Dispute Over Historic Ojai House : Sale of Rare Furniture Is Challenged by Heirs

Ten pieces of rare furniture designed by noted California architects Charles and Henry Greene for a Craftsman house they built in Ojai have been auctioned off in New York City against the wishes of most of the heirs to the property.

The sale was the second controversial incident in recent weeks involving the removal of decorative art pieces from residences designed by the architects and is the subject of a lawsuit brought by those heirs against Security Pacific National Bank, trustee of the furniture for the estate.

In May, a Texas rancher bought the Blacker House in Pasadena and removed an estimated $1 million worth of light fixtures. Cultural heritage groups are now negotiating with the new owner to have the pieces returned to the house.

Price Tag: $346,000

The furniture, which was auctioned Friday at Christie’s in New York for $346,000, came from the Pratt House, considered by experts to be one of the Greenes’ finest works. Nancy McClelland, a vice president of the firm, said the highest-priced piece was a desk which sold for $220,000 to an East Coast museum. She declined to name the buyers.

The sale was criticized by preservationists who contended that the furniture, which repeats the thematic detail of the house’s richly wooded interior, is critical to the architectural integrity of the house.

Harrison B. Wetherill Jr., vice president and general counsel of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, said the house is “an international landmark whose interior furnishings are an integral part of its design.”

The 4,300-square-foot Pratt House sits on 52 acres of land and was built for Charles Pratt in 1909. It was built in the California bungalow style, also known as the Craftsman style, pioneered by the Greens.

Jennie and Harley Culbert owned the house from the 1940s until Jennie Culbert’s death last October.

Left in Trust

A one-half interest in the house had been bequeathed to the grandchildren by Harley Culbert. Jennie Culbert left the other half-interest in the house and all of the furniture to them in a trust administered by Security Pacific.

Phil Wilcox, an attorney representing the bank, said the furniture had to be sold because the estate trust did not have enough liquid assets to pay an estate tax bill of more than $200,000 which is due July 11.

But in a lawsuit filed May 2 in Ventura County Superior Court on behalf of five of the seven heirs to the house and the furniture, attorney Glen Reiser contends that an agreement was reached April 12 to indemnify the bank against tax penalties and interest and to sell the house together with the furniture.

On April 24, before notifying the heirs, Security Pacific decided to ship the furniture out of state for auction, the suit contends.

Question on Timing

Wilcox, however, said the indemnification agreement was never discussed until May 2, by which time the furniture had already been shipped to New York.

The plaintiffs all are grandchildren of Jennie and Harley Culbert. They are: Lynette Culbert of San Luis Obispo, Michelle and Barry Culbert of Carmel Valley, Jeff E. Culbert of Visalia and Janet D. Culbert of San Diego. Two other grandchildren, Gregory Eugene Culbert and Jenelle Robin Culbert, both of the Ventura area, did not join the suit.

The suit names the bank and Sue Pinto, a senior bank trust officer in the bank’s Ventura branch, as defendants. It alleges that the defendants engaged in a breach of trust and wrongfully converted trust assets.