Owners of Famous Home Assert Property Rights Against Landmark Designation

Preservationists may just have to put up money for what they want

Voices fighting to preserve a famous Frank Lloyd Wright home in east Phoenix have been loud and resolute ever since its new owners indicated earlier this year they would demolish it to make way for redevelopment.

But when the owners of the David and Gladys Wright House publicly threatened a lawsuit against the city last Tuesday, the controversy reached a new level, centered squarely on the fundamental issue of historic preservation vs. private-property rights.