I'm Guessing The Owners Are Republicans ....

John Hoffman and Steve Sells paid $1.8 million for a home in one of Phoenix, Arizona's most desirable neighborhoods, Arcadia Park, and they knew they’d made a killing since the last owners paid nearly three million a few years earlier. As owners of 8081 Meridian, a company that develops luxury homes and communities, their plan was to tear down the house and divide the lot in two, build two luxury homes and make a huge profit.

Except .... The  four bedroom, four bathroom home—now listed at $2/3 million—was designed and built by Frank Lloyd Wright.

Now Hoffman and Sells are trying to sell the house fast before the Phoenix City Council votes on giving the house landmark status, even though they agree the home should be saved.

“If it becomes a landmark,” Sells said, “we’re out of business.”

Built in 1952, the house is actually autographed by Wright; a red tile near the door bears his signature. The wood on the cabinets, doors, desks, shelves and sofas, all designed by Wright, are gleaming once again, after  Sells diligently applied lemon oil in anticipation of the real estate caravans coming to see the house. Piano hinges, which line cabinets and doors from top to bottom, still hold strong, and the floor, in colored concrete, has cracks that show its age but also lend it a degree of rugged charm.

When Hoffman and Sells bought the home—from the couple who purchased it from Wright’s granddaughters—Sells thought they’d “hit a home run.” But then they learned that while the city had given permission to split the lot, they had never granted permission to demolish the home.

Demolish a Frank Lloyd Wright home just to make a profit. Seriously, they have got to be Republicans.

But, when Sells and Hoffman prepared to close the deal, preservationists involved in protecting Wright’s legacy reached out to the city, asking that the house be considered for landmark status. Sells said he had no idea of the significance of a Frank Lloyd Wright house, saying he didn’t even know there was a difference “between Frank Lloyd Wright and the Wright brothers.”

“I grew up in Idaho rodeoing,” he said. “We had no money.”

And apparently no books, no newspapers and no schooling. And, even after becoming developers and building houses they never heard of Frank Lloyd Wright?

 Greg Stanton, mayor of Phoenix, has been working with Sells and Hoffman to find a buyer, but if one isn’t found by the time the Council gathers next month to consider giving the house landmark status, Sells plans to be at the hearing, making his case: “Does the house deserve landmark status? Yes. This place needs to be preserved. But when three Wright granddaughters sell it for $2.8 million, for me to carry the cross for Frank Lloyd Wright, that’s not fair.”

See, for Sells, he wants it both ways. He says he wants to save the house and also says he wants to tear it down. He says he has no idea who FLW was, but I find it hard to believe the people who sold him the house never mentioned they bought it from Wright’s granddaughters, and that the house had been designed and built by Wright as a gift to his son and daughter-in-law.

Still, in Arizona, where all kinds of wacky laws are in place, ownership rights are strong; granting a property landmark status shields it from development or destruction for only three years and, so even if the Council approves the request, something else might happen, Sells said: “I’ll move in, invite everybody to come in and take their pictures, and I’m going to wait three years. Then I’m going to knock it down to recoup my losses.”

F**K history.  F**k preservation. Steve Sells wants to make millions.

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