The home hit the market in July and has undergone extensive restorations in order to repair structural damage caused by the 1994 Northridge Earthquake. The need for additional repairs was reportedly behind the agreement reached between the school and Weintraub, which negotiated a reduction of the originally listed price from $4.25 to $1.8 million on the condition that the developer will make the proper and necessary changes along strict conservation guidelines in addition to opening the home to public tours a minimum of time per year.

USC says it is in the process of “reaffirming its mission and priorities, which is academic teaching and research,” and that it lacks the funds necessary to make more than basic restorations.

“The textile-block houses, in particular, have very specific conservation needs,” the Los Angeles Conservancy’s Linda Dishman told the Times. “There are four in Los Angeles. Each of them have their own issues. These blocks were usually made with ground stone on the site. The amount of cement in the mix of the blocks varies from site to site. It was a very innovative way of building houses, but with innovation, there are issues the architect did not envision.”