The Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy has acquired 11 original pieces designed by Frank Lloyd Wright for the Price Tower in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, including the lobby direction board, an armchair, three copper tables, two stools, and four embossed copper panels. The acquisition, funded by donors, was made to prevent further sale and dispersal of the items after they were sold without the conservancy's permission in spring 2024, despite being protected under a preservation easement. The artifacts are currently stored in the Dallas area, and the conservancy intends to return them to Price Tower.
This matters because Price Tower is the only skyscraper built by Frank Lloyd Wright, one of America's most celebrated architects, and the dispersal of its custom-designed fixtures threatened the integrity of his architectural vision. The conservancy's rare purchase of architectural artifacts underscores the ongoing challenges of preserving Wright's legacy amid financial pressures on building owners, and sets a precedent for using donor-funded acquisitions to enforce preservation agreements without costly litigation.