This post is not so much about a particular house, but more about an unusual subdivision here in Phoenix, bounded by Fairmount and Weldon on the north and south, and 12th St. and 11th St. on the east and west. Opening in 1928, this unique community featured 42 home lots surrounding (backing up to) a 3-acre “secret” park surrounded by Tamarisk trees. Each homeowner owns an equal share of this private oasis. I understand that this concept originated in Great Britain, and as far as I know, it is the only community like it in Phoenix!
Originally boasting a golf course, children’s play ground, pool and its own well, what remains today is the pool (built from native rock) and a play area. Surrounding the park are some super cute little houses, all built in revival styles: Tudor, Spanish Colonial, Pueblo and Cottage.
The Bert J. Freidman/A. B. Baker House is also known as the “Rabbi’s” house by its neighbors in the Willo Historic district. Built in 1930, the Mediterranean Revival home is one of the largest in the neighborhood, with 4 bedrooms, 4 baths and a 700 sq ft. basement. In 1943 the lot adjacent to the Baker House, at the corner of McDowell and 3rd Avenue, was purchased by the Beth El congregation for their first formal home. The Beth El Synagogue was finished in 1951 and included a 12-room school and a home for Rabbi Harr Z. Schechtman. The basement of the synagogue was connected to the basement of the Baker House by at least one tunnel so the Rabbi and the congregants could escape if necessary. The congregation quickly outgrew the space and moved to its current home in north-central Phoenix. Today the synagogue building a pawn shop and the tunnels have been blocked off.
Sometimes I come across a house that just blows me away for its funky-cool DIY renovation. Such is the case with this 1930s bungalow that I got the chance to see the other day. The current owner did all the renovations herself using many found and upcycled materials including the uber-cool steel kitchen cabinets and the stainless wet bar. I just love the exposed brick, barn wood back splash in the kitchen, and the variety of colors and finishes!
Update: I have recently learned from the home’s owner that this home was not part of the Pope Lime Company or occupied by the owner. Thanks for the clarification!
Another in my “not where you expect it to be” series! I stumbled upon this 1928 Spanish Colonial Revival home while showing a1950s ranch house down the street. Aerial maps from the 30s show this home sitting alone among citrus orchards – quite possibly part of the Pope Lime Company estate (although I can’t confirm the Pope family ever lived in the house). The 2-story home sits on a third of an acre at the northwest corner of the old citrus grove and boasts 2,481 square feet, multiple fireplaces, coved ceilings, wood floors, grand staircase, several balconies, roof-top deck and a finished basement. When it was built it towered over the lime trees and would have been seen from a distance — a testament to the prosperity of small-scale farm owners in the valley.
Photos of the renovated home and now-bustling restaurant
Historic photo of the Knipe House
The home post fire with a new roof, when it was used by Grow House.
1025 N. 2nd St.
The Knipe House is one of the few remaining historic homes in the once-vibrant Evans Churchill neighborhood. Now it is surrounded by apartments and vacant lots — partially do to the construction of the I-10 freeway through the middle of it. The house was built in 1909 by architect Leighton G. Knipe, who designed many buildings in the Phoenix area, including the Jefferson Hotel, Frenchy Vieux, and several buildings on the ASU campus. Knipe built the house for his parents but eventually moved into it himself. We can only imagine what this house must have looked like in its heyday, surrounded by other stately bungalows with grassy front lawns, but the undated photo to the left gives us some idea.
The house has seen its share of tragedy including a fire in 2010 that destroyed much of the second floor. The city-owned property to the south, along with the uninhabitable house, were used by Grow House for several years as a demonstration garden, but Grow House didn’t have the funds to purchase or rehab the property, resulting in the Knipe house being added to the Phoenix Historic Neighborhoods Coalition’s Endangered Dozen list. Save the Knipe! was a rallying cry while the city searched for a buyer to rehab the property. Finally, a developer stepped in and hired Motley Design Group to renovate the home as a commercial space. Now, the beautifully renovated space is home to French bistro Sottise, as seen in the photos above. What an amazing success story and a true triumph of historic preservation!
Top photos: Sottise; historic photo: Motley Design; photo prior to renovation: The Republic
The David and Gladys Wright House could certainly be considered one of the most important Wright-designed buildings in Phoenix, which makes the fact that it was almost torn down by developers impossible to comprehend. Thankfully for us and the world that did not happen, but the future of this amazing place is still not quite settled. A few years ago I shared a great article by Nora Burba Trulsson from Houzz.com about the house and its still a great article with wonderful photos of this largely original, untouched home. Since that article was written, the house changed hands again, now owned Benson Botsford LLC. Two architects associated with the firm, Bing Hu and Wenchin Shi, are personally renovating the property with plans of installing a copper roof — part of the original plan for the house that was never completed. They also requested the home be listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and it was in January of 2022. Now this iconic home is protected from future attempts to demolish it!
This humble red-brick ranch home in the Willo neighborhood holds an amazing secret — a block of wood with the names of the construction crew who built it in 1938, found when past owners remodeled the bathroom. The full text of the block says:
This home was built by Wayne L Gray Construction Co. Men who worked on this home are as follows: Henry B Gray, Neal Gray, Elum Gray, Robert J Discombe, Chester Patton. Built during the months of Sept. and Oct., year 1938. When you find this tablet it will be our proof that homes built by us, LAST! (over)” and on the back it continues “May that year be 1990!
Of course that block of wood is a precious keepsake for the home’s owners, but it’s also a testament to the pride of craftsmanship that went into each of these old homes — even the simplest 2 bedroom, 1 bath, 940 sq ft ranch!
Nathan Diamond was a Polish immigrant and the founder — with his brother Issac — of Diamond’s department store in 1897. The brothers came to Phoenix from El Paso where they had a successful dry goods store. Their Phoenix store was originally known as The Boston Store and, along with Goldwaters, was the posh shopping destination in downtown Phoenix. Diamond’s eventually expanded to 12 stores throughout the Southwest when it was sold to Dillards in the 1980s.
In 1931, Diamond built a 4,900-square-foot, 5-bedroom Mediterranean Revival home in the Encanto-Palmcroft neighborhood of Phoenix. Costing $17,000 to build, it has an elegant 2-story foyer with a sweeping stairway and hand-carved doors imported from South America. The exterior features multiple diamond-shaped details in the shutters and the stained glass behind the Juliet balcony, as well as a hand-carved stone arch decorating the entrance. Diamond held elaborate parties here in the huge ballroom; Guests were greeted at the door by the sound of a string quartet playing on the small balcony above the entrance, which was only accessible by a ladder hidden in the closet to the right of the front door. The house also boasts a full basement where the family stayed cool in the hot Phoenix summers.
Historic image courtesy of thedepartmentstoremuseum.org, interior image from zillow.com.
Salim Ackel was a Syrian immigrant, businessman and local mover and shaker. He arrived in the valley in 1892 where he grew a small supply business into a successful emporium known as the Phoenix Seed and Feed Company. He built the Jefferson Hotel in 1915 (now known as the Barrister Building) at the corner of Central and Jefferson. (AKA The Psycho Building because the opening scene of Psycho was filmed there.)
In 1920 he built a large home — over 5,000 sq. ft. — in Phoenix’s Alvarado Neighborhood. This unique home is described on the National Register of Historic Places as “Neo-Colonial, with significant design reference to Italian Renaissance and Prairie School detailing.” You can see the neo-colonial aspect in the symmetrical 2-story facade, the Italian influence is evident in the balustrades and details and Prairie Style in the strong horizontals and deep overhangs. The Ackel home was, in its day, one of the showplaces in Phoenix — where the elite went to dance the night away!
This dilapidated old adobe building is said to be the oldest standing structure in the City of Phoenix. It sits, rotting, in the middle of a parking lot, surrounded by chain link but was built around 1870 by “Lord” Darrell Duppa, a Cambridge-educated gentleman from Kent, England who is considered one of the founders of Phoenix. He is also credited with naming the new town site. Duppa, along with Jack Swilling (another founding father) saw the agricultural potential of the valley and, taking a cue from the ancient Hohokam irrigation canals, devised a plan to irrigate the valley.
The building is made of mud adobe and covered with a roof constructed of Cottonwood branches and earth — typical construction techniques for the time. In fact, adobes like this would have dotted the fields near the Salt River before the turn of the century. Homestead is a misnomer however, since Duppa and his family probably never lived here — the building was most likely an agricultural out building on his ranch. It’s now managed by the Arizona Historical Society and at one time was open to the public as a sort of pioneer museum. Stop by and see it before it gets torn down or totally melts into the ground!
Historical photo courtesy of the Phoenix Museum of History.
