Ennis House
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The Ennis House is a building located in the Los Feliz neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. It was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright for Charles and Mabel Ennis in 1923, and built in 1924. The building is one of four Wright-designed buildings in Southern California constructed mostly of interlocking textile pre-cast concrete blocks (Wright's "textile block" style). Its design was based on ancient Mayan temples, at the request of Mr. Ennis who was fascinated by the ancient Maya.
Although originally and currently known as the Ennis House, the building was long known as the Ennis-Brown House. This became its name in 1980 when it was renamed in appreciation of its donation to the Trust for Preservation of Cultural Heritage by Augustus O. Brown (owner from 1968–1980). In August 2005, the house was returned to its original name and the owning trust's name was changed to the Ennis House Foundation.
The Ennis House has been designated as a city, state, and national landmark. It is also on the National Trust for Historic Preservation's 2005 list of the 11 Most Endangered Historic Places because of damage caused by previous owners, as well as damage from the 1994 Northridge Earthquake and record rainfall during the 2004-2005 rainy season. The Trust has estimated that it could cost $5 million just for stabilization costs, and $15 million for full restoration. After the rains the building was briefly red-tagged (no entry into the building) and as of late 2005 is still yellow-tagged (limited entry) with significant damage to the retaining wall at the rear of the building.
The building has been used as a filming location for at least 20 films including Rush Hour, Black Rain, Blade Runner, The Rocketeer, and The Thirteenth Floor, but is most famous as the titular mansion in the 1959 B-movie House on Haunted Hill. The house has also been used as a location for commercials, music videos, and fashion magazine shoots. It also appears as a mansion occupied by Angelus, Spike, and Drusilla, vampires on the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Wright designed many similar-looking houses in the greater Los Angeles area, using the textile-block style extensively in the region to reflect its naturally rocky terrain, but none of them had the same striking visual effect as the Ennis House.
Landmark status
- U.S. Department of the Interior in the National Register of Historic Places
- California State Historical Landmark
- City of Los Angeles Cultural Heritage Monument
- National Trust for Historic Preservation's 2005 list of the 11 Most Endangered Historic Places
References
External links
- [Official website]
- [11 Most Endangered Historic Places of 2005 - Ennis House] from the National Trust for Historic Preservation
- [HABS record] 1 drawing and 5 scanned pages from the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS), 1969
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