Rental of Buffalo Wright house spurs neighbors' questions
50 Parkside residents want to know more
By Harold McNeil
Updated: 05/08/08 10:56 AM
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- The Walter V. Davidson House, one of Frank Lloyd Wright’s signature Prairie-style homes, is a 4,400-square-foot dwelling.
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About 50 Parkside neighborhood residents showed up Wednesday in the Mitchell Building on the Nichols School campus to learn more about plans to open up the Walter V. Davidson House at 57 Tillinghast Place to overnight guests.
Russell Maxwell, who six years ago purchased the 4,400-square-foot dwelling — one of Frank Lloyd Wright’s signature Prairie-style homes — is seeking a zoning variance to rent the house for up to six days at a time. Maxwell described the prospective guests as either afficionadoes of Wright’s architecture, out-oftowners visiting family in the region, senior citizens and otherwise well-heeled people who could afford the nearly $300- a-night charge.
His plans had come as news to many of his Tillinghast Place neighbors. Some voiced grave reservations Wednesday about what they perceived as essentially a small-scale hotel operating on their residential street.
“I don’t know if this is going to be good for the value of my house when I go to sell it,” said one Tillinghast Place resident. “I just don’t know if I want that on street.”
Maxwell, who said he eventually plans to take up sole residence in the house, asked neighbors to give his plans a chance before condemning them right off the bat.
“It has to be a win-win for everybody or . . . I won’t let it happen,” he vowed.
In the meantime, Maxwell has a hearing scheduled for May 21 before the Zoning Board of Appeals, which will decide whether to grant him a variance to operate something akin to a bed-and-breakfast out of his home.
Richard Tobe, the city’s development, permits and inspection chief, who was invited to the neighborhood meeting arranged by the Parkside Community Association, said the city’s current zoning codes and licensing laws do not address such an operation.
“We determined it was not a lodging house and that a license was not necessary,” he said.
Ultimately, after a couple of meetings between the Planning Department and other City Hall staffers, Tobe said it was determined that operating a guest house in the Davidson House would constitute a commercial use in a residential neighborhood, which is not allowed under the current zoning.
Maxwell applied for a change of use permit for the property, but it was denied by the city and referred to the Zoning Board of Appeals, which will decide whether to grant him a use variance.
If granted, the variance will be limited to the specific activity that Maxwell is proposing for the Davidson House.
Neighbors expressed concerns about an increase in the number of cars parked along their street, the presence of strangers and fears of out-of-control parties at the house.
Tobe suggested that neighbors can establish a set of conditions for Maxwell, or that the zoning board may include as stipulations for granting a variance. Tobe also suggested that neighbors present a united position to the zoning board.
“The zoning board has a long history of listening to united neighbors,” he said.
