Charred beams, gaping holes in the outside walls and the stench of burned rubble are all that's left of a 90-year-old Frank Lloyd Wright home that preservationists hoped to see restored.

A blaze that started at the rear of the vacant house late Monday all but destroyed the building at 600 Fillmore in Gary, known to local historians as the Wynant House.

Investigators late Tuesday still had not determined what caused the fire but said the blaze is suspicious because the house was unoccupied and had no working utilities.

Gary Police arson Detective Cpl. Mark Salazar visited the site, where he met with City Planning Director Chris Meyers and Erica Taylor, a preservationist with the Indiana Historic Landmarks Calumet Region.

"It's beyond salvaging, and I can't believe I'm saying that," said Meyers, who spotted Wright's signature linear design style in the sagging, abandoned house in 1992.