Sage Sotheby’s International Realty
With a nearly half-price discount, a Frank Lloyd Wright-designed home in Tulsa, OK, is back on the market.
The 10,405-square-foot manse was designed in 1929 by the famed architect for his cousin, Richard Lloyd Jones. It was listed last spring for $7,995,000 with Rob Allen, of Sage Sotheby’s International Realty.
But a buyer didn’t materialize, so the home was slated to be put up for auction, with starting bids expected to range from $1,500,000-$3,250,000.
However, the seller ended up taking the home off the block before the Dec. 14 auction date.
Now, it’s back on the market with a $4.5 million price tag. The residence is known as both the Lloyd Jones House or Westhope. And even with the reduced price, it’s still Tulsa’s third-most expensive single family home for sale.
So, will anyone go for the architectural gem this time around?
“At $4.5 million, it is far more within the Tulsa comparables,” Allen says, adding that pricing is tricky. “It’s not like looking at other 10,000-square-foot homes in Tulsa. Who would be in the market for a Frank Lloyd Wright house? You try to compare it to other architecturally significant homes.”
There has been a spate of Wright-designed homes on the market recently, with one coming in as the lowest priced Wright design available. Listed at $790,000 in Kalamazoo, MI, it’s currently pending sale.
Recent restoration
In 2021, local developer Stuart Price snapped up the five-bedroom, four-bath home for $2.5 million. Then he embarked on a major (and we have to believe, pricey) restoration.
The living room has a fireplace and an open layout.
Sage Sotheby’s International Realty
The modernized kitchen offers easy access to the dining room and living room.
Sage Sotheby’s International Realty
The dining room has a built-in bar for entertaining.
Sage Sotheby’s International Realty
Typical of Wright homes, the living room features a fireplace.
Sage Sotheby’s International Realty
The bedrooms, including this one, are spacious and abundant in natural light.
Sage Sotheby’s International Realty
One of the baths boasts blue tile.
Sage Sotheby’s International Realty
The seller restored the home’s outdoor pool.
Sage Sotheby’s International Realty
“When he bought it, it was in a state of disrepair,” Allen says of Price. “A lot of the windows were fogged, the textile blocks were faded, chipped or peeling, and had mildew growing on the side. The concrete floors were covered in carpet. It took a substantial amount of effort to revise the property. Whoever buys it needs to be a steward.”
Price also added a new roof and, even in a downpour, it never leaks. The outdoor pool was also revived. A five-car garage is included in the listing, too.
John Waters, preservation programs manager with the Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy, last saw the interior in 2018.
“It was definitely needing TLC when Stuart bought it, there’s no question,” he says. “It looks like he’s addressed a number of things.”
Waters calls the house an anomaly.
“The Los Angeles textiles have a similar use of the blocks, whereas Lloyd Jones has the alternating window-block pattern,” he notes. “Spatially, it’s a fairly unique house, with the large rooms and the tall central space with a living room and clerestory [windows]. The specific way it’s done there is pretty unique.”
In 1972, the property was added to the National Register of Historic Places.
While Price had planned to live there, circumstances changed and he put it on the market instead.
“He’s really loved owning the property and fixing it up and hosting events there,” Allen says. “Now he’s ready for someone else to take over and be a steward for the property.”
Priced right?
Allen acknowledges the $7,995,000 initial asking price was high—and a year later, it’s a different market.
“The price was aspirational,” he admits. “We were looking for buyers anywhere in the world—whether in Tulsa or regionally, nationally or internationally. It’s not only a Frank Lloyd Wright property but a large one, and only one of six of these textile-block properties. The others are in California and garnered high prices. Unfortunately, this one’s not in California.”
A similar Wright design in Los Angeles, the iconic Ennis House, sold in 2019 for $18 million, a record-high price for a Wright home.
The iconic Ennis House in Los Angeles
Realtor.com
Another—the Freeman House, also in Los Angeles—was sold in 2022 by the University of Southern California to a private buyer for $1.8 million. Similar to the Price’s purchase in 2021, the home needed a major restoration.
Harriet and Samuel Freeman House in Los Angeles
Realtor.com
As for the fate of the Tulsa residence, Allen says the ideal buyer will make the home available for civic use—like Price did.
He “has raised over $1 million through various fundraisers at that property,” Allen says. “If we’re going to find a steward … the buyer is more likely in Tulsa.”
Waters shares this sentiment.
“Our first hope for these buildings is they remain as they were designed, for residents who can appreciate them,” he says.
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