Ennis House (1923)

Through its almost 100-year existence, the house has the interesting distinction of appearing in countless Hollywood productions (more than 80, according to the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation). If you have seen Blade Runner, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Black Rain, Twin Peaks, The Karate Kid Part III, House of Frankenstein or House on Haunted Hill (a favorite Vincent Price vehicle), you have seen various shots of the Ennis House. See below for additional movies.

The exterior of the building is constructed from 27,000 precast and intricately patterned “textile” blocks ion a post-and-lintel system – also called a trabeated system – of horizontal beams held up by columns / posts. decorated in a Mayan revival style. The interlocking and delicately decorated blocks suggest Wright may have been greatly inspired by Mayan architecture.

The Ennis house is the last and – at 6200 sq. ft. – definitely the largest of Frank Lloyd Wright’s four “textile block” houses in the Los Angeles area. Charles Ennis passed away in 1928, only a few years after the house was completed. His wife, Mable sold the property eight years later.

From Architectural Digest (October 17, 2019): “After a little over a year on the market, the unique 6,000-square-foot residence—also known fondly as the Blade Runner house—was recently purchased by an unnamed buyer for $18 million, making it the most expensive property designed by the legendary architect ever sold.”