A Hilton & Hyland agent gave an insider look at an extravagant Frank Lloyd Wright mansion currently on the market for $23 million.
Known as the Ennis House, the property was built in 1924 and is inspired by ancient Mayan architecture. It is a well-known sight in the Los Feliz neighborhood of Los Angeles — the house built by America’s most beloved architect has been featured in movies like Blade Runner and House on Haunted Hill.
That said, these types of historic and ultra-luxury homes sometimes sit on the market for a long time before falling upon a buyer. To ramp up attention for the home that has been up for sale since June 2018, Hilton & Hyland agent Rayni Williams gave an inside tour of the grounds in a video for Architectural Digest.
“Wright began building homes in California in the early 1920s,” Williams says in the video. “Mezoamerican was becoming very popular in the U.S., and Wright was very influenced by those structures.”
Photos by Mary E. Nichols, courtesy of Hilton & Hyland
The house suffered some damage in a 1994 earthquake but has since gone through a $17 million restoration. It is made up of individual tiles with Mezoamerican-influenced designs. Every room in the house also boasts views of Los Angeles. It also comes with much of Wright’s original furniture — known for making modernist designs, Wright would often furnish his homes with his own work.
Another unique feature is the home’s corner windows — some of the corners are completely made of glass and look out into the outside.
Photos by Mary E. Nichols, courtesy of Hilton & Hyland
“This is very difficult to do today so you can imagine how difficult it was to do in the ’20s,” Williams says in the video.
Due to its unique design and historic connection, the Ennis House has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1971. It is, according to the listing, incredibly “liveable” given its age and unique shape.
Photos by Mary E. Nichols, courtesy of Hilton & Hyland