Ennis-Brown-Nesbitt

[Mark Hertzberg]

There are two links to look at:

http://www.ennishouse.org/
(Home page)

or, e-mail: [email protected]

Mark Hertzberg

[Paul Ringstrom]

Contact info: [email protected], (323) 660-0607

I have been in contact with them regarding tours and also suggested the solution that you postulated and was told that the neighbors are also opposed to that solution. They are opposed to ANY use of the house other than its current zoning of single-family residential. I was told that it would take several years to get a zoning variance through the city council and no effort was being made in this direction at this time.

When I suggested that some of their Hollywood donors might have sufficient clout to help with the zoning changes I was told, contrary to newspaper articles that implied that the Hollywood community, lead by Diane Keaton, donated a lot of money to get the house rehabilitated NONE was received and that FEMA paid for the entire restoration.

[SDR]

[To John]

That would be dramatic. I suppose it would depend in part on whether the building lot extends beyond the foundation wall on either side -- and who owns the property below the house ?

SDR

[Roderick Grant]

I agree with Hildebrand's analysis of Ennis and consideration of it as one of FLW's major works. Complete understanding, however, requires knowing exactly what FLW designed, and the extent to which that design was altered: fenestration, ceiling structure, materials, etc. The plan has less in common with Coonley than Taliesin. Both Ennis and Taliesin consist of a series of rooms strung together by a long, columned gallery. The complexity of spaces in Ennis makes a fairly big house seem monumental in scale, yet it has a hominess one does not expect when looking at it from outside, downhill. In L A it is often mistaken for a mausoleum, fort or just about anything other than a house. For educational purposes, modular Ennis would be perfect to computerize to show the house as built compared to the house FLW imagined.

[SDR]

That would be a wonderful exercise, revealing fully (finally) what was "lost in translation." The complete panoply of digital tools could be employed, including comparative 3D walk-throughs and still views, etc.

I assume the comparison is to Taliesin West. . .

SDR

[worldtraveler]

http://www.latimes.com/features/home/la ... 6380.story

Regarding downslope neighbors of Ennis-Brown, this article appeared in a sidebar with the article about the Neutra house on another thread.

[Tom]

Today just read Hildebrand's discussion of Ennis.
Roderick concurs on this thread and SDR has graciously posted most of what Hildebrand states.
I've never given Ennis that careful a look. So this was a revelation for me.
Are the archives the best place to see Wright's original intentions for this house?
Or is there some other source?


https://library.artstor.org/#/search/ar ... e=1;sort=1


... and is the entry as built according to this plan:
https://library.artstor.org/#/asset/285 ... 2864214873

... and there's this:
https://library.artstor.org/#/asset/285 ... 2864411045

... this is a two bedroom house. I never laughed so long.

[SDR]

Some might want to see the rest of the drawings at Artstor; this will bring them up, along with photos as well as drawings of the proposed Nesbitt rehab.

https://library.artstor.org/#/search/Wr ... is;size=24

S

[Tom]

A personal visit is probably required to understand this place.
Hildebrands description and photographs are the best i know of.
Seems Piranesi like.
The "minstrel balcony" over Mrs. Ennis's bathroom is curious.

[Roderick Grant]

Tom, there is a third bedroom for guests next to the kitchen. Mabel & Chuck had no children, so they had a BR for Chuck at the far end of the gallery, one for Mabel next to the living room and a guest room tucked in the corner between the dining room and kitchen.

The entry 'porch' was intended to be open at the court side and enclosed at the double doors seen in the plan. The walls flanking the porch are perfs that were meant to be backlit through translucent glass to provide ample lighting for arriving guests. As built, the porch was enclosed by a single door at the court with sidelights and the double door was eliminated. The perf walls have solid walls behind them instead of the glass panels. Mabel at work!

[Roderick Grant]

"Minstrel balcony"? Where is such a thing shown? Mabel's bathroom is rather opulent with marble, a sunken tub and a flat ceiling, I believe 8' high. Chuck's bathroom, tiled in black with a similar sunken tub & shower and 8' ceiling, features a superstructure for the sake of the composition of the exterior exclusively. There is a three-block aperture in the middle section of the stack, an open invitation for avians to occupy. A perfect name for the house would have been Falcon's Lair, the name Rudolph Valentino gave his abode. One can only guess what the interior of that 'nest' looks like after nearly 100 years.

Another tidbit: Ennis has a demand water heater (extant last I knew) located below the guest room in the laundry with a pipe over 100' to the master bath. It looks like a pot-bellied stove. It takes quite a while to get hot water that far.

[Tom]

Thanks Roderick, much appreciate the information. The interiors sound ... unique to Wright, rich and intriguing.
A black tiled bathroom by Wright?! Wow. Would love to see that.
Is this the house used for Bladerunner or was it another textile block piece?

The " minstrel balcony" is the name Hildebrand gives to the dark void above Mrs. Ennis's bathroom as seen from the livingroom (I'm fresh from reading that now).
I can't help but wonder what Wright was doing there. In section it looks like a sophomoric mistake.
The photograph of it in Hildebrand might imply that Wright wanted a haunting dark void up there for some reason.
Curious.
Anyway - this is the first time I've come anywhere near comprehending what this place is all about.

[Roderick Grant]

Now I understand the "minstrel balcony" of which you speak. It has nothing to do with Mabel's suite at all. It is what Sam Freeman called "an extravagant waste of space." The living room at floor level is of modest dimensions - 25'4"x18'0" - considering the scale of the house overall, so FLW extended the space where he could: overhead. The space wasn't meant to be occupied by anything, even a string quartet. (Lugging a 'cello up into the space might be a daunting task, although the acoustics may have made the effort worthwhile.) It might have made more sense if the ceiling had not been altered to a flat, heavy-handed, east/west oriented series of box beams but built as planned with b&b forming a gentle north/south pitch.

The tiled bathrooms were not finish as planned. They were designed (as were the bathrooms in Storer and Millard) to be finished in waterproofed blank blocks with the joints filled in with gold tile even to the ceilings and floors, creating a sort of golden cage.

[Roderick Grant]

Another correction that would help comprehending the space as designed would be to change the fenestration throughout. The simple wood fenestration (along with a conversion to flagstone instead of marble floors) would go much better with the concrete blocks. And the bronze "gravy boats" dangling the length of the gallery ceiling are beyond the pale!

[Reidy]

The minstrel balcony is also useful in that a lower-ceilinged bathroom heats up more effectively than one that goes all the way to the roof. The guest bathroom has the same feature.