America the Messy Yard Police State

Taxpayers stuck with $300,000 cost of fixing Wright home???

  Normally when the Messy yard cops invade you home they force you to pay for the cost of fixing it up.

From this article I suspect the city of Phoenix taxpayers are going to be paying for the $300,000 fix up costs of this Frank Llyod Wright home.

The article says the city of Phoenix commissioned the study to determine the costs of fixing up the home and that is why I suspect the taxpayers will get stuck with the bill.

Source

Wright house fix-up cost may top $300,000

David Wallace/The Republic

By Philip Haldiman The Republic | azcentral.com

Tue Nov 6, 2012 10:35 PM

Now that a buyer has come forward with intentions to preserve a Frank Lloyd Wright-designed house in east Phoenix, it appears the landmark has escaped demolition and will be saved.

But after the sale closes and the new owner’s intentions for the house emerge, the next question is: How much will it cost to return the iconic home to its original luster?

Although experts say the David and Gladys Wright House in the Arcadia area isn’t in bad condition, the buyer, whose identity has not been revealed, could face improvement costs in excess of $300,000, according to an assessment commissioned by Phoenix to determine the cost to restore the house.

Today, the Phoenix City Council is scheduled to consider designating the house a historic landmark. But Mayor Greg Stanton and Councilman Sal DiCiccio, whose district includes the area where the house is, confirmed they will ask to postpone the vote for 30 days to reach out to the new owner.

Stanton has said the city still intends to follow through with the designation, which was initiated this year to stave off the threat of demolition by the old owner for three years.

Robert Graham, architect and owner of Phoenix-based Motley Design Group LLC, which oversaw the assessment, said that compared with some well-publicized repairs of Wright buildings, the renovation of this house would be relatively easy and inexpensive.

“This is not major surgery,” Graham said.

Aging structure

Wright built the Arcadia home in the early 1950s for David and Gladys Wright, his son and daughter-in-law. Experts say it is one of his most personal works, in which he oversaw all aspects of its design and completion, down to the home’s furnishings and interior design.

The 60-year-old house is a complete circle around a central courtyard with a broad, curved ramp leading up to the living quarters, built entirely on raised concrete piers. The home has views of Camelback Mountain on one side and the Valley on the other.

Many experts consider the house, with its spiral form, a precursor to Wright’s design of the Guggenheim Museum in New York City, one of his most famous works.

David and Gladys Wright lived in the home, near 56th Street and Camelback Road, until they died — David in 1997 at age 102 and Gladys in 2008 at 104.

Last week, the house was sold by Valley property developers 8081 Meridian for about $2.38million.

Graham said the condition of the home, after being vacant for about four years, is largely the result of its age and the specifics of Wright’s original design. Construction of the house began in 1951 and was completed the following year.

He said many of the home’s problems would occur over time to any house and will involve taking care of past-due maintenance.

“I don’t really see that much has happened to the house in the last five years, other than a few blocks falling off, which looks like a dramatic failure but is actually not,” Graham said.

The roof has a history of leaks and should be reroofed or patched, according to the assessment. Graham said this should probably be the first thing fixed because the highest priorities in the restoration of a historic building are areas that have failed or are hazardous.

“The Number 1 enemy of any building is water. ... So, if any part of the roof is leaking, that needs to be fixed sooner rather than later,” he said. “Anything that is just tired-looking or slowly weathering, without danger of loss, is a lower priority.”

Key restoration issues

The assessment says the most significant restoration issues center on the structural stability of the house, in part because of its unique construction but also because of the history of repairs on other progressive Wright houses.

The study outlines three significant issues:

Water seeped into the pad upon which the home sits, cracking the concrete.

In certain sections, the concrete slabs between the floor beams were too thin and need to be reinforced.

Exterior concrete-block walls have deteriorated.

Graham said these issues involve the structural integrity of the house, which the owners and city officials had been concerned about.

“None of this is particularly difficult work, but certain items require specialty subcontractors,” Graham said.

Larry Woodin, president of the Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy, said the organization, which provides expert technical conservation and restoration advice and assistance to Wright property owners, would be a good resource for restoring the famed architect’s creation. The conservancy has had input in the restoration of more than 100 Wright structures.

Woodin toured the house in July and said restoring the home is achievable, but it’s up to the new owner to determine the direction of the restoration.

He said Wright homeowners vary in their restoration decisions — from a strict interpretation of the design, down to using the same appliance models that were used originally, to updating subtly.

But if the owner strays too far from Wright’s original design, it could cause the property to lose value, he said.

“Knowledgeable purchasers’ first question is often: ‘How much of this is original?’” Woodin said.

“In restoring a Wright house, it’s important to take note of the characteristics that are essential to the design — the color scheme, materials and other elements — and try not to depart too far from that. Inserting elements that are jarringly discordant distract from the harmony of the design,” Woodin added.

“You can update and do it intelligently. There is a way to modernize, but you don’t want to walk into the room and think, ‘These things don’t fit.’ Instead, you want to pause, enjoy the surroundings and say, ‘This all fits beautifully.’”

 
 

America the Messy Yard Police State