The House on Haunted Hill is for SALE

A rare opportunity to live in a national landmark has arisen in Los Angeles where Ennis House, an architectural gem designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, has gone up for sale for $15 million (£ 9 million).

The architect designed Ennis House in 1923, dubbing the stark, concrete block-clad mansion his "temple on the hill" and predicting that it would still fascinate people a century later.

It offers wonderful views across the city and, with its exotic, Mayan temple exterior and cathedral-like interior, it has featured in more than a dozen films including Blade Runner, The House on Haunted Hill and Black Rain.

The 10,000 sq ft house was originally built for Charles Ennis, a local businessman, and it remained in private hands until 1980, when it was donated to a charitable trust.

But maintaining the house is expensive, so now the trust has decided to sell it.

The building developed structural problems even before it was completed and has since been seriously damaged by earthquakes and rainstorms.

It was given a multi-million dollar overhaul, but the three charities that oversee the house agree that the new owner will need to have deep pockets.

"What this house offers, really, it's a trophy property. Some people have trophy wives – this is a trophy house," Linda Dishman, executive director of the Los Angeles Conservancy, told National Public Radio.

Lloyd Wright, who designed the Guggenheim Museum in New York, seemed particularly proud of the Ennis House.

"He said, 'You know, 100 years from now, people are going to remember this house as being literally the temple on the hill, and they'll make pilgrimages to this structure', and it's very much true today," said Jim deMeo, president of the Ennis House Foundation.

-----

Elisha Cook Jr. not included.