Unless a new owner is found, FEMA will demolish the Charnley Cottage, built in 1890. (Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy)

Three months ago, Katrina's storm surge swept a Frank Lloyd Wright-designed cottage in Ocean Springs, Miss., off its foundation, destroying one of its wings and damaging most of the rest.

Now the 115-year-old beachfront bungalow, part of a National Register Historic District, is facing a final blow: A FEMA-hired engineering firm has declared the Charnley Cottage and its octagonal guest cottage "not reasonably restorable," which means FEMA could demolish the houses in the next few months.

Now its longtime owners, the Ruddiman family, hope to sell the seven-acre site to a preservation-minded buyer who is willing to restore the cottages.

"They're going to wait as long as they can," says Ron Scherubel, executive director of the Chicago-based Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy, which is helping the Ruddimans find a buyer for their former home. "It's been like a family compound for that family for a long time, so they're all really devastated to have to give it up. They don't have the means or the time or include to rebuild it."

In 1890, Louis Sullivan and Wright, his draftsman, designed four beachfront cottages in Ocean Springs, including one for Sullivan's friend James Charnley; three remained until Aug. 29, 2005, when Sullivan's bungalow was decimated.

The conservancy disagrees with the determination that the Charnley Cottage can't be restored. "Of course it can be done, with any amount of money," Scherubel says. A good bit of the building fabric is still there. It can definitely be restored—with a lot of new material."

To find out more, contact the Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy at (312) 663-5500 or visit http://savewright.org/.

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