The Ennis House in Los Feliz: Frank Lloyd Wright's Largest Textile Block House

Wright's textile block houses are built from small concrete blocks, many of them patterned, tied together with steel rods. The rods knit the blocks together like threads in fabric, which is where the name comes from.

At the Ennis House, the concrete was mixed with decomposed granite taken from the building site itself. Each block measures 16 by 16 inches and about 3.5 inches thick. Wright used the same system for his other Los Angeles textile block houses, including the Storer House and the Freeman House.

The Ennis House is known as one of the best examples of Mayan Revival architecture in the country. It sits on a raised concrete platform held up by a large retaining wall. The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation calls it unusually monumental and vertical for a Wright home.

Wright's son, Lloyd Wright, supervised the construction. A few years earlier, Lloyd Wright had helped oversee the completion of Hollyhock House at Barnsdall Art Park, another of his father's Los Angeles designs.

1. Charles and Mabel Ennis. The couple who commissioned it. Mabel Ennis sold the house in 1936.
2. John Nesbitt. The media personality bought it around 1940 and brought Wright back. That work added a swimming pool and a billiard room.
3. Augustus Brown. He bought it in 1968, and for years it was known as the Ennis-Brown House. He later gave it to a nonprofit trust that cared for the house.
4. The Ennis House Foundation. The trust became the Ennis House Foundation, which began stabilizing and restoring the house in 2006.
5. Ron Burkle. The businessman bought it in July 2011 and continued the restoration, replacing thousands of damaged blocks.
6. The current owners. The house sold again in October 2019 and remains a private residence.

Over the decades the concrete blocks deteriorated, and upkeep fell behind. The 1994 Northridge earthquake damaged the house badly, and record rains in the winter of 2005 did more harm to its walls and foundations.

In 2005 the National Trust for Historic Preservation named it to its list of America's 11 Most Endangered Historic Places. That November, a conservation easement was placed on the house. It protects the interior and exterior permanently and requires the Los Angeles Conservancy to review work on it.

The house has appeared on screen more than 80 times. Its best-known roles include House on Haunted Hill in 1959 and Blade Runner in 1982. It also appears in The Rocketeer, Rush Hour and Mulholland Drive.

If you want to see film history on a big screen in Los Feliz, read about the Vista Theatre and the Los Feliz Theatre on Vermont Avenue.

The Ennis House is a private home and is not open for regular tours. Its conservation easement provides for some form of public access at least 12 times a year. The Los Angeles Conservancy says it works with the owner to decide what that access looks like, so watch the Conservancy for any open days.

• See it from the public street. The house stands above Glendower Avenue, a narrow residential road that wraps around it on three sides.
• Be a good guest. Stay on the public street, keep driveways clear and keep voices down.
• Do not ring the bell. People live here. Questions go through the house's listed email, not the front gate.
• Pair it with a house you can tour. Hollyhock House at Barnsdall Art Park is open to visitors on set days, and advance tickets are recommended. Check its own visit page for days and times before you go.

The Ennis House is one of several landmarks in the hills of Los Feliz. Start with Hollyhock House and Barnsdall Art Park, then head up to Griffith Observatory. Our guide to free things to do in Los Feliz covers more, and the Los Feliz events calendar has this week's talks and community nights. If you host one nearby, you can add your event for free.

Los Feliz Events is a free community calendar for Los Feliz, Los Angeles, from Rooster Homes™, the Los Angeles real estate brokerage led by Brandon S. Arlington and Sarah Arlington. If you are thinking about buying or selling a home in Los Feliz, you can contact Rooster Homes. We are always glad to talk about the neighborhood.