Ennis-Brown ‘canopies’ nixed

A plan to donate illuminated “rain canopies” to protect the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Ennis-Brown House in Los Feliz from future damage, announced recently by the architecture firm Eric Lloyd Wright & Wiehle Carr , has been rejected by the owner of the house.

Scott Frank, president of the board of directors for the Trust for the Preservation of Cultural Heritage -- the nonprofit that oversees the 1924 Los Feliz home -- said Monday that the board rejected the plan because “it does not serve the current restoration and repair needs of the house” and runs counter to building rehabilitation standards for treatment of historic properties set forth by the Department of the Interior. Frank said the board prefers to explore the possibility of a new roof for the structure.

Eric Lloyd Wright & Wiehle Carr is the architecture firm responsible for the ongoing rehabilitation of the Ennis-Brown House, which suffered structural damage from the 1994 Northridge earthquake and was red-tagged during February’s rainstorms. Firm partner Christopher Carr said that they announced the rain canopy project before it was approved because “we did not have a nonacceptance” and the firm assumed the gift would be accepted.