An Oklahoma bankruptcy court ruled on April 28 that Frank Lloyd Wright's Price Tower in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, will be sold for $1.4 million to McFarlin Building LLC. The sale concludes a two-year legal saga involving previous owner Cynthia Blanchard, who acquired the building for $10 in 2023 but failed to follow through on promised renovations, leading to a bankruptcy auction with no additional bids beyond McFarlin's baseline offer. The new owner, Macy Snyder-Amatucci, plans to revive the building as a hotel and residences.
This resolution matters because Price Tower is Wright's only built skyscraper and a landmark of modern architecture, originally designed for lower Manhattan and completed in 1956. Its troubled ownership history—including the sale of protected furnishings and closure in August 2024—highlights the challenges of preserving iconic architectural heritage under financial strain. The case also underscores the role of preservation easements and legal mechanisms in protecting culturally significant properties from neglect or asset-stripping.