In 1939, Frank Lloyd Wright completed a small house on a steep Los Angeles hillside that seemed to float above the canyon below. Eighty-seven years later, the Sturges House is facing a very different kind of challenge: preservationists say years of deferred maintenance have left the landmark vulnerable to serious deterioration. The Los Angeles Conservancy, the Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy and the nonprofit foundation that owns the property have all offered differing accounts of its condition and stewardship. The 1,200-square-foot Sturges House, in Brentwood Heights, was commissioned by engineer George Sturges and his wife, Selma, after they encountered Wright’s work in the January 1938 issue of Architectural Forum.
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