Phoenix, Arizona–based developer Zach Rawling bought a Frank Lloyd Wright–designed house for $2.3 million in 2012, when its previous owner wanted to demolish the landmark. In 2017, Rawlings donated the David and Gladys Wright House to the Taliesin West School of Architecture, but in June of this year, Rawlings and Aaron Betsky, the architecture school dean, announced in a joint statement that the donation was being revoked due to fundraising concerns. — artforum.com
In their joint statement, Aaron Betsky and Zach Rawling wrote:
The relationship between the School and the House is formally manifested in the David Wright House Collaborative Fund, a supporting organization of the Arizona Community Foundation. The principal focus of the David Wright House Collaborative Fund was to develop a vehicle to raise the $7 million endowment on which the pledge of the House for the benefit of the School was conditioned. Over the past year, we have learned that the fundraising timetables of both parties do not lend themselves to a joint campaign. With the School in its fledgling years, the prevailing thought was that the divergent donor interests would effectively divide its support base rather than enhance it. Uncertainty regarding future capital improvements at the House and the long-term cultural development of the site in Phoenix increased this concern. For this reason, by mutual agreement and out of mutual respect, the School and the David Wright House team have decided to proceed independent of one another going forward. The David Wright House Collaborative Fund, which was established primarily to benefit this partnership, will be dissolved, and the remaining proceeds will be donated to the School.
The property is now listed again for nearly $13 million.
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