A car garage outside the Ennis House, which is under threat from torrential rain and earthquakes. (Michael Buckner/Getty Images)

The Mayan-inspired Ennis House, a Frank Lloyd Wright-designed home in Los Angeles that has suffered the effects of weather and earthquakes, is going on the market.

The Ennis Foundation, a private trust that owns the house, is asking $15 million US from a buyer who is willing to invest in preserving the property.

The foundation recently completed a stabilization and restoration project on the house that went only partway toward rectifying years of neglect and effects of the 1994 Northridge earthquake.

The striking house, built in 1924 for Charles and Mabel Ennis, the owners of a men's clothing store, is set on a hilltop in the Los Feliz area of Los Angeles.

A hallway inside Ennis House; the textile bricks are in 24 different styles. (Michael Buckner/Getty Images)

It has been used as a backdrop for films such as Blade Runner and Mulholland Drive, and TV series Twin Peaks and Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Wright was inspired by the ruins of Uxmal, Mexico, in his design for the 6,000 sq. ft. property. It is built of what was called "textile blocks," 40 x 40 cm blocks with 24 design variations, held together with steel rods.

Acid rain damage

The blocks incorporate local stone and some are set with glass, but all have suffered the effects of acid rain and heavy downpours that undermined the foundations. So it's a fixer-upper for the new owner, whom the foundation envisions as an architecture lover with deep pockets.

"We've made a lot of progress, but at this point a private owner with the right vision and sufficient resources can better preserve the house than we can as a small non-profit," foundation president James DeMeo told Reuters.

Eric Lloyd Wright, the architect's grandson, said restoring Ennis House to use as a private home would honour his grandfather's intentions.

"My grandfather designed homes to be occupied by people," he said in a statement. "His homes are works of art. He created the space, but the space becomes a creative force and uplifts when it is lived in every day."

The sale is being handled by Hilton & Hyland and Dilbeck Realtors, with assistance from Christie's Great Estates, a subsidiary of Christie's auction house.

Several owners

After the Ennis family sold the house in 1936, it changed hands several times. It was owned in the 1940s by radio personality John Nesbit, who hired Wright to add a lap pool, install a heating system and create a billiards room.

The last private owner, Augustus O. Brown, bought the estate in 1968 for $119,000 US and sold it in 1980 to a non-profit trust he established to maintain the house.

In 2005, the Ennis House was place on the "most endangered" list by both the National Trust for Historic Preservation and the World Monuments Fund.

Restoring the house could cost $5 million to $7 million. In addition, the new owner might be required to allow public access to the historic property several days a year.

Wright, regarded as one of the greatest U.S. architects, often experimented with new materials and building techniques. His Guggenheim Museum in New York has also deteriorated because of the effects of weather.