The only skyscraper designed by Frank Lloyd Wright is scheduled to go up for auction next month, leaving its fate up in the air.
Why it matters: The 19-story building looks over Osage country in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, and is filled with Wright-designed furniture.
- The tower is hundreds of miles from Dallas, but its past and future are linked to North Texas.
The big picture: The skyscraper was originally imagined in the 1920s as a New York City apartment tower, but the Great Depression shuttered the project.
- Wright updated the design in the 1950s for Harold C. Price and his Bartlesville pipeline company. The architect said the concrete-and-copper tower was the "tree that escaped the crowded forest" of Manhattan.
Driving the news: The arts nonprofit that wanted to see the tower preserved sold the building (and its debt) last year for just $10, per the Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise .
- But the financial struggles continued, and the new owner sold several furniture pieces from the tower to a Dallas art dealer. Now the tower is closed and again for sale.
Flashback: The tower opened in 1956 with residential and office space. It was the Price company's headquarters until 1981, when part of the business moved to Dallas and Phillips Petroleum Co. bought the building.
- Phillips donated the building to the nonprofit Price Tower Arts Center in 2001.
- The skyscraper was put on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974 and named a National Historic Landmark in 2007.
Frank Lloyd Wright in 1953 with a model of the Price Tower, which he designed as his ideal skyscraper. Photo: Bettmann Archive/Getty Images
Fun fact: Price's grandson — perhaps inspired by his grandfather's relationship with Wright — commissioned New York architect Steven Holl in 1989 to design Stretto House in Dallas.
The intrigue: The Price Tower has received more than $30 million in donations since 2000, per the Examiner-Enterprise, yet the nonprofit that used to own it and its current owners still couldn't maintain it.
- When Bartlesville couple Anthem and Cynthia Blanchard bought the property last year, they promised to invest $10 million to pay down debt, preserve its artistic history and transform it into a tech hub . That didn't happen.
The latest: Price Tower artifacts have been sold before to cover preservation and maintenance costs, but the Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy said it didn't approve the current sale of any items.
Inside Price Tower is as beautiful as the outside. Photo: Tasha Tsiaperas/Axios
State of play: The Price Tower Arts Center donated a preservation easement to the Building Conservancy in 2011, giving the organization rights to protect and conserve the building and many of its Wright-designed furnishings.
- The Arts Center struggled to fund operations and maintenance of the building for years. To help pay the bills, the nonprofit reached an agreement with the conservancy to sell some items through Dallas-based Heritage Auctions in 2019 and 2022 .
Friction point: The conservancy says it was not notified that the building would be sold or that the new owners had sold furnishings protected by the easement to 20cdesign , a Dallas art dealer.
- The organization sent legal notices to the building ownership group that the protected items cannot be sold without the conservancy's consent. The group also notified major auction houses that the items should not be listed for sale.
What they're saying: The Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy wants to ensure that any prospective buyers of the tower understand the rules of the easement and work with the conservancy on preservation, executive director Barbara Gordon tells Axios.
- "We need to all be on the same page," Gordon tells Axios. "We're here to work as partners on this."
Threat level: Several items sold by the Price Tower owners to 20cdesign are listed as irreplaceable in legal notices sent by the conservancy. The list includes a directory board, which Gordon says is "one of a kind."
- "There's not another one of that. That was made for Price Tower," she tells Axios.
The other side: "I have every right to sell anything I need to sell. This is a for-profit private company and that's where the controversy comes in with the conservancy," Cynthia Blanchard told an ABC station in Tulsa .
- When reached by phone, the Dallas art dealer confirmed the items were on display in its Design District showroom and listed at 1stDibs .
- "Unfortunately, we have been advised that we may have to seek damages as a result of all the defamation being carelessly spread regarding our business," the seller wrote in response to an email from Axios regarding the conservancy's claims.
What's next: The Price Tower online auction is scheduled to take place Oct. 7-9 with a $600,000 starting bid.
The bottom line: The Price Tower is a glimpse into midcentury design and Wright's style. The furnishings, interior and exterior are meant to work together.
- Now, Bartlesville residents and Wright fans are worried about what will become of the landmark now that it could again have new ownership with new promises.
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