Wright’s Temple in the Hills

Some people come searching for it with architectural guidebooks in hand. Others stumble upon it quite by accident. But however they discover it, visitors to the Ennis-Brown House, high in the Hollywood Hills, find something strangely familiar in the Mayan-esque structure.

“It’s been in countless movies, commercials, infomercials, photo shoots and music videos,” says Janet Tani, associate curator of the Ennis-Brown House. Because theexterior was featured prominently in the 1958 horror film “House on Haunted Hill,” many visitors were convinced acid vats lined the basement, she says with a laugh.

The adaptability of the Ennis-Brown House is reflected in the variety of roles it has played for the movies: futuristic (“Blade Runner”), contemporary (“Grand Canyon”), Japanese (“Black Rain”) and ‘30s film noir (“Day of the Locust”) to name just a few of its screen appearances. “It’s been used in so many different ways, people don’t immediately recognize it,” Tani says.

Designed by famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright in 1924, the Ennis-Brown House is the only one of his four textile block houses in Los Angeles currently open to the public for tours, which occur every other month. It resembles an ancient Indian pyramid rising up from the hills above the intersection of Vermont Avenue and Los Feliz Boulevard. Before touring the inside, visitors can view the 45,000 hand-made blocks that make up the house, patio and chauffeur’s quarters. The driveway also offers guests spectacular views of Hollywood and downtown Los Angeles.

“It’s the largest of Wright’s textile block houses and, as massive as it appears, some areas of the house are only 5 feet wide,” says Jeffrey Chusid, director of the Historic Preservation Program at the University of Texas, Austin. Chusid was the former director of the Freeman House, one of Wright’s other Los Angeles concrete block houses.

Chusid classifies the Ennis-Brown House architecturally as “Californian Romanza,” one of the many multicultural influences that shaped the look of Los Angeles in the 1920s. “Wright added to the eclecticism of the times,” he says, explaining that buildings were being designed with influences from Spain, China, Egypt, England and France. The Ennis-Brown House, with its stylized Mayan design, easily fit into the “anything goes” attitude of Los Angeles.

Wright designed the house for Mabel and Charles Ennis, an affluent couple who wanted a prominent house for entertaining. In Wright’s typical “naturalistic” style, he used surrounding elements in the actual construction. Workers took decomposed granite blasted from the site during excavation to mold and “stamp” the motif on the blocks, one by one.

But, as construction continued, Wright’s ideals for the house came in sharp contrast to what the Ennises wanted--especially Mabel. “Theirs was not a happy client-architect relationship,” admits Tani. A frustrated Wright eventually left the project, and other contractors oversaw the final construction.

Even though many of the choices in the final design and decor are the Ennis’, it is that conflict that makes the house more interesting, says Tani. Visitors who walk though the 9,200 square feet of the house can see that tension--even as they physically enter the house. “Wright deliberately made the entryway cloistered, low and dark,” says Tani. Once you climb the stairs, however, the ceiling expands from a mere 7 feet to a breathtaking 22-feet high. “It’s a fantastic drama, this unexpected burst of space and light,” she says.

As visitors tour the rooms, docents point out the Ennis touches: the stunning marble floor, the teakwood ceiling and the elaborate iron grillwork that graces gates, light switches and doorknobs.

But many of Wright’s design elements remain, most notably above the fireplace, the spot for Wright’s last surviving mosaic, beautifully crafted with gold-leafed glass tiles. Ennis-Brown was the last house in which Wright had his famous aft glass installed--29 windows and three doors are there. After the Ennises sold the house, Wright was asked by the new owners to design the stunning outside pool that overlooks Griffith Park, as well as convert the downstairs office into a billiard room.

The house has had nine owners, and the last, Augustus Brown, sold it in 1980 to a nonprofit agency that currently works to preserve and restore it. “We have to maintain homes like these because they are part of our heritage, our culture,” says Tani.

“Too often, L.A. is considered a wasteland, and this house proves that idea very, very wrong.”

BE THERE

Ennis-Brown House public tours are on the second Saturday of each odd month, with the next tour scheduled for Jan. 10. Tours must be arranged in advance. Special tours for nonresidents of Los Angeles, for schools and other groups may be arranged by appointment. Tickets for public tours are $10 for adults and $5 for seniors, students and children. Tour includes shuttle to and from the Ennis-Brown house--parking is not permitted near the house because it is a residential area with narrow streets. For information, call the Friends of the Ennis-Brown House at (213) 668-0234.