Update: Saving The David Wright Residence

The outpouring of support and passion by Phoenicians for preserving an iconic work of modern architecture in Arcadia designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and built for his son David Wright, has been tremendous, and it looks like the new owners might be having a change of heart.

On June 12th the City of Phoenix had a Planning Commission meeting in which the former Phoenix Historic Preservation Commissioner Grady Gammage Jr. spoke about the need for a historic overlay for the Wright residence and preserving this piece of history.  The comments by Mr. Gammage along with the strong showing of preservation supporters led to a unanimous vote by the Planning Commission to begin the process of considering the residence for historic overlay and preservation.  Several people showed up to the meeting, along with Mayor Greg Stanton who spoke personally with the new owners about the historical importance of the home and why it should be saved.

 

The buyers of the home filed plans to subdivide the lot, and may have been planning to demo the home and build new houses on the newly created lots.  This fear of losing a timeless work of FLW and Phoenix architecture led to the Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy requesting landmark designation and historical preservations status.  The owners have said they didn’t realize how important of a building it was to so many people and surprised at the support for preservation…and they will now work with the Historic Preservation Office towards maintaining the integrity of the property and also make sure the neighborhood and the FLW Conservancy are happy.

(sigh…..If only homebuyers were more educated on the historic significance of certain buildings in our city we would be able to avoid situations similar to this)

We aren’t out of the woods yet, but at least the process has started to explore the possibility of preserving this home before it is too late.   Off to a good start.