Descendants of the owners of a historic downtown Little Rock property are suing its current owners alleging they have allowed it to deteriorate.
The Pike-Fletcher-Terry House has been owned by the City of Little Rock and the Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts, formerly known as the Arkansas Arts Center, since it was gifted to the city nearly 60 years ago. Now, heirs of the owners who donated it are suing to have ownership reverted to them.
Attorney Richard Mays represents the plaintiffs and says the current owners are in violation of an agreement gifting the property to them.
“The responsibility was both on the city and on the [Arkansas] Arts Center to maintain the property and use it for public purposes,” Mays said. “Neither one of the defendants have done that, and so we believe, under the terms of the deed, the property should revert back to the heirs of Mrs. Drennan and Mrs. Terry.”
Mary Fletcher Drennan and Adolphine Fletcher Terry deeded the house to the city in 1964 on the condition it would be used as a public space for artistic, cultural and educational use. Though the house briefly served as a museum, it has been largely unused for years.
Mays says he plans to have experts prove the city and the museum have allowed the building to fall into disrepair.
“We anticipate using testimony of architects and contractors to testify about the condition of the house, so I don’t think it’s going to be a terribly huge burden for us to be able to establish that the house is in a very deteriorated condition,” Mays said.
Mays says he’s uncertain of the status of a $1.6 million endowment for the house’s upkeep, which could still be used for repairs and restoration.
The Greek Revival-style house was built in 1840 and has housed numerous notable families from Little Rock. Among its former tenants are Confederate General Albert Pike, former Little Rock Mayor John Gould Fletcher and Pulitzer Prize-winning poet John Gould Fletcher Jr.
