The exterior of the home, Friday, March 15, 2019. The Frank Lloyd Wright-designed home in Town & Country has been owned only by the Pappas family. A foundation now hopes to raise money to refurbish it and turn it into a museum. Photo by Hillary Levin, hlevin@post-dispatch.com.
Hillary Levin
The entry as seen from the living room, Friday, March 15, 2019. The Frank Lloyd Wright-designed home in Town & Country has been owned only by the Pappas family. A foundation now hopes to raise money to refurbish it and turn it into a museum. Photo by Hillary Levin, hlevin@post-dispatch.com.
Hillary Levin
Slips of paper marking the grandchildren's names and their heights against a wall have remained. The Frank Lloyd Wright-designed home in Town & Country has been owned only by the Pappas family. A foundation now hopes to raise money to refurbish it and turn it into a museum. Photo by Hillary Levin, hlevin@post-dispatch.com.
Hillary Levin
The kitchen has all of the original appliances to the home, completed in 1964. The Frank Lloyd Wright-designed home in Town & Country has been owned only by the Pappas family. A foundation now hopes to raise money to refurbish it and turn it into a museum. Photo by Hillary Levin, hlevin@post-dispatch.com.
Hillary Levin
The family room, with its original mahogany furniture designed by Wright, and the wall of windows, Friday, March 15, 2019. The Frank Lloyd Wright-designed home in Town & Country has been owned only by the Pappas family. A foundation now hopes to raise money to refurbish it and turn it into a museum. Photo by Hillary Levin, hlevin@post-dispatch.com.
Hillary Levin
The living room fireplace, Friday, March 15, 2019. Frank Lloyd Wright-designed home in Town & Country has been owned only by the Pappas family. A foundation now hopes to raise money to refurbish it and turn it into a museum. Photo by Hillary Levin, hlevin@post-dispatch.com.
Hillary Levin
The terra cotta-lined concrete blocks that form the walls and ceiling show wear, Friday, March 15, 2019. The Frank Lloyd Wright-designed home in Town & Country has been owned only by the Pappas family. A foundation now hopes to raise money to refurbish it and turn it into a museum. Photo by Hillary Levin, hlevin@post-dispatch.com.
Hillary Levin
The kitchen has all of the original appliances to the home, completed in 1964. The Frank Lloyd Wright-designed home in Town & Country has been owned only by the Pappas family. A foundation now hopes to raise money to refurbish it and turn it into a museum. Photo by Hillary Levin, hlevin@post-dispatch.com.
Hillary Levin
The kitchen has all of the original appliances to the home, completed in 1964. The Frank Lloyd Wright-designed home in Town & Country has been owned only by the Pappas family. A foundation now hopes to raise money to refurbish it and turn it into a museum. Photo by Hillary Levin, hlevin@post-dispatch.com.
Hillary Levin
The home is on the National Register of Historic Places. The Frank Lloyd Wright-designed home in Town & Country has been owned only by the Pappas family. A foundation now hopes to raise money to refurbish it and turn it into a museum. Photo by Hillary Levin, hlevin@post-dispatch.com.
Hillary Levin
The furnishings in the living room/dining room remain, Friday, March 15, 2019, as they were originally in the home, completed in 1964. Frank Lloyd Wright-designed home in Town & Country has been owned only by the Pappas family. A foundation now hopes to raise money to refurbish it and turn it into a museum. Photo by Hillary Levin, hlevin@post-dispatch.com.
Hillary Levin
The narrow hallway to the bedrooms has storage on one side and the terra cotta-lined concrete blocks on the other, photographed Friday, March 15, 2019. the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed home in Town & Country has been owned only by the Pappas family. A foundation now hopes to raise money to refurbish it and turn it into a museum. Photo by Hillary Levin, hlevin@post-dispatch.com.
Hillary Levin
The exterior of the home, Friday, March 15, 2019. The Frank Lloyd Wright-designed home in Town & Country has been owned only by the Pappas family. A foundation now hopes to raise money to refurbish it and turn it into a museum. Photo by Hillary Levin, hlevin@post-dispatch.com.
Hillary Levin
A drawing of the home is propped on a shelf above the sofa in the living room, Friday, March 15, 2019. The Frank Lloyd Wright-designed home in Town & Country has been owned only by the Pappas family. A foundation now hopes to raise money to refurbish it and turn it into a museum. Photo by Hillary Levin, hlevin@post-dispatch.com.
Hillary Levin
The furnishings in the living room/dining room remain, Friday, March 15, 2019, as they were originally in the home, completed in 1964. Frank Lloyd Wright-designed home in Town & Country has been owned only by the Pappas family. A foundation now hopes to raise money to refurbish it and turn it into a museum. Photo by Hillary Levin, hlevin@post-dispatch.com.
Hillary Levin
Ted and Bette Pappas in the living room of their Frank Lloyd Wright house off Mason Ridge Road in 1985.
Post-Dispatch file
In a 2000 photo, Bette and Ted Pappas speak to reporters about their lives and raising children in their home, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. The house in Town and Country and is made of concrete, with stark lines and lots of windows. Post-Dispatch file photo
A preservationist has bought a Frank Lloyd Wright-designed house in Town and Country with plans to restore it and turn it into a museum and multiuse facility.
Family members and Miner closed on the deal Thursday.
The house had been put up for sale in spring 2018 after owner Bette Pappas died at age 91. It had an asking price of $1.95 million and was later formally listed at $1.2 million. Pappas and her husband, Ted, had the house designed by Wright and built most of it themselves, completing it in 1964. They were the only owners.
The couple’s three grown daughters had wanted someone to preserve the house but struggled to find a buyer. A different local group formed a nonprofit foundation with the intent to raise about $2 million to buy and refurbish it.
The Pappas sisters, twins Cynthia and Charisse of Jefferson City and Candace Simmons of Foristell, said they were pleased with the sale. They said their late brother Theodore Jr. and parents would be as well.
“I think they’d love it,” Cynthia Pappas said. “(Miner) appears to have as much passion for Frank Lloyd Wright as our mom and dad did. People have a lot of passion about Frank Lloyd Wright, and many times they want to come see the house, but buying it is a whole other matter. This is someone like my mom and dad. They built it because they had the passion, and he’s going to restore it because he has the passion.”
Miner, a Wright documentary filmmaker, said in a statement that in the long term his group wants the house to become an overnight and event rental venue, corporate retreat, education center and house museum. “We plan to keep it a very busy place, with access for everyone,” he said.
The house sits on more than 3 acres of rolling, wooded land at Mason Road and Interstate 64 (Highway 40). The Usonian Automatic home has four bedrooms and is 3,000 square feet.
Miner said the group plans to start restoration work, beginning with adding a new septic system and replacing the roof, in the spring. He said during a phone interview Thursday that he planned to have workers in Friday.
Miner said that his group committed some money to the local house foundation but eventually began talking with the Pappas sisters about their plans.
Like the sisters, he didn’t want the house to get lost to a developer.
“In this day and age, we feel that this kind of thing should not happen anymore,” he said. “We want to try and set an example for others that buying a Frank Lloyd Wright house is a good investment, not only because it’s the right thing to do to benefit the community, but it can also be a profitable venture.”
He said he hoped the house would be open to the public in some capacity by late June or early July. He was firming up details for a fundraiser kickoff in St. Louis in April along with a screening of his Frank Lloyd Wright film “Masterpieces.”
Kathryn Feldt, executive director of the Wright home in Kirkwood, pointed out that Ted and Bette Pappas knew Russell and Ruth Kraus, the original owners of the Kirkwood home, and often consulted one another about the buildings.
“No doubt they would be thrilled at the dedication of those who saved their beloved homes,” she wrote in an email.
“We are pleased that it appears the Pappas House will be saved, restored and open to the public,” she continued. “At a time there are so many Frank Lloyd Wright-designed properties being razed or otherwise compromised, it’s a great thing that a remarkable Usonian Automatic will be protected.”
After his visits to St. Louis in 1939 and 1949 (where he didn't have much nice to say about architecture and our buildings downtown) we will n…
The exterior of the home, Friday, March 15, 2019. The Frank Lloyd Wright-designed home in Town & Country has been owned only by the Pappas family. A foundation now hopes to raise money to refurbish it and turn it into a museum. Photo by Hillary Levin, hlevin@post-dispatch.com.
The entry as seen from the living room, Friday, March 15, 2019. The Frank Lloyd Wright-designed home in Town & Country has been owned only by the Pappas family. A foundation now hopes to raise money to refurbish it and turn it into a museum. Photo by Hillary Levin, hlevin@post-dispatch.com.
Slips of paper marking the grandchildren's names and their heights against a wall have remained. The Frank Lloyd Wright-designed home in Town & Country has been owned only by the Pappas family. A foundation now hopes to raise money to refurbish it and turn it into a museum. Photo by Hillary Levin, hlevin@post-dispatch.com.
The kitchen has all of the original appliances to the home, completed in 1964. The Frank Lloyd Wright-designed home in Town & Country has been owned only by the Pappas family. A foundation now hopes to raise money to refurbish it and turn it into a museum. Photo by Hillary Levin, hlevin@post-dispatch.com.
The family room, with its original mahogany furniture designed by Wright, and the wall of windows, Friday, March 15, 2019. The Frank Lloyd Wright-designed home in Town & Country has been owned only by the Pappas family. A foundation now hopes to raise money to refurbish it and turn it into a museum. Photo by Hillary Levin, hlevin@post-dispatch.com.
The furnishings in the living room/dining room remain, Friday, March 15, 2019, as they were originally in the home, completed in 1964. Frank Lloyd Wright-designed home in Town & Country has been owned only by the Pappas family. A foundation now hopes to raise money to refurbish it and turn it into a museum. Photo by Hillary Levin, hlevin@post-dispatch.com.
The living room fireplace, Friday, March 15, 2019. Frank Lloyd Wright-designed home in Town & Country has been owned only by the Pappas family. A foundation now hopes to raise money to refurbish it and turn it into a museum. Photo by Hillary Levin, hlevin@post-dispatch.com.
The terra cotta-lined concrete blocks that form the walls and ceiling show wear, Friday, March 15, 2019. The Frank Lloyd Wright-designed home in Town & Country has been owned only by the Pappas family. A foundation now hopes to raise money to refurbish it and turn it into a museum. Photo by Hillary Levin, hlevin@post-dispatch.com.
The kitchen has all of the original appliances to the home, completed in 1964. The Frank Lloyd Wright-designed home in Town & Country has been owned only by the Pappas family. A foundation now hopes to raise money to refurbish it and turn it into a museum. Photo by Hillary Levin, hlevin@post-dispatch.com.
The kitchen has all of the original appliances to the home, completed in 1964. The Frank Lloyd Wright-designed home in Town & Country has been owned only by the Pappas family. A foundation now hopes to raise money to refurbish it and turn it into a museum. Photo by Hillary Levin, hlevin@post-dispatch.com.
The home is on the National Register of Historic Places. The Frank Lloyd Wright-designed home in Town & Country has been owned only by the Pappas family. A foundation now hopes to raise money to refurbish it and turn it into a museum. Photo by Hillary Levin, hlevin@post-dispatch.com.
The furnishings in the living room/dining room remain, Friday, March 15, 2019, as they were originally in the home, completed in 1964. Frank Lloyd Wright-designed home in Town & Country has been owned only by the Pappas family. A foundation now hopes to raise money to refurbish it and turn it into a museum. Photo by Hillary Levin, hlevin@post-dispatch.com.
The narrow hallway to the bedrooms has storage on one side and the terra cotta-lined concrete blocks on the other, photographed Friday, March 15, 2019. the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed home in Town & Country has been owned only by the Pappas family. A foundation now hopes to raise money to refurbish it and turn it into a museum. Photo by Hillary Levin, hlevin@post-dispatch.com.
The exterior of the home, Friday, March 15, 2019. The Frank Lloyd Wright-designed home in Town & Country has been owned only by the Pappas family. A foundation now hopes to raise money to refurbish it and turn it into a museum. Photo by Hillary Levin, hlevin@post-dispatch.com.
A drawing of the home is propped on a shelf above the sofa in the living room, Friday, March 15, 2019. The Frank Lloyd Wright-designed home in Town & Country has been owned only by the Pappas family. A foundation now hopes to raise money to refurbish it and turn it into a museum. Photo by Hillary Levin, hlevin@post-dispatch.com.
The furnishings in the living room/dining room remain, Friday, March 15, 2019, as they were originally in the home, completed in 1964. Frank Lloyd Wright-designed home in Town & Country has been owned only by the Pappas family. A foundation now hopes to raise money to refurbish it and turn it into a museum. Photo by Hillary Levin, hlevin@post-dispatch.com.
In a 2000 photo, Bette and Ted Pappas speak to reporters about their lives and raising children in their home, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. The house in Town and Country and is made of concrete, with stark lines and lots of windows. Post-Dispatch file photo