Country music star John Rich talks saving Phoenix landmark, defending property rights

PHOENIX - Country music singer and now Trump administration official John Rich is speaking out about his role in helping save the historic Louis Emerson House from an eminent domain case involving Arizona State University.

The backstory:

The historic brick home was at risk of being demolished or moved to make way for a new ASU medical school campus.

On July 17, ASU announced they had officially dropped its eminent domain lawsuit against the Louis Emerson House.

Rich said he first heard about the situation through social media.

"I said that doesn’t sound right," Rich said. "He’s 89, he’s in a house that’s older than the state of Arizona, and they’re threatening eminent domain. I don’t like that."

The home's owner, Robert Young, was in the middle of the legal fight to save his property when Rich, one half of the country music duo Big & Rich, stepped in and contacted ASU President Michael Crow.

Rich said Young told him he had owned the house since the 1970s and wanted to keep it.

"He said, 'I've owned it since the mid-1970’s, I’ve owned it for 50 years. I want to keep it,' and I said, 'OK,'" Rich said.

Dig deeper:

Rich said Crow told him Young could keep the house where it was and agreed to abandon the court case.

"He said, 'I’ll tell you what, if Mr. Young wants to keep his house where it’s at, then he can keep his house where it’s at.'," Rich said. "And I said, 'Can you drop the court case?' And he said he will. We will abandon the court case.'"

In a July 17 phone call with FOX10, Young said he believes John Rich was a deciding factor in ASU’s decision to drop the case.

He said he had two conversations with Rich prior to hearing the news the lawsuit would be dropped. Young also said he kept the faith throughout the legal fight, believing he would prevail on the merits if the case went to trial.

Just one week before ASU announced it would drop the case, Rich was named special envoy for American landowners by the Trump administration, making the Louis Emerson House one of his first efforts in the role.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture says his role is to advocate for farmers, ranchers and private landowners and help protect their property rights.

Big picture view:

Downtown Phoenix is surrounded by new high-rises and construction, but Rich said that growth makes it even more important to preserve the history that helped shape the city.

"I look at it as a nod to the past, as a nod to the people that built the city," Rich said. "To the hard work that went into making Phoenix a great city."

Rich said efforts to save the house began before he became involved. A petition to save the home gathered thousands of signatures.

"There was a lot of people in Arizona and in the Phoenix area, especially, that had gone on social media and voiced their opposition to this," Rich said. "And had they not done that, I wouldn't have known about it. So I have to thank the citizens of Phoenix also for standing up for Mr. Young."

He also said his mission as special envoy goes beyond politics.

"I am just an American citizen who cares about my neighbors," Rich said. "And that’s all that this was about. If you’re a landowner and you’re in trouble, give me a call. I don’t care if you are a Democrat, Republican, moderate, middle, don’t care."

Rich said that while he could be focused on his music career or living comfortably in Nashville, he feels a responsibility to step in and help others.

"Playing concerts and writing songs and doing all of that, that’s success driven. Nothing wrong with that...," Rich said. "But working on behalf of and advocating on behalf of someone else, and you have no stake in it at all. You’re just trying to do right by your neighbor, in this case, Mr. Young, to me that’s the core of what it means to be an American."

What's next:

Rich added the work is far from over. He said his office is currently involved in cases across eight states involving state and local governments, as well as utility companies, that he says are threatening to take land from citizens.