Our View: No Wright House deed goes unpunished

• The owner of the David and Gladys Wright House seeks a historic landmark designation
• The application includes land never owned by the Wrights, but necessary to showcase the house

Ah, for the good old days when the community united in an effort to save the David and Gladys Wright house from demolition.

Those feel-good times are long gone. Now something as routine as a request for historic landmark designation for the one-of-a-kind home has become a battleground. It’s the latest proof that no good deed goes unpunished.

Zach Rawling bought the deteriorating house in 2012. The Frank Lloyd Wright masterpiece was practically forgotten. Houses surrounded it; vines covered its walls. It was out of sight and out of mind.

Since then, he has slowly been restoring Wright’s vision for the house he built for his son, which when it was built sat on 10 acres with unobstructed views of Camelback Mountain and the Papago buttes. Archival documents show the thought Wright put into the placement of the house, with view lines drawn over aerial photos. They also explain the rationale for lifting the house off the ground: It improved the view and turned an orange grove into what the architect referred to as “David’s lawn.”

That’s abstract. But the vision -- and the rationale for including 2 acres that weren't part of the original property -- becomes concrete with a pair of "before" and "after" photographs.

Wright House lesson: Phoenix needs a sense of place

The circular, raised house is the centerpiece, but it has a companion: a small guesthouse built with the same concrete block. In contrast to the main house, it is linear. A roof slopes up toward the north.

In the “before” picture, the guesthouse is overwhelmed by palm trees and a large stucco house behind it. Experts advised Rawling to just tear the thing down.

In the “after” picture, the stucco and palms are gone, and the house’s purpose is clear. The roofline leads the eye to Camelback, echoing its slope. Wright knew a thing or two about architecture and “How to Live in the Southwest,” the name he gave his design.

Rawling and his team submitted a 58-page document arguing, in words and pictures, for Phoenix’s landmark designation for the house and 6.1 acres surrounding it. They make a compelling case. But the strongest argument comes with a visit to the property.

My Turn: Preserve Wright's genius, Arcadia's history

The time and money Rawling has sunk into the house peeled back its forgotten glories and pointed to its potential. In Frank Lloyd Wright’s vernacular, a house is never just a house. It is an organic part of its surroundings. With this house, that had been lost until Rawling restored it.

Not all Arcadia residents are sold. They oppose any historic designation beyond one limited to the house and the 2.4 acres around it. Their position ignores history. It also would prevent Rawling from turning the property into a celebration of Wright, a house museum equal to the best in the world.

They’ve been fed images of massive rock concerts disturbing their peaceful neighborhood, or of tourists blocking their streets. Yet requirements that would be attached to any use permit would prevent such atrocities.

Rawling expects a restriction that no sound leave the property, and is already honoring it in the small events he is hosting. Visitors – and there have been many – park at a church accessible only from Camelback Road. The neighborhood is undisturbed.

The neighbors’ fear is the entirely human fear of the unknown. We hope they can get past it and see Rawling’s efforts for what they are: a celebration of the genius of Frank Lloyd Wright in one of the three greatest houses he designed. The landmark designation for all 6 acres is highly merited.

TOUR THE WRIGHT HOUSE: