La Ronda Threatened (Addison Mizner)

I figured I might as well post, as the story is pretty interesting, and the house is cool. La Ronda is located in Bryn Mawr, PA and was built in the late 1920's at an estimated cost of $3 million. The house's fate today is in limbo as it was recently bought by a partnership group that wants to tear it down. See the links for more information and photos. The house has been receiving national publicity. Any thoughts? I think it is a shame that the property went from 234+ acres down to practically nothing (the house currently sits on 3.2 acres), and all of this happened in the last 40 years.
Erik
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Ronda_(Estate)
Current Photos are here http://lowermerionhistory.org/buildings/image-building-list.php?building_id=1156
Period photos are here along with an article on the subject http://www.philly.com/philly/news/44767987.html

 

$3 mil. for a house in the late 1920's would be like spending $50 mil. in 2009 obamodollars

Mizner was famous in Florida, never knew he did anything that big elsewhere.

The right to tear down or modify is an issue of private property rights versus "public interest".

It's not just for a person to buy a property unencumbered by historic designations, etc., and then be told later they can't do what they please with it because it's been declared "historic" since the purchase.

IMO, pre-designation owners should be "grandfathered out."

However, if someone goes in and buys a previously-designated property and then gets upset because they can't do what they please with it, tough.

 

Scott I agree with you....preservation is often too reactive instead of proactive.
Erik

 

We had a case here in Dallas similar to the one you brought up, though the property involved was not nearly as grand.

It was a nondescript 50's modern house, located on a large, secluded lot and not even visible from the street. Previous owner was a local celebrity who lived there for nearly 50 years, and died several years ago.

If I remember right, the story goes like this: The current owner bought it, unencumbered by designations, from the estate of the previous owner. When he applied for a permit to have it torn down, the preservationists started screaming and wetting their pants. They got a court order to stop the demo, and eventually tied the owner up in so much legal red tape that he decided to add/remodel rather than fight them.

I'll look for the story in Dallas Morning News online, and post a link.

 

A demo permit was granted and delayed for the 90 day maximum that the township commission can put into place for a class 2 historic structure. The Lower Merion Historical Society is trying to raise funds to purchase the building. http://www.philly.com/philly/news/homepage/47025342.html

Erik

 

That was the first thing I thought of as well.

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/stories/DN-reprieve_16met.ART0.North.Edition1.4de2c91.html

 

Thanks for the link that is a fascinating article.
Erik