Frank Lloyd Wright's Ennis-Brown house has been included on the World Monuments Watch list of the 100 most endangered sites for 2006. I always liked Wright's handful of vaguely Mayan concrete block houses around Los Angeles. I've never gotten inside any of them, but I remember catching glimpses of them from nearby streets (all were pretty well hidden in their landscaping), and when I first discovered the architecture section at the Alhambra Public Library when I was eleven or twelve years old, I found Wright's drawings of these buildings, especially the Ennis-Brown and Millard houses, quite captivating. In the grand scheme of things, I'm sure that the impending collapse of one small building is of little consequence to the world, but I hope the Ennis-Brown house can be saved, if only because by its existence it shames our shabby contemporary culture of mass construction and pretentious McMansions, and reminds us of the unfulfilled potential of American architecture which might yet be brought to fruition.
Speaking of houses, I noticed a few minutes ago that a mass of ants are crawling up the wall outside my front door. They will have to be dealt with. As much as I like ants (as long as they stay outside, and don't bite me), I know their potential for destruction. I've seen them hollow out the branches of oak trees and bring them crashing down. This commonplace house will certainly never make anybody's list of endangered monuments, but it's the only dwelling space I've got. I don't intend to let it be eaten! No formication on my watch, you little multi-legged buggers!
