support and expand the museum and its educational and scientific activities. The museum holds the largest collection of ancient Egyptian antiquities in Western USA, and is located next to the Rosicrucian headquarters.

Source From Wikipedia