Qualla: Ennis House

Ennis House: Introduction

Wed, 01 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Kyle Magnuson from Los Angeles, United States, CC BY 2.0. The house looks like it was excavated rather than built. Sitting on a hill above Los Feliz, its massive concrete walls rise in terraces of engraved textile blocks — over 27,000 of them, each stamped with an interlocking geometric pattern — and the ziggurat rooflines push skyward against the San Gabriel Mountains behind. When Ridley Scott needed a location that looked like the far future in Blade Runner, he chose the Ennis House. It had looked like the far future since 1925.

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Image: Kyle Magnuson from Los Angeles, United States | CC BY 2.0

Ennis House: Wright in Transition

Wed, 01 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Codera23, CC BY-SA 4.0. Frank Lloyd Wright designed the Ennis House in 1923 and 1924 for Charles and Mabel Ennis, a retired couple who had commissioned him after seeing his other work in Los Angeles. The house was completed in August 1925 and is the largest of four concrete textile block houses Wright d...

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Image: Codera23 | CC BY-SA 4.0

Ennis House: A House That Endures

Wed, 01 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit geek_love13, CC BY 2.0. The Ennis family lived here only until 1936. After that, the house passed through seven owners in 44 years — among them the actor John Nesbitt, who bought it in 1940 and commissioned Wright himself to add a swimming pool, billiard room, and heating system. In 1968 it was purchase...

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Image: geek_love13 | CC BY 2.0

Ennis House: On Screen, Always the Future

Wed, 01 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit geek_love13, CC BY 2.0. The Ennis House has appeared in films when directors needed a building that looked ancient, alien, or apocalyptic. Its Mayan Revival design — a style Wright developed partly from his study of pre-Columbian architecture — reads on camera as something from outside the western tradi...

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Image: geek_love13 | CC BY 2.0

Ennis House: Inside the Blocks

Wed, 01 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit HarshLight from San Jose, CA, USA, CC BY 2.0. The main house interior spans approximately 6,000 square feet and contains three bedrooms and three and a half bathrooms. The entrance hall is unexpectedly beneath the main floor — an inversion of Wright's usual approach. Above it, the rooms are decorated with chandeliers, marble...

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Image: HarshLight from San Jose, CA, USA | CC BY 2.0