Frank Lloyd Wright's famed Ennis House to be sold

The last private owners donated the house, which officials said would require a further $5 million to $7 million for preservation, to a public trust in 1980.

Another of the foundation's directors, film star Diane Keaton, will likely assume a public role in the sale of the house, which also has been used in episodes of television shows such as "Twin Peaks" and "Buffy the Vampire Slayer."

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.

Wright, who died in 1959, was one of the world's most prolific architects, designing homes, churches and office buildings like the Johnson Wax headquarters in Racine, Wisconsin, as well as public spaces including the famed white spiral of New York's Guggenheim Museum, now celebrating its 50th anniversary.