EDUCATION | ADVOCACY | PRESERVATION THE MAGAZINE OF FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT BUILDING CONSERVANCY SPRING 2012 / VOLUME 3 ISSUE 1 IN THIS ISSUE Strategic Interventions Guest Editor: Ron Scherubel editor’s WELCOME it’s what we do How does the Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy go about doing what it does? Basically the Conservancy is an advocacy organization, although most of you probably know it better for its in- formative conferences and enlightening house tours. “Advocacy” means attempting to infl uence an outcome in support of a cause. With a mission to “facilitate the preservation and maintenance of the remaining structures designed by Frank Lloyd Wright” you’d think the Conservancy’s involvement would be obvious—to step in and “save” a threatened Wright structure from demolition or deterioration (hence the brand identity SaveWright). But as you will learn in this issue, it’s more than that. I represented the Conservancy at a National Trust for Historic Preservation conference in 2001 in a session allowing different preservation organizations to describe their recent success stories. After sev- eral executive directors explained how they saved and restored a historic building after three or four years of hard work, I surprised the preservation-savvy audience by relating how the Conservancy rescued four doomed Wright houses in four years. Each of these saves—Westcott House; Gordon House; Friedman House; and Goetsch-Winckler House—involved a different strategy and type of intervention on the part of the Conservancy and they are the cornerstones of its work. There are many other ways in which the Conservancy intervenes that are not so obvious or high exposure. What counts as a save? Many saves are not readily apparent. For example, when a preservation- ABOUT THE EDITOR minded new owner fi rst learns of an endangered Wright building through Wright on the Market, can the Conservancy count this as a save? If the purchaser might otherwise have been a developer, or one insensitive to preservation, then Wright on the Market clearly led to that house being saved. There Ron Scherubel served as have been dozens of houses transferred to appropriate new owners through Wright on the Market. executive director of the Additionally, there are those properties for which the Conservancy might not have been the channel Frank Lloyd Wright Building that brought the new owner to the table, but where its intensive advocacy efforts preserved the house’s Conservancy during the sec- availability or prevented its demolition until that perfect buyer came along. ond decade of its existence. A native of Chicago and As you will see from these articles, the Conservancy is more about the word “facilitate” in its mission an attorney, he came to the statement, than the words “restoration” or “maintenance.” The Conservancy is less directly involved Conservancy after retiring as in the bricks-and-mortar, hammer-and-nail type of restoring, or in actually doing the paint analysis, art Vice President and General glass repair, or wood treatment aspects of preservation, restoration or maintenance. It is all about tapping Counsel of Sara Lee Foods. a national expertise to proactively identify potential problems; fi nd creative solutions; recommend He is currently a member strategies, processes or methods; bring people together; locate new sensitive owners; network Wright- of the Conservancy’s board restoration experts; and oversee and assist the process of restoring or maintaining Wright structures. and remains actively in- volved in its advocacy efforts I hope you understand the Conservancy better after reading the articles in this issue and appreciate and legal matters, as well what you are supporting with your memberships, attendance at conferences, tour fees, and donations. as those of several other Thank you. preservation organizations. Ron Scherubel Guest Editor CONTENTS Cover photo: Westcott House by Brad Feinknopf. Any images not credited are from the Conservancy’s collection. 1 President’s Message: Saving Wright One Building at a Time SaveWright is a semi-annual publication of the Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy. 2 An Auspicious Start: Auldbrass Rebirth Guest Editor: Ron Scherubel Nurtures Formative Days of Conservancy Executive Editor: Susan Jacobs Lockhart Managing Editor: Jeffrey Levine 6 From Boarding House to House Museum: Copy Editor: Linda Botsford Metamorphosis of the Westcott House Contributing Editor: Janet Halstead Designer: Debra Nemeth 10 Quick Action Saves Goetsch-Winckler House The mission of the Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy is to facilitate the preservation and 14 A Perfect Hollywood Script: Renaissance of the Ennis House maintenance of the remaining structures designed by Frank Lloyd Wright through education, advocacy, 19 Peering into Wright: How Peer Review preservation easements and technical services. Contributes to Restoration and Construction tel: 312.663.5500 email: [email protected] 22 Each Challenge Requires a Unique Strategy web: www.savewright.org 25 Letter from the Executive Director: At the Nexus © 2012, Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy president’s MESSAGE saving wright one building at a time It is a pleasure to write my fi rst SaveWright president’s letter, and it is appropriate that it is for this particular issue. Our mission is to preserve the extant buildings of Frank Lloyd Wright and during my 23 years of in- volvement with the Conservancy I have had the oppor- tunity of observing, and at times participating directly, in a wide variety of efforts to accomplish this mission. Many of the Conservancy’s success stories have been shared in conference presentations and the pages of the Bulletin—the predecessor to SaveWright. You will read new details of several of our well-known “saves” PHOTO BY MARK HERTZBERG. in the pages that follow. This issue also provides an opportunity to address some of the less dramatic but equally important achievements that sometimes take place quietly behind the scenes. critical preservation programs at Frank Lloyd Wright properties. At the time, none of us could have antici- In July 2004 I had the opportunity to participate in pated that Senator Clinton would one day be secretary presenting a Wright Spirit Award to then-Senator of state! As we move forward in our World Heritage Hillary Rodham Clinton. Senator Clinton was, as I Nomination, which the State Department would perceived it, initially a bit confused about why we transmit to UNESCO, it is encouraging to know that were presenting her with an award. She had never had the current secretary of state cares about historic direct contact with our organization. We explained preservation and has knowledge of some of the Wright that our acknowledgment was based on her work in buildings we care about. There is good cause to hope creating the Save America’s Treasures program while this will be helpful as our nomination works its way First Lady. At the time, Save America’s Treasures had through international channels. Preservation work is contributed to saving many buildings, including fi ve often about relationship building. Wright buildings. In the following years, seven ad- ditional Wright buildings would receive funding for a Our online Wright on the Market program is another total of 14 Save America’s Treasures Grants awarded extremely important vehicle in helping accomplish to Wright Buildings. The meeting gave us an opportu- our mission. Many preservation-minded buyers have nity to explain that the Conservancy is the organiza- found their Wright buildings through our website. tion that steps in when a Wright building is threatened Once they learn about the availability of the building, and does not have an advocate or has an advocate that the door often opens to helpful dialog about how to is in need of specifi c assistance. We were honoring her restore, preserve and protect the Wright building that for her foresight in creating the Save America’s Trea- has captured their interest. Other preservation-minded sures program and, specifi cally, for its contribution to purchasers have learned about the availability of spe- cifi c Wright properties through personal contact with Conservancy board members. The work of the Conservancy is complex, far-reaching and SUCCESSFUL. Each of us has just reason to be proud of this organization’s many accomplishments. None of them would be possible without the partici- pation and faithful support of each of our members. YOU are sincerely appreciated. Larry Woodin Ron Scherubel President, Guest Editor Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy Larry Woodin and Deborah Vick presenting then First-Lady 1 Hillary Rodham Clinton with a Wright Spirit Award. PHOTO BY ANTHONY PERES. The Stevens Residence on Audlbrass Plantation with swimming pool, pergola and private lake in background. An Auspicious Start: Auldbrass Rebirth Nurtures Formative Days of Conservancy BY LINDA BOTSFORD One of the most celebrated interventions brought about by the Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy was actually accomplished before the Conservancy was formally incorporated under its current name. The target was Auldbrass Plantation (1939-1941), nestled in the lowlands outside of Beaufort, South Carolina. This collection of buildings, a hidden treasure unique to the South, was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright for his client C. Leigh Stevens in 1939. Thanks to its current owner, movie producer Joel Silver, much love and effort has ABOUT THE AUTHOR brought this plantation back to what Wright originally intended. The preservation suc- cess story of Auldbrass Plantation grew out of a sequence of events that began in 1986. Linda Botsford is a retired It involved a number of administrators of other Wright-designed properties who identi- managing editor and reporter fi ed the plantation’s plight and united with other preservation organizations to save it. who likes to keep her hand in on a volunteer basis. Her Industrialist C. Leigh Stevens built Auldbrass Plantation in the 1940s as a self-suffi cient other interests and avocations modern plantation for farming, hunting and entertaining, but it was mostly used as include old houses, American a retreat.