Frank Lloyd Wright's 'Ennis House' Sold To Ron Burkle

Friday afternoon, a press release announced the sale of Frank Lloyd Wright's 'Ennis House' to celebrity billionaire businessman Ron Burkle for just shy of $4.5 million. In a statement released by The Ennis House Foundation, Marla Felber expressed,

We are excited that Mr. Burkle has purchased the Ennis House and is committed to complete the rehabilitation of this irreplaceable icon... Mr. Burkle has a track record of preserving important historic homes, and we know he'll be an excellent steward of the Ennis House.

Photos courtesy of the official listing with Christie’s International Real Estate exclusive affiliates: Dilbeck Real Estate and Hilton & Hyland Real Estate. Story continues below.

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Christie’s International Real Estate confirmed the sale. Neil Palmer, Christie's CEO, exclaimed, "I am thrilled that this masterful execution of textile block design is now in the stewardship of Mr. Burkle, a well-known custodian of important architecture.”

Ron Burkle has been listed by Forbes as having an approximate net worth of $3.2 billion. He also owns Greenacres, the legendary 50,000-square-foot Harold Lloyd estate in Beverly Hills.

Since the initial listing of the house back in 2009 for $15 million, rumors have surrounded the property. Substantial price reductions and questions of livability caused the property to sit on the market for two years.

Frank Lloyd Wright had originally designed the house for a retailer and his wife: Charles and Mabel Ennis. Built in 1924, the "textile block" house is one of the most recognizable properties in the world. Radio star John Nesbitt owned the property in the early 1940's, and it was later purchased by August O. Brown and his wife. The Browns are responsible for setting up the preservation trust, according to Christie's International Real Estate.

The Ennis Foundation notes that the home is designated as Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument #149 and is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. Per the sale agreement, the home must remain open to the public twelve days a year.

One of Frank Lloyd Wright's three other textile block homes, La Miniatura, is currently on the market. His son, Lloyd Wright's Sowden House recently sold for $3.85 million.

Comments

[robin360]

08:29 PM on 08/30/2011

My friend is the caretaker for the house, taking phone messages, tending to the pool. The owners wanted someone to be on-sight; he's been living in the guest house. I guess he'll be looking for new digs. One night, he invited me up and gave me a tour. Wow. There were Tiffany lamps here and there, a snazzy downstairs room with a great bar and fireplace and a fabulous deep, tiled bathtub in one of the bathrooms. I was struck by how cozy and small the bedrooms were in a house like this. We had a lovely wine and cheese plate overlooking the city as the sun set. I'm so glad I had the chance.

[Flat Harrold]

05:18 AM on 07/26/2011

Just fantastic!

[Widespread Panic]

01:22 AM on 07/21/2011

Reminds me of a mausoleum or a tomb.

[cavekarst]

03:45 PM on 07/20/2011

What we have here is a palace.
What we need are fewer Kings.
Is that a revolutionary thought?

[Dan Crabtree]

02:23 PM on 07/20/2011

Many years ago had a slideing set of stained glass patio doors from a FLW home in madison wisconsin,,at the time I was an architectial antique dealer..sold them for at the time good money but now ..I shudder to think of what there value could be..One of a kind designer.. that there is no doubt

[an]

12:26 PM on 07/20/2011

i've been in this house a bit, had some parties there. when i went to USC i had a friend in the architecture department who actually lived in this house for a year. it was amazing. certainly it needs work, but some people on here are really exaggerating. it's a historical monument and deserves to be restored.

[mlaiuppa]

12:24 PM on 07/20/2011

Well, I'm glad it was purchased by someone that has a track record of preserving historic houses.

If I knew what 12 days that house was open, I'd drive up and take the tour. I toured the Hollyhock house and loved it.

If I had a few million, I'd buy a plot and blueprints from the FLW estate and have one built.

I didn't care for Lloyd Wright's homage to the Mayans but La Miniatura looks delightful. Let me buy a lottery ticket.

[virpilosus]

11:48 AM on 07/20/2011

ALL personal tastes and ppreferences aside, the Ennis House IS an architectural icon and a masterpiece of genre work...it should be preserved. I am happy about the outcome. similar entities go to ruin for neglect and lack of understanding.

[Samuel Huntington]

11:35 AM on 07/20/2011

Ron Welcome to the Money Pit.

It is cracked, leaks water all over the place, a crumbling concrete block structure.

The prior owner couldnt sell it, the property was on the market for years.

It ended up in some sort of historic trust that was going to fix it, but the trust couldn't come up with the massive funds needed to restore the turkey.

But good luck to you, maybe you can succeed where the others failed, but it is going to cost you in each and every way.
The funds needed will be epic.
Since it is an important historic structure, each and every little fix it will be under a proctological examination by the building dept and all the architectural gadflies in the world.
Thus the time and effort will be mammoth.

Like I said, good luck.

[an]

12:17 PM on 07/20/2011

yeah, many historical sights, and many great works of art have to be restored. and this billionaire it seems has a passion for fixing up important buildings. i fail to see your point?

[Samuel Huntington]

12:39 PM on 07/20/2011

So you are suggesting that he strip the house of its fixtures?

There was a famous Green and Green, Blacker house in Pasadena that in the 1980's was stripped of many of its fixtures.

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/the-splendor-of-greene-and-greene.html

I think at that time a law was passed, and I am not certain if it was just in Pasadena or it applies to California, that makes it very difficult to buy an historic home to strip it of its fixtures.

Even if there is value there, the house would need to essentially crumble to the ground before you could take out the valuable fixtures to realize their value through sale without going to jail.

[mlaiuppa]

12:27 PM on 07/20/2011

With $3.2 billion and a track record in doing just that, I don't think he'll have a problem. He apparently has a passion for preservation. Perhaps he feels it's his legacy and the best use for his funds. If he can restore and preserve, I tip my hat to him.

I'll wait until that twelve day opening for tours and take a look. The fireplace and period fixtures alone are worth it.

[chardonnay48]

10:36 PM on 07/19/2011

Looks like Forest Lawn Glendale.

[drfast]

09:46 PM on 07/19/2011

yikes!....love the view.

[madame fate]

09:32 PM on 07/19/2011

One of the rare times that I am envious of someone buying something I wish I could own. Knowing that he plans to take very good care of it makes me smile. I hope he is happy there.

[Samuel Huntington]

11:42 AM on 07/20/2011

OOH sounds so romantic..but when you know the history of the structure, you would run screaming like some sort of horror film double feature. Run, don't walk to the exit.

The structure is essentially red tagged, unfit for habitation. And has been for many years.

It is made of custom concrete blocks and is cracked and leaks. There is massive earthquake damage from a couple of prior earthquakes.

It has been for sale almost continuously for 10 to 20 years. It has broken others that tried to restore it. The last owner was a historic trust, that could not even come close to addressing the gargantuan issues present at the structure.

I think if Frank Lloyd Wright was alive today he would likely be the first to admit the structure was a failure and bulldoze it if he had the chance.

[an]

12:18 PM on 07/20/2011

you sir, sound like a philistine.

[tomasino]

08:07 PM on 07/19/2011

It was also used in the classic William Castle horror film "House on Haunted Hill" starring Vincent Price and Rebekah Brooks.

[Pinkensteve]

10:44 AM on 07/20/2011

Great classic film. The house creeped me out when I came upon it a year ago.

[nastywolf]

07:36 PM on 07/19/2011

Yes, it is an iconic piece of architecture...perhaps more so for the fact that it represents the Neo-Mausoleum movement, which is found primarily in 1950s/1960s bank branches, and public utilities buildings far more than homes. I've been in and out of the Ennis House and it's more suitable for B movie horror film sets and cold storage than for living.

[RichRobert]

07:12 PM on 07/19/2011

A few years ago when I lived in LA, my friends and I walked by the Ennis house nearly every evening on our exercise walks through the Hollywood hills. The building, while magnificent was crumbling terribly, as was another FLW in Pasadena of similar composition. It has been so long that I was nearly certain that it would eventually just crumble and fall down the hill. I'm very pleased about this sale! I believe some of Blade Runner was filmed here, if I'm not mistaken.

[madame fate]

09:39 PM on 07/19/2011

Ooooh! Love trivia and Blade Runner is a movie I am very fond of. Thanks!