Alvarado Historic District
This historic neighborhood features Period Revival architectural styles, such as Georgian, Spanish and American Colonial, and Elizabethan/Tudor. Home to the famous Heard Museum, this neighborhood features streets tastefully lined with palm and olive trees.
When one talks about the grand homes of downtown Phoenix, those located in the Alvarado Historic District have to be included. Alvarado is home to less than two dozen of the most impressive homes mostly from the 1920’s and 1930’s. In the text that follows we’ll be looking that both the past and present of the Alvarado Historic District. Please feel free to look at our Video Tour of Alvarado Historic District and its homes.
Alvarado Historic District… a rich history
Alvarado Historic District is made up of three subdivisions, Alvarado Place, Alvarado Place East and Los Olivos Replated.. All of these were once part of Los Olivos Subdivision owned by Dwight Heard’s investment companies.
- Frank & Maude Schwentker, subdivided Alvarado Place (1927) and built a wonderful southwest revival house that still stands at 2200 N. Alvarado Road. Alvarado Place is distinguished by its large, in the ½ acre range, lots and homes that average 4000 sq.ft. Interesting too is that many of the homes were built in the early 1930’s when the nation was going through the Great Depression.
- The Lane-Smith Investment Company along with Mr. & Mrs. C. Hull created Alvarado Place East (1928). Alvarado Place East has homes from 1925-1935. The lots and homes sizes are a bit smaller ranging from 1800 to 4851 sq.ft. and lots about a quarter acre.
- John & Harriet Lentz formed the Los Olivos Replated subdivision in 1925. Interesting and sad is to read is the original subdivision documents creating a deed restriction to sell or rent to non-Caucasians. Los Olivos Replated has just 8 lots with similarly large homes averaging over 3000 square feet on lots in the 1/3 to ½ acre range.
Many feel the Heard family was principally responsible for the opulence of Alvarado Place. The Heard family home, a 6000 square foot Spanish Revival called Casa Blanca, was built on the corner of Monte Vista and Central in 1903. Though no longer standing, it was a premier home of the time and attracted lots of attention and visitors to the area. FYI: The Heard’s home is not part of the current museum. It was torn down and Phoenix Towers stands in its place.
Alvarado Historic District Today
Alvarado Historic District is considered a premiere neighborhood, much like Encanto Palmcroft or Phoenix Country Club. The large homes and lots simply lend themselves to higher prices and more exclusive ownership. Add the proximity to the Heard Museum, light rail and high paying downtown Phoenix jobs and it’s no wonder Alvarado Historic is an exclusive place to live.
A number of homes went on the market in 2011-2012 creating an influx of new owners. This can be a very good especially when we have new owners rehabilitating homes like the old Schwentker estate.
We’ve set up a custom search for Alvarado Historic District. Since there are very few homes in this neighborhood, this search often shows no results. If you want to buy a home in Alvarado Historic you will need to be patient and quick. There are only 23 homes in this wondrous neighborhood and they do do not come on the market often. We’ve only seen a handful of sales in the past decade and the slim supply tends to keep values high. Don’t be surprised to see home in the million dollar range when they do come available.
If you would like an edge on finding homes in specific neighborhoods, we offer a free service. Just let us know the neighborhood you are interested in keeping an eye on and we will set up a custom search that will email you information whenever a new listing comes to market. Simply contact us at urbanconnection@thecanigliagroup.com or 602-428-5687 for this free, no obligation service.
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