By Jim Knippenberg
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Jeff Sklar of Anderson Township holds up his bidding number after just winning the auction for the Frank Lloyd Wright house. (Brandi Stafford photo) | ZOOM |

One of Cincinnati's three Frank Lloyd Wright-designed houses - the Boulter house on Rawson Woods Circle in Clifton - sold at auction Thursday.

The new owner is bidder No. 103 - real estate executive Jeff Sklar, 28, of Anderson Township. He paid $400,000 for the home, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

New owner Sklar has not decided whether he'll live there: "I may. I also have a friend who said he'd buy it for half a mil. I just don't know what I'm going to do yet."

About 50 people, dressed in everything from shorts to business suits, showed for the auction conducted by Brent Semple of Semple and Associates. Bidding was slow at first, with Semple sing-songing an opening bid of $800,000. When no one flashed a bidder number, the price started at $250,000 and escalated.

Exterior view of the Frank Lloyd Wright home on Rawson Woods Circle. (File photo) | ZOOM |

Several in attendance, including a handful of architecture professors, were surprised at the price. Milling about before the auction, most were predicting a sale price of $600,000 to $650,000.

Current owner Miriam Gosling decided on an auction rather than a conventional sale so the house could set its own price. Referring agent Earl Hatt of Coldwell Banker West Shell described the area as a $400,000 neighborhood.

The house was built in 1954 for University of Cincinnati classics professor Cedric Boulter and his wife, Patricia, - and later sold to UC architecture professor David Gosling and his wife, Miriam. The other local Wright homes are in Indian Hill and Amberley Village.

A Wright house coming on the market is rare. There are fewer than 400 of his houses left standing, and only about 10 go on the market each year.

The four-bedroom house is noted for its dramatic 40-foot glass dining room-living room wall with sliding doors opening onto a wrap-around terrace. Other features include built-in furniture designed by Wright, including a 28-foot mahogany bookcase.

E-mail jknippenberg@enquirer.com