Suit filed over
Lindbergh home

A nonprofit group is accused
of breaching a contract to move
structures to a nearby park

WAILUKU » The relocation of famed aviator Charles Lindbergh's house and his wife's writing cottage on Maui has become the subject of a lawsuit in Oahu Circuit Court.

Source International Inc. and its president, Greg Marshall, have charged that the nonprofit group Historic Hawaii Foundation has breached a contract to relocate the dwellings a mile south to Haleakala National Park in Kipahulu.

Marshall's attorney, Daniel Morris, said the lawsuit, filed yesterday, also alleges that the foundation has failed to disburse money for the move, even though it has accepted donations from the public for the project.

Marshall and his wife bought the two houses with the intent of donating them to the park.

Foundation board president John Lyles said he hasn't seen the lawsuit and declined to comment.

About two years ago, the foundation announced plans to use the relocated house known as "Argonauta" to display the history of Kipahulu and efforts to preserve native wildlife in the region.

Morris said Argonauta has been dismantled and put in a container, but hasn't been rebuilt.

Morris said the cottage remains on the former Lindbergh property.

The lawsuit alleges the contract with Source International Inc., the foundation and the National Park Service called for the donation of the structures to the National Park Service and the establishment of an endowment fund to maintain the structures after its relocation.

Morris said the foundation has refused to acknowledge the validity of the contract, claiming its executive director did not have authority to sign it, even though it has accepted donations from the public for the project.

Morris said the lawsuit seeks to have the foundation comply with the agreement and pay monetary damages to Marshall.

Lindbergh, who made the first nonstop trans-Atlantic solo flight from New York City to Paris in 1927, died in 1974 and was buried in a simple churchyard less than a mile from his home.

The A-frame Argonauta, completed in 1970, included two bedrooms and a bathroom on the second story, and a kitchen, living room and bathroom on the ground floor.

A generator was used for electrical power for lighting, and the Lindberghs also used gas-powered appliances.

Lindbergh's wife, Anne, was a writer and used the cottage as a place for her work. She died in February 2001.