In association with his non-profit corporation, The Frank Lloyd Wright Revival Initiative, Michael Miner has bought the Wright designed Usonian Automatic Pappas house in Town and Country, Missouri. House will be fully restored and protected. Plans are for multi-use center.

Media Contact
Michael Miner, CEO
Frank Lloyd Wright Revival Initiative
Phone: 817-917-1733
Email: flwchildofthesun@att.net

St. Louis, MO. (February 25, 2020)  Statement issued by Frank Lloyd Wright Revival Initiative CEO Michael Miner:

“Today I am announcing that I have bought the wonderful Usonian Automatic Pappas House in Town and Country, MO. from the Pappas family (daughters Cynthia and Charisse Pappas, and Candace Pappas Simmons).

The long-term plan we have for the home is for it to become an overnight rental facility, event rental venue, corporate retreat, education center (covering K-6, middle, high school, and university students), and house museum, available for regular low-cost public tours. We plan to keep it a very busy place, with access for everyone.

Of course, the first order of business is restoration. Beginning in the Spring, phase one of the operation will commence, “stabilizing” the infrastructure of the house so it is functional and habitable. This will include adding a new septic system, roof replacement, and the replacement of the textile blocks immediately supporting the roof. Ongoing restoration of the more cosmetic elements of the home will take place over the subsequent months, concurrent with the other activities taking place at the house. There will be a strict preservation easement put into place.

Having bought the Pappas house, we are in the process of actively seeking to acquire a second Frank Lloyd Wright home. The idea will be to use one home as a for profit model, and the other as a non-profit. In each case, we want to demonstrate to others that buying a Frank Lloyd Wright building and restoring it to its original condition is not only a benefit to the community in which it located, and is the right thing to do, but is also a wise financial investment. Making restored Wright homes available for overnight rentals is really a win/win/win scenario. The home is saved and a preservation easement is put in place, the owners have an incentive to restore the home and have an income generating property, and fans of Frank Lloyd Wright can have the experience of staying overnight in the house.

While I have mixed feelings about all Wright homes becoming house museums or overnight facilities, we are at present still losing Frank Lloyd Wright buildings, and if our model becomes the only way to prevent these buildings from being “Whitefished” or “Ruised” (yes, Ruised) and to protect them forever, then this is what must be done.

I would also like to ask people not to confuse my organization with any others. The FLWRI is in NO WAY affiliated with either the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, or the Frank Lloyd Wright Conservancy. Further, we do not accept government funding, local, state, or federal, of any kind.

And although this will sound like hyperbole, I am completely serious when I tell you that what we will be doing with this home is the first small step of a much larger plan to help save our country from its current financial mess. Really. More on that later, but for now, you may all rest assured that the Pappas house is in safe hands”.

About Frank Lloyd Wright Revival Initiative
The Frank Lloyd Wright Revival Initiative, a nonprofit organization, aims to promote the legacy of the celebrated architect by rebuilding certain structures that, for various reasons, have been demolished. Michael Miner, a documentary filmmaker specializing in films on Frank Lloyd Wright architecture, is the founder and CEO of the organization. For more information, visit FLWRevivalInitiative.org.