Ennis House

Modernist Masterworks of Los Angeles, 1900 - 1970

If you coveted the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Ennis House in Los Angeles we wrote about last year, but didn't quite have the $15 million asking price, you should pick up a copy of Architecture of the Sun. The weighty tome, being published later this month by Rizzoli for $95, focuses on Los Angeles' many fine modernist masterworks built from 1900–1970. A modern city shaped by the complexities of its geography – ocean, desert, and mountains – "as connected with the industries which formed its cultural references and livelihood", Los Angeles has produced some of the greatest architectural accomplishments of the twentieth century. In addition to Lloyd Wright the architects featured include Richard Neutra, John Lautner and Rudolph Schindler, whose brilliant designs came to define an era. The eminent author, Thomas S. Hines, is Professor Emeritus of History and Architecture at UCLA, where he teaches cultural, urban, and architectural history.

Tags: architecture, books, California, coffee table books, design, Ennis House, Frank Lloyd Wright, John Lautner, Los Angeles, modernism, modernist, modernist architecture, photography, Richard Neutra, Rizzoli, UCLA

Sunday Real Estate Round-Up, 02/07/10

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Estates, Celebrity Shopping

From Cityfile's Buyers and Sellers:
--via Curbed, actress/TV producer Polly Draper and her husband Michael Wolff, a jazz pianist and composer who served as the bandleader on the Arsenio Hall Show, have listed their apartment at 43 Fifth Avenue on the market for $25 million.
--via the NY Observer, Texas-based restaurant kingpin Bradley Blum, CEO of Romano's Macaroni Grill, has bought a a pied-à-terre at 141 Fifth Avenue for $3.7 million.
--James P. Marden, the son of pharmacy mogul Bernard Marden, has picked up a townhouse in the West Village for $4.125 million. Bernard Marden father sold his home in Wainscott for $11.2 million last year. And his former wife just recently sold her own penthouse for $11.5 million.
-- Jennifer Scully-Lerner, a Goldman Sachs executive and top Obama fundraiser, and her husband, fellow financial exec Richard, have picked up a new apartment on Fifth Avenue for$3.575 million.
--New York Times reporter Steven Greenhouse and his wife, Miriam Reinharth, have paid $1.1 million for a condo at 134 West 93rd Street.
--via the NY Observer, opera star Catherine Malfitano has sold her duplex loft at 79 Laight Street for $2.6 million.
--via Curbed, Courtney Love has been spotted checking out a West Village townhouse at 56 Bank Street that is listed at $5.998 million.
--Carol McFadden has closed on the sale of her penthouse at The Metropolitan on East 90th Street for $6.925 million.
Rolling Stone founder Jann Wenner has given up his share in the Upper West Side townhouse that he shared with his ex-wife Jane. Property records show that Jane paid Jann $4 million for his share of the five-story townhouse at 37 West 70th Street.
--Guy Metcalfe, the co-head of Morgan Stanley's real estate investment banking group, and his wife, Lisa paid $6.125 million for a four-bedroom apartment at 90 Riverside Drive.
--via the New York Daily News, photographer Annie Leibovitz is trying to sell her 220-acre compound in Rhinebeck for $11 million. David Bowie and his wife, Iman recently toured the property.
--via the NY Observer, Vicki Rosen-Solomon, the widow of private equity executive Adam Solomon, has closed on the sale of her co-op at 956 Fifth Avenue for $12.5 million to David Herro, a Chicago-based investor.
--Marc Brown, the author and illustrator who created the Arthur series of books as well as the animated PBS show, and his wife Laura have dropped the price of their Tribeca townhouse to $9.995 million. It was once listed as high as $15.85 million.

Gallery: Marc Brown in Tribeca

--Rory Tahari, the wife of fashion mogul Elie Tahari, has sold two-bedroom loft at 72 Mercer Street for $3.2 million.
--David Bizer, a former Lehman Brothers exec, has relisted his 24th-floor apartment at 15 Central Park West for $7.495 million.

From the Wall Street Journal's Private Properties:
--Media mogul Jeffrey Katzenberg has paid $35 million for a house in Beverly Hills, California.
--The Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Ennis house in Los Angeles has had a price cut to $10.5 million. It was originally put on the market last June for $15 million.

Gallery: The Ennis House

From the Real Estalker:
--Actress/rapper Eve has listed her Los Angeles home for $2.295 million. The listing is here.

Gallery: Eve In Los Angeles

--Celebrity photographer Timothy White has dropped the price on his light-filled loft at 448 West 37th Street. It is now listed for $4.495 million.

Gallery: Timothy White In NYC

From Move Trends:
--Actor Eddie Cibrian has listed his home in Calabasas, California. He is asking $2.349 million but he and soon-to-be ex-wife Brandi Glanville paid $2.5 million in 2008. Check out the listing pictures below, the master bedroom includes a stripper pole.

Gallery: Eddie Cibrian in Calabasas

--John Goodman's former 6 bedroom Los Angeles, CA home is listed for $1,998,000.

From ShelterPop:
Jennifer Aniston is showing off her new home in the pages of Architectural Digest.

Tags: ennis house, EnnisHouse, eve, frank lloyd wright, FrankLloydWright, jeffrey katzenberg, JeffreyKatzenberg, john dockery, JohnDockery, paul greenwood, PaulGreenwood, pete sampras, PeteSampras, polly draper, PollyDraper

Continue reading “Sunday Real Estate Round-Up, 02/07/10”

Frank Lloyd Wright's Ennis House Up For Sale

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Estates

One of Frank Lloyd Wright's most ambitious homes, the 1924 Ennis House in the Los Feliz area of Los Angeles has been put up for sale. The home on a hilltop has a striking composition of patterned and smooth concrete blocks that give it the apeparance of an ancient temple. The private foundation that has been restoring the home has put it up for sale for $15 million. The LA Times reports that Eric Lloyd Wright, the architect's grandson and a member of the nonprofit Ennis House Foundation's board,has said that the board decided that private ownership would be the best way to save the house. The house was donated to a nonprofit trust in 1980 and the foundation began its restoration in 2005. The home had sustained damage both from rain and the 1994 Northridge earthquake.

You may have seen this one in the movies including "House on Haunted Hill," "Grand Canyon" and "Blade Runner." The home is not exactly in move in condition. The LA Times article states that the new owner is also facing a projected repair bill of $5 million to $7 million. But whoever does take on the project will be getting an incredible one-of-kind home that is a California State Landmark.

The main house includes a billiards room with a bar and open fireplace, an incredible elevated dining room with a massive fireplace and a living room with art glass windows. The listing says that the glass-tile mosaic fireplace in the living room is one of only three ever created and the last remaining intact example in any Wright residence. The home is on around a half an acre and includes a pool which is set against a long loggia that connects the public areas with the private rooms include the master bedroom, a guest room and an upper terrace.

In addition to the repair costs, the new owner will also have to agree to a conservation easement, to be held by the Los Angeles Conservancy to allow at least some public access to the house but that's the price of living in such a historic home.

The home is the largest of Wright's four textile-block homes. Another, the Millard House in Pasadena, is listed at $7.733 million an was previously our estate of the day.

Gallery: The Ennis House

Source

Tags: ennis house, EnnisHouse, estate, frank lloyd wright, FrankLloydWright, los feliz, LosFeliz