History Plus Light Rail Access
The Progression of Residential
Architectural Styles and Building Materials in
Central Phoenix, 1910- 1956
Early and mid-twentieth century neighborhoods
in Phoenix illustrate the entire range of
nationally recognized residential architectural
styles for the period. Each Phoenix neighborhood
is distinguished by examples of prevailing
styles. These styles include Bungalows,
Revivals, and Modern Movement designs. Perhaps
unique to the area is the popularity of the
Spanish Revival, Southwest, and Pueblo Revivals
during the 1920’s and 1930’s. Often these
designs used adobe blocks, borrowing an earlier
Sonoran vernacular tradition and adapting it to
architect-designed houses. Frame wood and brick
were common building materials in the early
twentieth century. Stucco was often used to
provide a finished sheathing over exterior
walls. Following World War II, a shortage of
building supplies prompted builders to use
whatever materials were at hand, resulting in a
diversity of materials in the late 1940’s.
However, by the mid 1950’s mass-produced
concrete masonry units become the most popular
building material.
The
area's first plat, Suburban Acres, was recorded
in 1924, outside city limits but within a ten-
minute drive to downtown. A series of Pierson
Place plats followed as the city’s official
population continued to expand during the
1920's. In 1926 Pierson Place was platted,
followed by Pierson Place Amended and South
Pierson Place in 1927, and Stanley Place in
1928. Del Monte Park was the last area within
the district to be recorded, just after World
War II ended in 1946.
By
1956 the area was mostly built out with single
family homes and small scale multifamily
buildings that include duplexes, triplexes, and
four-plexes. Larger-scale multifamily complexes
began appearing as infill in the late 1950's.
Commercial development occurred outside the
edges of the district at 7th Avenue, Camelback
Road, and Central Avenue. In 1963, a multistory
residential tower was constructed in the
neighborhood on Central Avenue. The first plat
in the Pierson Place survey area was Suburban
Acres, recorded in 1924, west of Central Avenue,
and adjacent to the Grand Canal to the south.
Lots in the original plat ranged from two-thirds
of an acre to a full acre. The one-acre lots
were eventually subdivided into quarter acre
parcels and sold for single-family homes and
small multi-family complexes. What remains of
these residential buildings were constructed
over a thirty year period beginning in 1924.
In
1926 three couples, Eugene and Lena Pierson,
N.C. and Hazyl Pierce and J.P. and Ruth Matz,
began subdividing a series of Pierson Place
tracts. One of the roads in the new neighborhood
was named Pierson Street. The 40-acre tract was
initially split into one-acre lots, each
anticipated to have at least one house, in a
suburban area expected to be among the biggest
growing areas in Phoenix. The intent was to
allow the large lots to be divided to make the
purchase entirely profitable. Lots were deep,
with houses set well back from the road, to
ensure privacy and leave sufficient room for
planting gardens.
Matz
and Pierce also became involved in developing
part of the subdivision. They owned a forest,
from which some of their lumber for the project
was cut, and a sash and door mill, which came to
supply most of the window and door materials for
their development. Early Pierson Place ads boast
of "a distinctive class of homes at a moderate
cost." The "modern" subdivision had a number of
English and other period revival style homes,
constructed for sturdiness with brick and
Celotex ceiling insulation. "So confident [was]
he of its future", that Mr. Matz and his wife
built their home in the new neighborhood in
1926. E.M. Pierson and his wife lived at 300 W.
Mariposa (their home site is now a parking lot).
The
next year the three couples also recorded
Pierson Place Amended, subdividing the area from
their original plat. In the amended plat,
Mariposa Street split the 300 foot deep lots,
which created one third acre parcels. Two of
these larger single family residential parcels
still remain; the majority were later split into
8,500 square foot lots. Two of the
neighborhood’s adobe houses were built on these
larger parcels, including a distinctive Pueblo
Revival Style with exposed adobe block at 3rd
Avenue and Mariposa Street.
The
Southwestern Sash and Door Company, owned by
Matz and Pierce, also subdivided South Pierson
Place in 1927. Hazlewood Street was named after
Hazyl Pierce. Most of the one-half plus acre
lots were subsequently split again, though the
area was not developed with single family and
multifamily complexes until the 1930s and 1940s.
By
1928, a new builder was involved in homebuilding
in the northern portion of the neighborhood.
E.W. d'Allemand offered fifth acre lots in
addition to one acre and half-acre lots, which
sold from $395 and up, depending on the location
and depth. Streets came fully graded and capped
with caliche and gravel, which gave hard surface
streets without any paving assessments to pay.
Lots were supplied with water from a high
pressure, deep water well as well as telephone
and electrical service. Homes sold on both a
speculative and made-to-order basis, and by
October 1928 twenty homes were built and in the
amended
Pierson Place tract. Restrictions called
for houses that cost at least $2,500, exclusive
of the lot, to ensure "a happy medium for good
development." Deed restrictions also limited
ownership only to Caucasians. The developers
specifically marketed to families whose children
would be attending Brophy College, a 1500
student college preparatory school just three
blocks west of the their neighborhood.
Harry Jones subdivided Stanley Place in 1928. He
carried the grid street pattern over from the
amended Pierson Place plat immediately west,
continuing Camelback Road, Mariposa and Pierson
Streets between 3rd to Central Avenues. However,
the onset of the Depression slowed development
until the late 1930's. A two story
Spanish
Colonial Revival residence built with adobe was
among the first three homes constructed in the
new subdivision in 1930.
Development in the neighborhood picked up in the
late 1930's with the availability of FHA
mortgages. In 1936 the Gold Spot Investment
Company built two new homes in Stanley Place.
The company worked with designer and builder
David Rubenstein, who designed the houses
especially for Phoenix to be fire-proof and
termite-proof, using concrete joists in a flat
roof, with structural steel sashes.
Homes in the neighborhood were constructed with
a variety of materials. Brick was the most
common structural wall material used, though
block and wood frame houses also appeared. Seven
adobe homes were constructed in Mariposa and
Pierson Streets, further adding to the variety
of materials that helped characterize the
neighborhood.
Build out in the
Pierson Place survey area
continued to occur over the first decade after
World War II. The Del Monte Park plat was
recorded in 1946, and completely built out the
following year with modest ranch style homes as
well as a small multifamily development of
four-plexes. Multi-family infill complexes were
built throughout Pierson Place. In the early
postwar years, these apartments ranged from
collections of one story, single family, duplex,
triplex, and four-plex buildings. Larger,
multi-unit, two story buildings are associated
with the late 1950's and early 1960's.
Neighborhood Character
The proposed
Pierson Place Historic District
is designed following a grid street pattern,
with 60- foot wide roads and vertical curbs.
Because the area was in the County when it was
primarily built out between 1910 and 1956, there
are no sidewalks.
The neighborhood is characterized by an
established traditional landscape. Turf, mature
trees, and shrubs are prevalent. There is a
sense of openness, achieved by the pattern of
modestly sized homes on relatively large lots
(typical lots are more than 8,000 square feet),
with front yard setbacks that often exceed 30
feet. Many of the houses have detached rear
garages. Attached carports are more prevalent on
homes from the 1940’s and 1950’s, and carport
additions are a common pattern of alteration
seen in the neighborhood. Other alterations
include carport enclosures, room additions,
window replacements, stucco applied to exterior
walls, and painted brick.
A sense of uniformity is achieved within the
neighborhood by the pattern of setbacks, house
size, and scale. Most houses are one story. At
the same time, Pierson Place illustrates a
diverse range of architectural styles, building
types, and materials as a result of its long
period of build-out beginning in the 1920’s and
continuing into the early 1960’s. In the late
1950’s, the pattern of small scale development
gave way to infill with larger, modern
multifamily complexes, often characterized by
two stories and multiple units within each
building.
Property Types, Architectural Styles,
and Building Materials
Most of the buildings in the proposed Pierson
Place Historic District are single family
houses. However, fifteen percent of the
properties are multifamily complexes, comprised
of collections of detached single family
buildings, duplexes, triplexes, and four-plexes.
A range of architectural styles reflects several
decades of build out. Early neighborhood styles
include Bungalows and a number of different
period revivals. English Cottages, Pueblo
Revival,
Spanish Colonial Revival, and Southwest
Style houses are all found within the
neighborhood. Early modern designs, including an
Art Modern house and several International Style
houses, are also found in
Pierson Place. In the
late 1930’s and 1940’s, and the early 1950’s,
the district continued to build out with modern
Ranch Styles. The Transitional Ranch, French
Provincial, Early, and Simply Ranch sub styles
are well represented in the neighborhood.
In addition, a palette of exterior wall and
roof materials also exists within the proposed
historic district. While most buildings have
roofs sheathed with asphalt shingles (77%),
built up roofs, wood, asbestos shingles, and
tiles are also used. Brick is the most common
wall material, found on 56% of the houses. Adobe
is used in the construction of three percent of
the houses, and block and frame wood with
shingles, siding, or stucco are also typical of
materials found in Pierson Place.
Residential Neighborhood Development
in Phoenix, 1910-1956
In the early decades of the twentieth
century, most early subdivision activity was
initiated either by individuals or building
companies subdividing small land parcels into
residential lots. Phoenix began to experience
rapid growth after 1912 following completion of
the
Roosevelt Dam, which assured the area a
stable water supply. Population grew as a result
of agricultural productivity, demand for cotton,
the expansion of citrus ranching, and the
beginning of the Valley’s tourist industry.
The increased population brought demand for
new housing. Most new homes were constructed for
specific clients. However, by the late 1920’s
larger residential developments began appearing
in and around the city, and builders began
construction on speculation.
Until the Depression, individual developers
funded most building activity. This system of
financing collapsed following the stock market
crash of 1929, which plunged the nation into a
Depression. In the 1930’s the federal government
became involved in guaranteeing mortgages for
home construction in an effort stimulate new
jobs and stabilize the housing market. By the
late 1930’s, larger investment companies also
began to appear. These influences encouraged
both infill developments in existing
neighborhoods as well as larger scale
residential subdivisions. A variety of
architects, planners, realtors, and builders,
often functioning as small to mid-scale
developers, remained firmly engaged in the
construction of residential subdivisions in the
Phoenix metropolitan area in the post World War
II period. As a result, a number of medium and
large tract home developments became especially
popular in the suburbs of Phoenix.
Influence of Federal Housing Policies
on Phoenix Residential Architecture and
Subdivision Planning, 1934-1956
With thousands of homes entering foreclosure
nationwide during the Depression, the federal
government was compelled to intervene in the
nation’s housing market for the first time. As
part of the New Deal, Congress passed the first
National Housing Act in 1934. Pursuant to the
Act over a million short-term mortgages were
refinanced and replaced with new, long-term
loans. The National Housing Act also created a
stable network of savings and loan institutions
whose deposits from small savers were directed
toward home construction and mortgages.
In addition, this Act established the Federal
Housing Administration (FHA). Through the FHA,
the federal government insured private,
long-term mortgages for home construction and
purchase. One to four family properties were
insured under Section 203 of the Act, while
Section 207 covered properties with five or more
units.
The FHA program was initiated in Arizona in
January 1935. Banks with facilities in 22
Arizona cities offered FHA insured loans up to
80% of the appraised value, not to exceed
$16,000, for new construction or to purchase
homes already built. Loan terms could be
stretched as long as twenty years, with a fixed
rate of five percent plus a one percent fee for
service and insurance charges. The following
year, the FHA set aside its rule that all new
construction be in urban areas, allowing
subdivision development outside the corporate
limits of cities and towns. In the late 1930’s
in Phoenix and elsewhere this helped encourage
development to spread out from the central core
to suburban locations, a practice that emerged
to become a hallmark of postwar subdivisions. By
1940, 2,100 new construction mortgages totaling
$8.3 million were insured statewide under the
FHA. Most of this development occurred in the
Phoenix area.
In addition to the staggering number of new
single family detached homes built nationwide
under the provisions of FHA’s Section 203, the
program supported construction of duplexes,
triplexes and four-plexes. These structures were
particularly popular in the late 1940’s as the
nation struggled with a severe housing shortage
following the end of World War II. Small equity
investors often put up their life savings to
build a modest multifamily complex, sometimes
living in one unit and renting the others to
generate income.
The Housing Act of 1956 liberalized terms for
FHA multifamily construction under both Section
203 and Section 207. These changes, along with
the shifting American demographic patterns and
rising land prices, contributed to an upswing in
new apartment projects beginning in 1957. Under
the new Section 207 terms, mortgage ceilings
were raised from 80 percent to 90 percent of
project value, with allowance for $2,250 per
room or $8,100 per unit if rooms in the project
averaged less than four per unit. Many of the
restrictions on the operation of the completed
projects were also removed. Most importantly,
equity participation requirements fell to from
ten to three percent. The National Housing Act
of 1956 also raised the multifamily housing loan
limit under Section 203 for duplexes, triplexes
and four-plexes to $15,000 for the total project
or $2500 per family unit. In spite of this
change, small apartment developments became less
common in the second postwar decade as the trend
in rental housing projects was increasingly
larger in scale.
As a result of the FHA influence, the
diversity of housing forms that characterized
earlier twentieth neighborhoods in Phoenix would
give way to patterns of uniformity and
consistency, particularly in the post World War
II period. In the process, many of the
subdivisions built out in the 1930’s, 1940’s
and early 1950’s exhibited a transitional
pattern of development, borrowing from both old
and new practices.
Additionally, The
original mix of single family homes with small
duplexes, triplexes, and quads gives Pierson
Place Historic District a unique personality
that feels more city-like than most of our
historic districts. To that original mix,
sprinkle in some multi-unit rentals built during
the 1950's and 1960's, and the very first
high-rise living in the city at the 17-story
Landmark Towers on Central.
Information Courtesy of The Historic
Preservation Office of the City of Phoenix
Neighborhood Services Department
200 West Washington Street Phoenix,
Arizona 85003 (602) 261-8600
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