A Frank Lloyd Wright house in dire need of restoration has been reported to be up for sale with an asking price of $350,000, after the property was supposedly put on the market by the Federal National Mortgage Associate—best known as Fannie Mae—as part of a court ordered-sale following foreclosure in December.
As reported by the Chicago Sun-Times, “The development potentially represents the best shot in more than a generation to revive the landmark two-story stucco home at 42 N. Central Ave.—provided the asking price, restoration costs of at least $2 million and a recent appraisal that valued the house at $65,000 doesn’t chase away prospective buyers.”
But a notice issued by the Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy on Facebook says the house is not currently on offer. “Wright on the Market Update: the Walser House is NOT currently for sale!” the notice reads. “The Zillow listing circulating widely is not genuine.”
On January 15, Zillow listed the Walser House ‘for sale by owner’ for $350,000. After being alerted to the listing and beginning to promote it, our attempts to contact the ‘seller’ raised suspicions.”
The Conservancy’s notice continues: “This fake listing, possibly aiming to defraud a well-intentioned potential purchaser, highlights the critical vulnerability of this important house. We removed the listing from our Wright on the Market page immediately on learning this, and are making efforts to stop the dissemination of the false listing.”
The 123-year-old Walser House in the Austin neighborhood on Chicago’s West Side—described by the Sun-Times as a “home that inspired the architect’s better-known works yet has spent the last two decades in shambles”—is currently uninhabitable. Should it be put on the market, special care would be required by the home’s landmarked status and designation on the National Register of Historic Places. “The landmark designation preserves the [orginal] design intent, the materials, the special character of the interior,” said Barbara Gordon, executive director of the Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy. “That’s something any potential buyer is going to have to understand.”
At the end of its Facebook post, the Conservancy issued a plea: “We urge Fannie Mae to negotiate with interested parties that have the vision and resources to restore the Walser House and return it to productive use.”
