In terms of cohesiveness, the residents of Tillinghast Place are a tight group. This is a street where an email thread more than 50 strong keeps neighbors up on everything that happens there, from a smashed windshield to a death of a relative of one of the residents (so that they can send flowers, food and watch the house during the ensuing wake and funeral).
They look out for each other like neighbors. They have a book club that is decades old, and when a resident grows to be elderly and moves to a home, they still return every six weeks to attend the book club meetings. Cohesive, informed and territorial; the neighbors of Tillinghast are a strong unit.
That's why, when Russell Maxwell unearthed plans to turn the Frank Lloyd Wright Davidson house into a pied-à-terre on their street, residents got very involved.
We spoke to one resident last night, who wishes to remain anonymous. "I'd say the neighborhood was about 90 percent opposed to the project, but I wasn't one of those people," she said. "I liked the idea in theory, but I didn't think [Russell] Maxwell was likely to pull it off anyway. The house is not great. There is a rumor that a former resident of the house went to Frank Lloyd Wright when he was in Ohio, and asked him to get involved in restoration of the house. He supposedly slammed the door in her face saying that it was her 'own damn problem'. The foundation is shot, and there was three feet of standing water in the basement. The bedrooms are, of course, tiny, and the kitchen is very small. In order to bring the house up to par, it's going to take a lot of money, and then there's furnishings. You can't fill a FLW with Pottery Barn furniture."
This sort of speculation is what the neighbors mulled over in their private talks, but what turned a large number of them away from the project was not trite theorizing on how Maxwell would pull off a bed and breakfast, but the way they found out about it. Our source stated, "Remember that this is an informed group, and imagine the reaction to seeing ads in the New York Times advertising bookings for the B&B when the immediate neighbors were initially told that there would be 'a group of people staying there occasionally.'"
At that point, according to my source, "One of the the immediate neighbors, who had first been consulted, with a much smaller package, withdrew their support. "When he found out how extensive the plans were to rent the house, he balked. Then we hired an attorney to come to the next meeting," she said. "People started to think there were hidden motives, and Maxwell became suspect. We wondered what else might be hidden. Some people were worried that once up and running, the house would be sold to an out-of-town investor who might not share our concerns. Some people at the meeting kept referring to it as a hotel, while another said, 'Let us not forget what our previous neighbor was...'."
Indeed, the house has somewhat of a checkered past, having been the source of several police visits over the years. "We were used to some amount of drama there, but we couldn't imagine what could be worse. Certainly, charging $300 per night could have brought trouble," according to the source. "The grapevine had it that there would be fundraisers held there also. And then there are the people who feel [we residents of Tillinghast] are way too elitist. It's not that. People questioned why Maxwell wasn't up front with his plans," she said.
"He said he might like to live in it one day, maybe that will happen sooner," according to our source. The bottom line for the planned B&B, as far as the residents of Tillinghast are concerned is that, "Aside from any possible special zoning issues," she said, "we're just not comfortable with the methods."