Ennis - Brown House, Los Angeles: architect, style and history

The Ennis House sits atop a hill at 2607 Glendower Avenue in Los Feliz, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in the Mayan Revival style for businessman Charles Ennis and his wife Mabel and completed in 1925. It is the largest of four concrete textile-block houses Wright built around Los Angeles in the 1920s, alongside La Miniatura, the Storer House, and the Freeman House, and it arrived as Wright was moving away from the Prairie-style work of his early career toward the Usonian houses of his later years.

the building

Textile block construction. The house is built from patterned concrete textile blocks, Wright's system for the four Los Angeles houses he designed this way during the 1920s — the Ennis House is the largest of the set, which also includes La Miniatura, the Storer House, and the Freeman House.

Main house, garage, and footbridge. A main building and a separate garage wing are divided by a motor court and linked by a footbridge, the whole ensemble enclosed by a high retaining wall that holds the hillside site.

A recurring film backdrop. The house's Mayan Revival massing and closeness to Hollywood have made it a frequent filming location, most famously appearing in Blade Runner.

the style

Wright designed the house in the Mayan Revival style for Charles and Mabel Ennis, using it as one of four textile-block houses that marked his shift away from the horizontal Prairie style toward the Usonian houses that would follow.

the architect

Frank Lloyd Wright designed the Ennis House in 1925 during a transitional period in his career, moving from the Prairie-style houses of his early practice toward the Usonian designs he would develop later; it was the largest of four concrete textile-block houses he built in the Los Angeles area in the 1920s.

significance

The Ennis House carries triple designation — a California Historical Landmark, Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument #149 (designated March 3, 1976), and a listing on the National Register of Historic Places.

more by Frank Lloyd Wright

Freeman House Los Angeles · 1925
Hollyhock House Los Angeles · 1921
Millard House Los Angeles · 1923
Anderton Court Shops Los Angeles · 1952
Barnsdall Art Park Los Angeles · 1927
Residence 'A' Los Angeles
Storer House Los Angeles
Sturges House Los Angeles · 1939

nearby

Hlaffer-Courcier Residence 350 ft · Storybook house · 1923
Lovell House 0.3 mi · International Style
Griffith Observatory 0.5 mi · Art Deco · 1935
McTernan Residence 0.7 mi · Mid-Century Modern · 1960
Sowden house 0.9 mi · Mission Revival · 1926
Victor Rossetti Residence 1.0 mi · 1928

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