AN AVOWED ENTHUSIAST OF FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT (see for example “FLW at the MOMA,” particularly its Part 2 “You Can Own an American Home”), I’m surprised I’ve never cited Ennis House. What’s more, I’ve never visited it though it’s in the Los Feliz neighborhood of Los Angeles, a Google-Maps 42.7 miles up the 5 from here.
Tempting me all the more is the dailypassport website confirming Ennis House among “7 of the Most Eye-Catching Homes Across the U.S.” The other six are quirky for one reason or another, but I admire Ennis House quirks the most.
Here are tidbits about Ennis House from the dailypassport article and from my usual Internet sleuthing.
Image from ZUMA Press, Inc., Alamy Stock Photo via dailypassport.
The dailypassport notes, “A magnificent Mayan Revival triumph, Frank Lloyd Wright’s Ennis House has stood in the Los Feliz neighborhood of Los Angeles since 1924. Specially designed aluminum molds were used to create the 27,000 concrete blocks that give the house its tactile texture.”
Another of my favs, the Arizona Biltmore of strong FLW influence, was fabricated of more than 250,000 blocks using similar technology.
Maybe You’ve Seen the Ennis House Before? Of Ennis House, passport continues, “Its distinctive appearance has made it popular with location scouts, and it was featured in a slew of movies and TV shows, including Blade Runner, The Karate Kid Part III, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Westworld.”
My Appreciation of Perpendicularity. I suppose my mathematics training makes for an appreciation of perpendicularity. (Piet Mondrian is a favorite artist.)
And the Ennis House’s Mayan Revivial appeals to my appreciation of this culture’s mathematical achievements. Fleetscience says, “The Maya developed a sophisticated system of mathematics based on a place value of 20. They were one of few ancient cultures to use the concept of zero, allowing them to count into the millions. Using their sophisticated mathematical system, the ancient Maya developed precise and accurate calendars.”
Probing the Limits. FLW and his structures have not been without controversies. In “The Arrogance of Genius,” I wrote, “Frank Lloyd Wright often probed the limits of materials and design. His Imperial Hotel in Tokyo, for example, was renowned for surviving the Great Kanto Earthquake in 1923. On the other hand, others of his designs were known for structural flaws, leaks and the like.”
A favorite tale in this regard: “In 1929, Richard Lloyd Jones, publisher of the Tulsa Tribune, had his cousin, FLW, construct Westhope, a home in the Prairie School of design. During a Tulsa storm, Jones phoned Wright to complain that the roof was leaking onto his desk. Replied Wright, ‘Richard, why don’t you move your desk?’ ”
Ennis House: Not Exactly Low-Maintenance Digs. The dailypassport reports, “Sadly, time and insufficient maintenance took their toll on the home. The 1994 Northridge earthquake damaged the structure, and exceptionally heavy rainfall in 2005 caused the fabric of the building to deteriorate further. Fortunately now fully restored, this historical landmark is a private home once again, opening to the public 12 times a year under an agreement with the Los Angeles Conservancy.”
Good for its owner. As with owning an important piece of art or vintage automobile, one is merely a current custodian, in the positive sense, for the ages. ds
© Dennis Simanaitis, SimanaitisSays.com, 2024