2607 Glendower Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90027
Asking Price: $23,000,000
3 bedrooms / 3.5 bathrooms
Frank Lloyd Wright’s legendary Ennis House has hit the market. And, yeah, I get it, it may be just a bit out of your price range at a cool $23 million dollars, but when a home as iconic and as breathtaking as Ennis House is available for you to look at, honey, you look at it. After all, homes like this only come around maybe once or twice in a lifetime. Let’s go inside!
The house was designed in 1923 by 20th Century master architect Frank Lloyd Wright. One of Wright’s famous quotes is, “Study nature, love nature, stay close to nature. It will never fail you.” With Ennis House, Wright’s idea was to craft an organic structure that literally seemed to rise from the hillside site. In fact, workers extracted decomposed granite from the property to use in many of the 27,000 blocks.
And let’s talk about those blocks, shall we? Yes, the 6,000sf (or so) home has 27,000 of them. Following La Miniatura in Pasadena, and the Storer and Freeman Houses in the Hollywood Hills, Ennis House is the fourth and largest of Wright’s textile block designs, constructed primarily of interlocking pre-cast concrete blocks, in the northern Los Angeles area. It’s these blocks, at once ingenious and troublesome, that have caused the home to have a bit of trouble over the years, especially after the 1994 Northridge earthquake.
But after a $17,000,000 million dollar renovation by billionaire Ron Burkle, all worries about when the next big one hits can maybe be put to bed. Burkle purchased the home in 2011 and spent the next six years fully restoring the home with help from Wright’s grandson Eric Lloyd Wright. “My grandfather designed homes to be occupied by people,” Eric Lloyd Wright said in a statement to The Times. “His homes are works of art. He created the space, but the space becomes a creative force and uplifts when it is lived in every day.”
Oh, hello, Griffith Observatory! The home sits on a 36,000-square-foot plot in Los Angeles’ serene Los Feliz hills, which is filled with beautiful ravines, hills, and forests.
Wright was inspired by the ruins of Uxmal, Mexico and Mayan temples, and the home certainly feels like a religious experience when you go inside.
The home consists of a main house and a smaller chauffeur’s quarters, which are separated by a paved motor court.
The striking interior loggia has a mausoleum-like marble floor and links to the multi-level interior spaces. The grand living room has easy outdoor access through a pair of – what would you call these? – super tall glass doors. Features also include geometric leaded glass windows, custom light fixtures, concrete columns, coffered ceilings, hardwood floors, and walls of mosaic tile.
The black and white tiled kitchen has been cleverly restored and is spacious and functional with easy outdoor access to a patio for entertaining.
The incredible dining room offers a soaring, exposed wood beamed ceiling and a fireplace.
And this brilliantly designed window that offers stunning views of Downtown Los Angeles.
There’s also a library with wood beamed ceilings and room for reading.
The home has three bedrooms, plus the aforementioned chauffeur’s quarters. The master suite has its own fireplace.
The bathrooms are at once period yet modern.
They feel sophisticated, 1920s vintage, and luxurious all at once.
In 1940, the pool on the north terrace and a billiard room on the ground floor were added. The billiard room is the perfect place for late night entertaining, separated from the main house, and containing a games room, screening room, an open fireplace, and a curved bar.
The outdoor terraces are stunning. The lengthy southern side of the house opens to a series of sun-splashed courtyards, balconies and terraces that provide unobstructed city to ocean views.
While the north façade opens to the broad terrace, a small koi pond, and a large swimming pool. Imagine the decadent parties waiting to be had at this home!
The Ennis House was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1971. The landmarked residence has been featured in dozens of films, television shows, fashion shoots and music videos including Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Twin Peaks, Mulholland Drive, and, most famously, 1982’s Blade Runner.
The house is being shown by appointment only to prequalified buyers, so don’t plan on crashing an open house. But! There may still be a way for us to get inside for a look. The Ennis House Foundation has required that it be open to public tours for at least 12 days per year, a stipulation that will follow the house as it changes hands once again.
If you are looking for homes in Los Feliz (at any price range), or anywhere in Los Angeles, call me today at (937) 243-2349 or email me at tatiana.tensen@sothebyshomes.com.
Listing provided courtesy of Ron de Salvo, Branden William, Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage.