A Phoenix home that legendary architect Frank Lloyd Wright designed for his son and daughter-in-law will soon inspire students at Wright's architecture school.
As The Arizona Republic reported last week, the David and Gladys Wright House is being donated for use by the School of Archictecture at Taliesin, which is based out of Wright's former Arizona home of Taliesin West in Scottsdale.
Owner Zach Rawling said his donation of the house is the biggest gift in the architecture school's history. The property will actually be owned by a new non-profit organization, and the donation is contingent on that group raising a $7 million endowment to restore and run the site.
The plan, the Republic reported, is for the house to serve primarily as a place for architecture students and faculty to live, work and learn about Wright's approach to architecture in the Southwest. It will also host public events such as tours and lectures.
The David and Gladys Wright House was built in 1952. As Matt Jaffe reported in the February 2016 issue of Arizona Highways, it was set to be torn down before Rawling bought it in 2012. Controversy has raged since then over Rawling's plan to open the house for commercial activity, such as performances and weddings. Residents of the Arcadia neighborhood where the house is located expressed concerns that doing so would be disruptive to the neighborhood.
Rawling said the new plan is a better outcome than he thought would be possible when he bought the house, and supporters said they hoped the plan would end neighborhood concerns.