How Old Are The Oldest Houses Around Phoenix Area? (Mesa: landscaping, work)

[sunshinecities]

What is considered an "old" house in the suburbs of Phoenix? Since so many new houses are going up it seems those in the 1980's are even old. In New England, where I am we having people living in houses from even the 1800's. (a few even 1700's). So my husband and I are just curious when is a house "old" in AZ. Thanks!

[CodyW]

Nobody is really sure. My best guess?

The home of "Lord" Darrell Duppa, one of the founders of Phoenix. Built an adobe home in 1870 at 115 W. Sherman in what is now central Phoenix.



Not much to look at, eh?

My favorite old home would have to be the Rosson House.

[Cj81]

There are quite a few homes in the Central Phoenix area (around downtown) that are from the early 1900's. There are several historic neighborhoods that have a lot of homes that were built around 1920. Anything older than that is a rare find but as Cody pointed out there are some. Most homes outside of the central city are 1960 and newer. Of course you have to remember that in 1950 Phoenix had a population of about 100,000 people. People often forget how young Phoenix really is! And in case you forgot your US history , Arizona hasn't even been a state for 100 years yet. We will be celebrating the centennial on Feb 14th 2012.

[sablebaby]

I think anything in the 80's and older to be "old". 90's to present are "newer".

[vegaspilgrim]

I'd consider anything built before 1950 to be historic for Phoenix. There are tons of 1950s era neighborhoods in Phoenix, Glendale, Scottsdale, Tempe, and Mesa, since that's when the giant post-WWII housing boom began. I'd group 50s, 60s, 70s, part of the 80s neighborhoods together-- they are pretty much all variations on the basic ranch house concept. These neighborhoods tend to have wide lots, often with carports instead of garages, and the houses are built out of slump block, sometimes with an additional brick facade. In nicer, well kept neighborhoods from this era, there is a lot of lush landscaping, with mature trees. More run down houses from this era tend to have the yard filled in with only rocks and no landscaping at all. Since the late 80's, as far as I can tell, there has been a major shift in residential architecture, to the pink tile roof/white stucco wall combo, bigger houses on narrow lots that go back far, with the garage door sticking out. This is still pretty much the same formula used today, except now the builders use subtle variations of brown paint instead of only one hue of beige for the whole neighborhood.

[AksarbeN]

There are some very nice and beautiful neighborhoods with homes that are just out of this world in appearance, nothing like them anywhere else in the valley. They remind me with the green grassed yards and the well manicured trees and shrubs of homes from other little cities across the country. I can’t remember all the names of the neighborhoods but a few that come to mind are: Encanto, Willow and Arcadia areas. These are valued homes with updated and improvements that provide a wonderful living experience that you can’t find in the outer suburbs. Some of these areas are historical with a lot of great stories of the past. All of these areas are within 10-15 minutes from the downtown corridor for work.

The important thing in buying one of the homes is to know what you can do and how to do it with the house. Improvements and additions can only be viewed in the minds of the buyers. My wife and I have had the privilege of viewing the inside of several of these gems and they were unbelievable in how a person and bring magic to a home.

Unfortunately some people don’t see with their minds and only the view of their eyes. Also the areas get a bad rap because of the locations (inner city). This isn’t isolated to only Phoenix as Glendale, Tempe and Scottsdale also have a similar area within their community.