Frank Lloyd Wright-Designed Home Listed For $15 Million
The Ennis House is constructed—both inside and out—of 16-by-16 concrete blocks.
“You see,” writes Frank Lloyd Wright in his 1924 letter to the Ennises, “the final result is going to stand on that hill a hundred years or more. Long after we are all gone, it will be pointed out as the Ennis House and pilgrimages will be made to it by lovers of the beautiful from everywhere.”
Today, the Ennis House, which was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright for clothing apparel owners Charles and Mabel Ennis, is owned by the Ennis House Foundation. The Foundation has spent $6.5 million to restore the concrete block residence, which was listed on the ‘most endangered’ lists of the National Trust for Historic Preservation and the World Monuments Fund.
The first phase of stabilization was completed in 2007 by the Ennis House Foundation, with help from architect Eric Lloyd Wright. The Foundation estimates that another $10 million will likely go into the landmark home.
The Ennis House was constructed using three-inch-thick concrete blocks arranged alongside and on top of one another without visible joints. Thin rods, made of steel and concrete, ran horizontally and vertically to connect the entire project. And while this design, known as a
textile-block house, was once considered cheap and ugly, Wright transformed it into a work of art. Extracting materials from the property, the Ennis House has also incorporated granite from the homesite into the home’s construction.
Blending in with the typography of the Santa Monica Mountains, the 6,000-square-foot residence houses a glass mosaic tile fireplace—which happens to be the last glass tile fireplace in any Wright structure. A low, shadowed entry space greets guests, while natural floods the home deeper into the floor plan.
Going forward, the Foundation feels that it’s in the best interest of the historic home to be in the hands of a single owner. The Ennis House is being listed by Hilton & Hyland and Dilbeck Realtors for $15 million.
In a statement to the Los Angeles Times, Eric Lloyd Wright offered that Frank Lloyd Wright designed homes for people to occupy and when the space is used every day it becomes a “creative force.”
In 15 years, who will stand on the hill and live up to Wright’s prophecy?
—Lauren Varga
