Wright House in Phoenix Is Sold After Fight for Preservation

The deal closed after at least one offer to buy the property had fallen through. Its former owners, Steve Sells and John Hoffman, principals at 8081 Meridian, a local development company, bought the property for $1.8 million in June and several times raised the price as the controversy over the potential demolition intensified.

The buyer’s identity has not been revealed; he requested anonymity as part of the transaction. He paid $2.387 million for the house, which Wright built in 1952 for his son and daughter-in-law, David and Gladys, according to Robert Joffe of Russ Lyon Sotheby’s International Realty, who represented the sellers in the transaction.

Its latest asking price was $2.51 million. The owners said they had raised the price to offset the mounting costs of fighting attempts to have the house declared a landmark, which, in Arizona, would delay any demolition for three years.

A victory for preservationists around the country, the sale came about through the intercession of the Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy, a group that works to preserve the architect’s legacy. The sale unfolded in virtual secret; few people beyond the sellers, their agent, the buyer and officials at the conservancy were aware of its details.

The fight to save the house had galvanized preservationists and stirred spirited debates among City Council members over the value of preserving historically relevant structures versus the need to safeguard homeowners’ property rights.

The conservancy and other organizations petitioned the city in June to consider giving the house landmark status, after they learned of the former owners’ plans to split the lot to build the new homes. Three local government bodies approved the landmark designation, but the Council, which has the final say, postponed its vote twice, in part to give the parties more time to strike some type of compromise. There was also uncertainty over how some of its members would vote, given the homeowners’ lack of consent for the landmark process.

“If ever there was a case to balance private property rights versus the public good, to save something historically important to the cultural legacy of the city, this was it,” Larry Woodin, the president of the conservancy, said in an interview.

The latest agreement materialized over the span of two weeks, part of an effort by the conservancy to find a buyer or group of buyers for the property — and after the sellers had rejected prior offers.

Mayor Greg Stanton, who was among the most vocal proponents of landmark designation for the home, called the sale “an early Christmas present for the people of Phoenix and for the world.”

“This is a great piece of architecture, and we’re so proud and honored that it will be preserved for generations to come,” he added.

The house sits in the Arcadia neighborhood, in a lot overlooking Phoenix’s picturesque Camelback Mountains, which can be seen from most of its rooms. Its coiled design is similar to the one Wright used for the Guggenheim Museum in New York. Though little known before this, it is regarded among experts as one of the most significant of Wright’s later works.

Four years ago, Wright’s granddaughters sold the house for $2.8 million to a buyer they thought would keep it and preserve it. In June, though, the house was sold again to 8081 Meridian. An appraisal ordered by the city estimated the home needed about $300,000 worth of restoration work.

A petition started by the conservancy gathered more than 28,000 signatures from supporters around the world, calling for the house to be saved.

In an interview on Thursday, Mr. Joffe said it was “the most fulfilling deal of my 28 years in real estate” because of the significance of the house.

An Arizona-based nonprofit organization being established with help from the conservancy will maintain and operate the house and oversee its restoration. The new owner will also ask the City Council to grant landmark status, said the conservancy’s executive director, Janet Halstead.

The goal is to make the house available for educational purposes on a limited basis — ushering in what Mr. Woodin described as “a new chapter in the life of this important and unique Frank Lloyd Wright building.”

About one in five buildings designed by Wright have been lost to natural disasters, neglect or the pressures of development. Since its incorporation in 1989, the conservancy has helped rescue a number of them.

Included are the Burton J. Westcott House in Springfield, Ohio, which Wright designed in 1906; the Goestsch-Winckler House, built in 1940 as part of an uncompleted cooperative community in Okemos, Mich.; and the Ennis House in Los Angeles, which Wright designed in 1923 and which was extensively damaged during the 1994 Northridge earthquake.

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Kings 106, Knicks 105: Knicks Fight Back Against Kings, Only to Be Blindsided at the Buzzer

But they did not lose their composure when trailing by double digits, as they have on recent occasions. They did not panic. They did not quit. But two nights after watching J. R. Smith seal a win for them on a last-second jumper in Phoenix, the Knicks found themselves Friday on the other side of a buzzer-beater when Sacramento’s James Johnson made an open 3-pointer as time expired to give the Sacramento Kings a 106-105 victory.

“Karma comes back around quickly,” Smith said. “It’s a bad feeling.

“No matter who we play, we have to play with a sense of urgency and pride.”

The loss denied the Knicks the largest comeback victory in franchise history, which remains a 26-point rally against Milwaukee in 2004.

Johnson, who was mobbed by his Kings teammates, finished with 17 points as the Knicks walked slowly to the locker room, their heads down. Johnson’s game-winning basket was his first 3-pointer of the season. He was 0 for 11 before Friday’s game.

“I thought it was short, honestly, from the angle I had,” Tyson Chandler said of Johnson’s jumper. “I knew he got it off in time. I was just curious about his feet. And then I saw the replay and he obviously had both feet behind the line.”

When the Knicks thought about the final 30 seconds of the game, they were disappointed with how they couldn’t execute simple things.

Jason Kidd knew he should have made a better pass to Chandler for an alley-oop dunk. Sacramento’s DeMarcus Cousins deflected the pass, which created a turnover. On defense, Steve Novak knew he could have made a game-winning steal. Instead, a pass by John Salmons made it to Johnson. And Smith knew he had a chance to block Johnson’s 3-pointer before time expired.

“That’s the toughest way to lose,” Novak said. “You’d rather lose by 40 than to lose on a game-winner. That’s going to sting for a while.”

Smith scored a game-high 28 points and Chris Copeland added 23. Chandler (21 points, 18 rebounds) was solid on both ends of the floor.

The Knicks were without Anthony for a second straight game because of a hyperextended knee, as well as Felton, who is expected to miss a month with a broken finger. With Amar’e Stoudemire, Rasheed Wallace and Iman Shumpert also sidelined, the Knicks were down to a 10-man team, and they looked in the first half as if they could have used another 10 to relieve them.

They were down by 21 at halftime.

“That first half we had was just unacceptable,” Novak said. “We gave their shooters way too much freedom.”

But the Knicks found a new burst of energy in the second half, chipping away at the Kings’ lead and eventually pulling in front about midway through the fourth quarter when Kidd hit a 3-pointer for a 97-95 lead.

But Kidd also helped put the Kings in position to win. His foul on Isaiah Thomas in the fourth quarter sent Thomas to the line, where he made both free throws to cut the Knicks’ lead to 105-103. Then, Kidd’s pass was intercepted with 16 seconds left. The Knicks never got the ball back.

“I had Tyson wide open,” Kidd said. “It was an easy pass. I just turned it over and they capitalized on it.”

The Knicks (21-9) surrendered 71 points in the first half as the Kings (10-19) shot 59.5 percent from the field and made 10 3-pointers. But as disappointing as the first half was for them, the Knicks said they showed character in rallying to take the lead.

“Losses like this build character,” Chandler said. “It hurts right now, but I feel like we won’t find ourselves in this situation again.”

He continued: “It shows how good we can be defensively. We dug ourselves a hole. To me, there’s no reason that we can hold a team to 35 points in the second half and can’t do it in the first. I was proud of the guys, though. This one burns, but we battled our hearts out.”

REBOUNDS

With five injured players, Coach Mike Woodson said he almost felt as if he had no choice but to hope Amar’e Stoudemire would be ready to play his first game of the season Tuesday against the Portland Trail Blazers. Stoudemire will be re-evaluated by a knee specialist Saturday before he participates in another practice. Woodson plans to have Stoudemire practice Sunday and Monday. “Those two practices will give us some indication of where he is,” Woodson said. “I’m going to put him through a full practice in terms of running up and down and banging some with him, too. Hopefully, there will be no setbacks, and he’ll be ready to go New Year’s Day.” ... Rasheed Wallace, who has a stress fracture in his left foot, also hopes to return to practice in the next few days. Woodson said he expected Wallace to see some minutes against the Trail Blazers. “I’m very antsy about it,” Wallace said of returning to the court. “Very antsy, especially when we play big games like we did against the Lakers. The nail-biter against Phoenix the other night. It’s not up to me, though. It’s up to the doctors.”

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