Frank Lloyd Wright's Ennis house is for sale -- but needs repair.
Perched high above Los Angeles, the Ennis House, built by famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright and featured in movies like "Blade Runner," "House on Haunted Hill" and "Grand Canyon" has been put up for sale for $15 million, much to the dismay of some public supporters.
“The Ennis House was the last of four homes my grandfather designed in this style,” says Eric Lloyd Wright. “The home is a culmination of sorts, imbued with his ambition and confidence.”
The home has been under the care of the nonprofit Ennis House Foundation, which has spent an estimated $6.5 million repairing the 6,000-square-foot home, which was built to ressemble Mayan ruins in Uxmal, Mexico.
An aerial view of the home and the surrounding neighborhood can be seen at this link on Cyberhomes.com.
It seems that the organization no longer has the funds to sustain the home. "This decision stems primarily from the fact that the house needs more stewardship at this point than a small nonprofit can sustain," says the Ennis House Foundation on its website.
The foundation is looking for a private buyer who can complete the restoration. “The
perfect owner for this magnificent property is a person with a keen
appreciation of outstanding architecture and the importance of
preserving it like a piece of fine art,” says Kay Coughlin, President and CEO of Christie’s Great Estates. “The Ennis House deserves to be
restored to its original brilliance. The person who undertakes the task
will be helping to preserve Frank Lloyd Wright’s legacy, and in doing
so, will create a legacy of their own which will endure for
generations.”
The home is listed with Hilton & Hyland and Dilbeck Realtors in Los Angeles, with international marketing services provided by Christie's Great Estates. (See the listing to view more photos of the estate.)
The foundation estimates that a new owner of the home would have to spend as much as $7 million to complete restoration of the estate, which suffered severe damage in the 1994 Northridge earthquake and again in 2005 from heavy rains.
There has been some public outrage that the home --which has received public donations for its restoration -- may go into the hands of a private owner, according to Curbed.com.
Curbed quotes one supporter: "Millions of dollars of public funds went into the previous repair of this property, and it was NEVER MENTIONED that the building could go back to a private owner. Like many, I donated money to the Trust for the Preservation of Cultural Heritage way back and the Ennis House Foundation during a more-recent fund-raising drive -- in addition to tax-dollars I paid -- all because I considered this one of the most important properties in L.A., and I certainly would have NEVER done that had I known the property would be closed again to the public, which barely had time to visit the property during the short time it was open between repair campaigns. Of course I'm happy I helped pay, in my small but painful way, for the building to be stabilized ---- but so that some wealthy bastard could enjoy it...??!!"—Lauren Baier Kim