Phoenix, Arizona - Phoenix Homesteads Historic District

I started the holiday Monday with a short geocaching adventure.  It took me to an area near to my home but one that was new to me.  The geocache was placed to bring us to this forest in the city to see these adobe homes from the 1930s.

Phoenix Homestead Historic District was part of the federal government's program to resettle disadvantaged farmers and unemployed urban workers to planned, part time subsistence farm projects. This experimental program was initiated by Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal Administration in 1933. The Phoenix Homesteads were established in two sections on a piece of land originally known as the Baxter Tract, located approximately four miles east and north of downtown Phoenix (just north of Thomas and 27th Street).

The first section, known as the Rural Homes of Arizona, was located on the southern forty acres of the Baxter Tract. This land was subdivided into forty lots; twenty-five homes were built in this section in 1935. The homes were designed by Phoenix architect Robert T. Evans, who used locally available adobe materials and the regional pueblo revival style in his plans. Lots were large enough to allow a family to grow a significant portion of their food in a garden and orchard and to keep chickens and a cow. Residents in this section were to work part time in the city and part time on the farm. [Source: http://www.azarchivesonline.org/xtf/view?docId=ead/asu/phxhomestead.xml]

Initially I was going to drive and snap photos from the car, but I ended up parking and talking to homeowners about the unique neighborhood.  Jim mentioned that I should come back the weekend before Christmas as the street is lit with luminaries and there are many open houses.

I don't know much more about each of these homes but wanted to share and save the pictures.  The map shows the neighborhood. The main street for the photos is Pinchot Avenue, the street near the bottom of the map.

The good news about the neighborhood is that there are tall trees and lots of vegetation.  The bad news is that the vegetation covers most of the great views of the homes.

 Some remodeling on this home.

 This is not an adobe home but I did love the airstream.

 The trees make Pinchot Avenue a shady dog walking paradise.

 The little blue box is a neighborhood library.

Last house on my tour. 

This is a link to one of the house which leases: http://azarchitecture.com/listing/homestead-1930s-adobe-for-lease/  I don't know how long this link will be available.

Here is a link to a Arizona State University document on the project:

This is the html version of the file http://apps.acsa-arch.org/resources/proceedings/uploads/streamfile.aspx?path=ACSA.AM.83&name=ACSA.AM.83.96.pdf.

Samples from the article: