Buildings
Restoration Set to Begin on Wright's Ennis-Brown House
(archrecord.construction.com - 08/24/2005)
By J.T.
Long
Restoration work could begin on Frank
Lloyd Wright’s 1924 Ennis-Brown House within the next
two months. The Los Angeles home, which was placed on this
year’s National Trust for Historic Preservation’s
Endangered Historic Places list, was yellow-tagged by the
city in March as dangerous after record rains undermined the
stability of a retaining wall.
Anthea Hartig, the National Trust’s
western-region director, estimates that stabilization will
cost $5 million. Approximately $3 million is available from
state and federal emergency-management sources, but the National
Trust, along with the Los Angeles Conservancy, are looking
to the movie-making community for help in making up the balance
before more damage occurs. Full restoration of the house could
cost as much as $15 million. The historic home, known for
its 16-inch, square, textile-patterned masonry blocks, and
magnificent views, was the backdrop for the movie Blade Runner,
among others.
The Ennis House Foundation, with help
from Peyton Hall, AIA, a principal at Hollywood, California-based
Historic Resources Group, and Eric Lloyd Wright, Frank Lloyd
Wright’s grandson, who is a principal at the Malibu-based
Wright Way Organic Resource Center, has pulled building permits
to begin restoration.
Dick Gee, a principal at Los Angeles-based
John Ash Group in Los Angeles, the architect for repairs made
after the 1994 Northridge earthquake, says rebar that held
the retaining wall’s blocks together had rusted in places
where the grout had not been properly installed, and where
water had been trapped inside the blocks after a homeowner
applied a sealant to it.
Robert Leary, chairman of the Ennis
House Foundation says the first priority is to stabilize the
area near the chauffeur’s quarters. Fill under the unstable
retaining wall will be replaced with beams and a parking deck.
Cantilevered supports will be installed and Wright’s
famous blocks will be replicated to build a non-load-bearing
wall.
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