One of our most enjoyable traditions in Phoenix is the historic district home tour. We have an astonishing number of historic homes and homeowners who cherish their properties and gladly share them with the public. This time Windsor Square is opening its neighborhood, homes, and gardens to visitors for the Sixth Biennial Historic Home and Garden Tour.

Next Sunday, April 6, from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., you will be able to visit all of the 12 historic homes that are on this tour in Phoenix’s most northern historic district. Presented by the Windsor Square Neighborhood Association, the Home and Garden tour is a self-guided walking tour that gives visitors a look at unique architectural styles in homes that date back more than 75 years.

Windsor Square was originally envisioned as an area of fine homes, but the district’s development suffered from bad timing and a world war. Begun in 1929, the original developers’ high hopes fell to the realities of the Depression. Then as building began in earnest in the early 1940’s, everything was put on hold again during World War II. With the return of the GIs and the post-war building boom, Windsor Square grew to be considered Phoenix’s first suburb. Today’s 260 homes are bordered by Central Avenue and Seventh Street, Pasadena Avenue and Oregon Avenue.

With styles ranging from modern to traditional, attendees will see interior decorating ideas and unique approaches to the outdoors. For this year’s tour, the organizers have added a special feature to each home: a themed special event presented by a professional designer. Look for a garden party, a birthday celebration, and other festive scenes. Keep an eye out, also, for Phil Gordon, Phoenix’s mayor and a Windsor Square resident, who plans to be touring the homes as well.

Along with the historic homes, visitors will enjoy fine arts and crafts from street vendors, taste delicious foods, and be entertained with live music. All this for only $12, and children visit free.

You will find the tour at the Northeast corner of Central and Camelback, behind AJ’s Fine Foods. Tickets will be available on the day of the home tour at Medlock and 2nd Street (one block east of Central, north of Camelback Road). Vehicles may enter the neighborhood off Central Avenue at Medlock Drive or off Camelback Road at 2nd or 6th streets; on-street parking is free.

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Need a bit more incentive? The good folks of the Windsor Square Home and Garden Tour will donate 20 percent of tour proceeds to the Central Arizona Shelter Services (C.A.S.S). for Families and Children.

Mark your calendar now: Sunday, April 6 – Windsor Square Historic Home and Garden Tour. For more information, visit the Windsor Square website.

The homes do not have garages, walk-in closets, or entertainment centers. They were built in the 1920’s and ’30’s before people thought lots of storage space was essential in a home. But for every modern convenience they may seem to lack, the historic homes of Willo more than make up for them in charm and grace.

Once a year, a dozen or so homeowners in Phoenix’s Willo Historic District open their well-loved and well-cared for houses for the annual home tour. Homeowners invest a great deal of time and care (and yes, money) in restoring and maintaining the unique features of these homes. Styles run the gamut from English Cotswold to Spanish mission, French provincial, and Tudor revival.

Once farmland on the outskirts of Phoenix, Willo became a suburb in the early part of the 20th century, and almost two dozen subdivisions were built through the beginning of WWII. As Phoenix grew after the war, commercial development began to encroach. But in the 1980’s, Willo residents lobbied successfully for historic district status.

This Sunday, February 10, 2008, you can enjoy the 20th Annual Willo Historic Home Tour & Street Festival from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Willo is just west of Central Avenue between Thomas and McDowell Roads from 1st to 7th Avenues. Visitors can stroll the tree-lined streets from house to house, or take a trolley that will carry people throughout the neighborhood. Here is a sneak peak of 2 homes that will be on the tour.

There is also street fair with handcrafts, antiques, local artwork, and plenty of food choices. Tickets are $15.00 the day of the tour and can be purchased at 3rd Avenue and Holly. Free for children 12 years and younger when accompanied by a paying adult. You can also buy tickets for $12.75 online in advance (by 9:00 p.m. February 9) and pick them up at the event. You can find more information and purchase tickets here: http://willohistoricdistrict.com/hometour

Hope to see you this Sunday in Willo!

A few years ago, Maria Capogreco’s friends told her she was taking a big chance opening a deli in the Roosevelt Historic District. But she had faith in the future of what once was – and soon would be again – a thriving urban neighborhood. She was right.

The former working class community had been a streetcar neighborhood during its heyday between 1895 and 1930. The area saw both California and Craftsman bungalow styles built on the narrow, deep lots along its streets. During years of decline, the neighborhood seemed destined to be a blight on Phoenix, but caring residents had another plan.

Many other neighborhoods have become historic districts, but Roosevelt led the way in 1986 as the first to earn that designation. Phoenix officials now point to Roosevelt, which is bounded by McDowell Road, Fillmore Street, Central Avenue and Seventh Avenue, as a model for turning around sagging urban areas by enlisting residents to work with cities as they revitalize communities.

Roosevelt’s renewal meshed very well with the city’s progress in redeveloping downtown. The light-rail system was designed to run right through Roosevelt on Central Avenue, and nearby the downtown campus of Arizona State University was in expansion mode. Add to that new housing, hotels, and a University of Arizona medical school, and you have a lively area. All this activity is intended to bring people back downtown to the rejuvenated city core…and it’s working.

Redevelopment on this scale takes money, and the city worked with business owners, developers, and residents to find the money needed. Federal Community Development Block Grants and Phoenix bond monies fueled the work, but private investors spent ten times more investing in the future of Roosevelt. With new lofts and storefronts, restored historic buildings and rehabilitated housing, Roosevelt is now a thriving urban neighborhood. More than 200 buildings have been renovated, and tree-lined streets welcome visitors to Phoenix’s popular art walk events, First Fridays.

There have always been artists in Roosevelt, and one whose work you can’t miss is Robert J. Miley. His work is seen throughout the world in public and private spaces, and we have several of his sculptures right here. One especially inspiring work is “Release the Fear,” located on Central Avenue.

Miley is a founder/organizer of Release the Fear, a community organization that seeks to heal those hurt by violence. It is a grass roots, non-profit organization whose mission is: “To reverse the paralyzing effects of violence in our communities by promoting healthy resolution of conflict through the healing power of education through art.” Miley’s 22-foot tall sculpture of collected, melted-down weapons symbolizes this awakening.

The Roosevelt historic district has come a long way in the last half-dozen years, and is now a desirable home and business area in the rejuvenated core of Phoenix.

With some 35 historic districts in Phoenix, you are never far from interesting homes and neighborhoods. For this visit, the destination is the Garfield Historic District, just a little bit south of the Coronado Historic District, which dates back to the late 19th Century.

An Ohio pioneer, John Dennis, settled here in 1868 and carved out a farm in a corner of land bounded by Seventh to 12th Streets, and Roosevelt to Van Buren. The land acquired his name and became the Dennis Addition when he decided to create subdivisions. In 1883, the sector was registered with Maricopa County, and by 1899, it was annexed into the city of Phoenix.

Annexation gave the area a boost when it brought the first city well and pumping plant to what would become known as Garfield. Other municipal improvements followed as the neighborhood grew. Here you can find examples of the many styles of homes over the 50-years that saw most of the home building in Garfield. Period revival-style homes and bungalows were the dominant architectural styles (Craftsman, Classic and California Bungalow styles, Pyramid Cottages, Period Revival, variants of Southwest styles, Prairie-influenced styles, and International) from the 1890s to the 1940s, including the Depression and World War II years.

Just as John Dennis created an Addition that became Garfield, so his rancher/miner neighbor Frederick Brill created his own Brill’s Addition that would eventually become North Garfield. The land that bordered Dennis’ on Seventh to 12th streets had Roosevelt to McDowell as its other borders. By 1910, Brill’s Addition was annexed to the city and became the North Garfield District.

Both areas won historic district status in 2006 after more than a decade of patient work by citizens and cooperation from the Revitalization and Economic Development Committee. Designation means that properties “…must either be important for representing broad patterns of history or for their association with the life of a historically important person; or for conveying high architectural or artistic values; or for archaeological contributions.” (Source: Phoenix Historic Preservation Office) Properties must also be at least 50 years old or have achieved exceptional importance within the last five decades.

What this all means for the historic home lover, or the homeowner, is that Garfield and Garfield North have many homes that reflect the unique history of this area. For the homeowners who already value the character of their buildings, an added benefit of historic district designation, is that it usually means that property values increase.

Another catalyst for this historic neighborhood is the close proximity to the ASU Downtown Campus. Small developers also have caught on to Garfield and major infill investments like Roosevelt 1, not conceivable a few years ago, are now realty.

In Garfield and North Garfield, that is good news for the owners of more than 1,000 homes. And for those of us who value these areas as visible records of our history, the designation means that history will be preserved.

The first neighborhood on the tour is Coronado which had its beginnings at the turn of the 20th century. Local leaders and investors were negotiating with the federal government to build the Theodore Roosevelt Dam on the Salt River to control seasonal flooding and ensure that Phoenix had a consistent supply of water. Once the development of the dam was under way, real estate development boomed. In 1908, Dwight B. Heard, one of those who had pushed for the dam, petitioned for subdivision of the area that would become the Coronado neighborhood.

This area, whose boundaries were defined by McDowell Road, Seventh Street, 12th Street, and a canal that ran down Oak Street, was intended to be a “streetcar suburb.” Since land values were determined by the distance to Central Avenue and the downtown, Coronado’s location dictated more modest buildings that drew working class families.

Building lots ranged from $375 to $650 including electricity, water, sewer, and gravel streets. A young family could buy a house and lot for $1,900 to $2,700.Following World War I, Phoenix drew hundreds of new residents, most of them white-collar and blue-collar middle class families, and many settled in the Coronado subdivision. It was an era when building “spec” houses was a progressive idea, and many of them were in Coronado which was both desirable and affordable. “Ranchitos Bonitos” (”pretty little ranches”) was one of the first subdivisions in Coronado, and exhibited the charm of this neighborhood built from the 1900’s to the 1930’s. During those years, the residential styles in Coronado favored Bungalow, Spanish Colonial Revival, and Tudor Revival.

The Great Depression brought a new trend as development slowed in Coronado and the rest of the Phoenix community. While some homeowners were forced to sell, others converted their garages to living quarters. The owners moved into the garage and rented out the main house as a means to hold on to their property and weather the economic storm. When the country rose out of the Depression, these residents were able to move back into their homes and then rent out the converted garages as living quarters. The Depression also influenced the architecture of Coronado as it slowed development. When construction began again, styles had shifted and the result can be seen today in two distinct areas within the Coronado district. In the area between 7th and 12th Streets, styles date back to the 1920’s, while the rest of the district dates to the late 1930’s and 1940’s.

In late 1939, Coronado became the home of the first planned, mass-produced subdivision of tract homes in Phoenix. Developer Andy Womack built the Womack Subdivision and led the way to development of the remaining tracts in the Coronado Neighborhood east of 12th Street by others who followed his success.

In the Country Club Park neighborhood, you can see the main styles built following the Depression. Built entirely during World War II, Country Club Park has well preserved examples of 1940’s development.

There is a great deal of pride in this neighborhood for the preservation efforts of homeowners. Volunteer efforts over several years were rewarded in 1986 by the Coronado Historic District being placed on the National Register of Historic Districts.

Each spring, some Coronado homeowners open their houses to the public for the Annual Coronado Historic Home Tour. In the western part of Coronado, tour guests can see that the predominant building style is the Bungalow along with some Ranch and Spanish Colonial styles scattered throughout. In the eastern portion of the neighborhood are many examples of Tudor Revival and English Cottage style. Whatever part of Coronado you visit, you will be treated to a visual history of the development of this unique Phoenix area neighborhood.

Source: The Coronado Neighborhood Association http://www.gcna.info/

The Encanto Palmcroft Historic Homes Tour and Street Fair is an annual event during which several homes are open to the public. Visitors who park at Phoenix College can take an old-fashioned trolley complete with a tour guide who provides commentary on the history of the neighborhood during the short ride to the neighborhood.

Tickets are available at either the Phoenix College location or at the corner of Monte Vista and 9th Avenue.

That corner is also the center of activity for the street fair where there will be live entertainment, arts and crafts, and food galore. You’ll also find commemorative T-shirts, posters, and cookbooks so you can take a bit of the day home with you. Be sure to wear comfortable shoes so you can enjoy all the delights of this day:

• Tour the historic homes and beautiful gardens.
• Listen to music by the Arizona School for the Arts, Rocket 88s.
• Eat food from local restaurants and vendors.
• Browse or buy arts and crafts.
• Learn about historic Phoenix.
• Sit and relax (there will be chairs along the route).
• Visit with historic car enthusiasts (Model T, Model A, etc).
• Win raffles - wine baskets and more.
• Visit with Mayor Phil Gordon and other city officials.
• And more!

So mark your calendar for Sunday, March 25 from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Join the tour and enjoy the day in the historic Encanto Palmcroft neighborhood.