Visited: Afternoon while waiting for lunch nearby…read more A fun, informative glimpse into life in Phoenix in the late 1800s/early 1900s. The home is in its original location and hasn't been moved. A lot of parts have been restored and it seems well cared for. You can only explore the Rosson House through a guided tour (about 45-60 minutes), which costs $15 per person. Our guide was knowledgeable and funny (blanking on his name--will add if I remember!). He walked us through the history of the house, the people that lived there, what they used each room for, and the types of possessions they owned. It was interesting to think about what life might have looked like in the late 1800s/early 1900s, and how the rooms evolved over time. The rooms are furnished with a mix of original and period-appropriate items, so it feels immersive and well-curated. We stopped in while waiting for our table at Pizzeria Bianco, and it was a perfect way to pass the time. Overall: A great piece of history, an 1895 house still standing in the middle of downtown Phoenix.

Was in the area from out of town and I wanted to see this beautiful house in person. I wasn't able…read moreto go inside but the outside is so pretty Love all the details. It's truly breathtaking

It was the Felch House and it's front lawn chess set that had caught my eye about eight months ago…read more Then, the whole tree-lined street of Lynwood seemed to suck us in as we'd just done to our breakfasts. (Vovomeena) For a leisurely after-breakfast walk, we went. We admired the grassy front lawns (many "newer" suburban communities don't allow grass in the front lawn) and the architecture of the homes (bungalows mostly) as well as the mature trees and landscaping. Then, just a couple days ago, it happened again. Lynwood is one nice street down which to take a stroll and check out the architecture. And it was then that I learned that this area is designated "The Historic Roosevelt Neighborhood" which is the area from McDowell to VanBuren and from Central to 7th Avenue. it's a series of neighborhoods that grew North of Phoenix between 1893 and 1930. Lynwood St is actually located in an overlap with historic area: "The FQ Story Neighborhood Historic District" which spans from McDowell south to Roosevelt Street and from 7th Ave west to Grand. I'd thought I'd noticed, too, as we'd driven by one of the homes..that there was a white box affixed to a tree. Christmastime...letters to Santa maybe? or maybe the home had a special historical designation...? The joy of discovery. Simple stuff. It wasn't either of those. Note: There's an annual home tour in early November "Historic Roosevelt Home Tour" If you feel like you want to keep walking/sightseeing - check out the nearby "Japanese Friendship Garden" at Portland and 3rd Ave...(there is an admission fee.)

So for my thousand Yelp review I wanted to make it special. I wanted to chose a place that is a…read morestaple of the local community. I mean after all, isn't that what Yelp is all about? I wanted to review a local business that seemed to Ooooooze AZ identity. Sooooooo, I even put a call out to my friends and fellow Yelpies on social media. I asked them to think about it. When they thought of AZ, what local businesses came to mind? I got so many great answers. However, when I saw the list I realized that after 15 years being Elite, I had already reviewed all of them. When I went onto this page and realized I had not made a review of the David and Gladys Wright House. It seemed like a perfect Karma solution and partnership. I did not know how that was even possible that I had not already reviewed this local treasure. What a great way to complete my One Thousandth review with such an amazing place! To honor a great artist that is associated and influenced within the State of 48 is special. Wright is one of the Kings of American Architect. So let's begin. When you go you will be greeted to a unique layered circular shaped home. Some of you might recognize the ASU Grady Gammage cake swirl technique. ( do you like my fancy non expert architecture terminology there? Ha!) The driveway is the same. Take in all the glory of that breathtaking view of camelback mountain and the property. According to https://franklloydwright.org/site/david-wright-house/ the masterpiece of this Wright residential home home was Titled "How to Live in the Southwest" in the plans by Frank Lloyd Wright, the David & Gladys Wright House is one of three spiral designs realized by Wright. Raised on columns to provide a view of the property's citrus orchard, the house at the base of Camelback Mountain looked outward towards the surrounding desert and inwards onto a central courtyard with a plunge pool and shaded garden. David and Gladys Wright lived in the house until their deaths (David in 1997 at the age of 102, and Gladys in 2008 at the age of 104), after which the residence fell into disrepair. Saved from demolition, its current owners are restoring the property. In early 2022, the house was added to the National Register of Historic Places. Definitely sign up for a tour and go and check it out. It is totally worth it for historical and artistic purposes alone. Oh, okay, who am I kidding? It is worth the price alone to just check out that view and the home. Just a quick note, you cannot just show up and expect to get in. You have to go with a tour. Enjoy your visit. Happy 1,000 review! I hope this was helpful to those architecture and history fans out there.

Came here for a holiday lights open house this year…read more You park at the south side of the church at 5225 E. Camelback and there is a door that you walk through to get to the Wright House. I have to share, it was a beautiful evening. The weather was warm and even before we got out of our car, we could see the hundreds of Christmas lights twinkling in the distance. As we walked through the door, we were greeted warmly by volunteers and there was a long, long driveway leading to a giant Christmas tree beautifully lit, the long driveway continues to the house. There was a string quartet playing and hot chocolate/ coffee & macaroon served by the Henry. I brought my 9 year old son & his friend with me. There were not too many kids there which was too bad since the look of wonder on their faces were priceless. They were old enough to appreciate the experience and the architecture. It created a memorable experience for them. The house itself is being restored and sits on I think sits on at least a 3 acre property. It's beautiful & worth a visit. Thank you for opening this up for the public for this holiday season!

The tour was worth the five year wait/lottery! We had a wonderful docent and received a fantastic…read moretour of Tovrea Castle which was superb in every way possible. I have lived in Arizona, specifically the Phoenix area, for most of my life and have driven by Tovrea Castle thousands of times. It was so cool to be able to walk the grounds and get a peek inside. I would highly suggest entering the lottery, it's free and some people have better luck than I did and can get in sooner than 5 years. This was an insightful tour mixed with great storytelling and history. The basement with all the artifacts of the family and learning more about the area makes me proud to be a part of Arizona! Worth the visit!

If you live in the Valley it's highly likely that you have driven by this place. From the 202 fwy…read moreyou can easily see it. I often wondered what is that building? Finally after passing it so many times I was curious enough to look it up. I googled "cake shaped building PHX" and it was the first result. "Tovrea (said tov-ree) Castle aka A jewel in the Sonoran desert" Since 2010 the City of Phoenix purchased, renovated, and opened it for tours. The very abbreviated story with this place is that some homesteaders from the early 1900s owned the land, sold 277 acres to a wealthy Italian man. Alessio Carraro had built a fortune in the sheet metal business in the 1920s from San Fran. He planned to build a hotel resort surrounded by a housing subdivision on 277 acres, Carraro Heights. The castle was built near the timing of when the Great Depression set in. Carraro wanted out, he sold the castle and some amount of acreage (for a fraction of his investment) to Della Tovrea, wife of cattle baron E.A. Tovrea. She lived there until her tragic death in 1969. Nearby is the Stockyard Restaurant, built by E.A.'s son so cattlemen had somewhere to eat near the stockyards. That restaurant still exists today. I plan to check it out. If you want more details and full story, go take the tour :) however tickets are not easy to come by. Tours sell out many months in advance and they started using a lottery system. I bought my tickets months ago. However worth a try to go. I wouldn't say its the most amazing thing I've ever seen and the use of the word "castle" is a stretch. I've been inside some real castles in US and Europe, however it's interesting and a fun thing to do and it satisfied my curiosity! :) Per their website- The Ticket Lottery for Fall 2022 Tickets has ended and all tickets have been distributed - look for last minute cancellation tickets. Ticket Lottery for Spring 2023 Regular Tours closed on October 15, 2022 and Winners will be notified via email starting November 1, 2022. https://tovreacastletours.com

AZ Ghost Tours is absolutely fantastic! Our guide, Vinnie, was knowledgeable, fun, and brought the…read morehaunted history to life with real evidence and amazing stories. If you want a ghost tour with real history, real evidence, and real thrills, this is the one. Highly recommend!"

Kinda a Crazy time with my daughter but still had fun. Highly recommend doing at least onceread more

This little spot is my favorite public space in downtown Phoenix. Heritage Square evokes a…read moremetropolitan feel focusing on past, present and future. I think it's the juxtaposition of the old historic houses against the rising modern skyline to the west. Or maybe it's the ethnic and cultural festivals galore, where I can catch sumo wrestling or hula dancers. Or perhaps it's the fact that it's a walkable city block and also host to the Arizona Science Center, Phoenix Museum of History and other historical houses or great restaurants like Pizzeria Bianco. It might be a combination of all of those things. I have spent many weekends here, too many to count. While I dig the ethnic festivals in particular (just went to the Indian festival the other day) - it's also host to the Rainbows Festival, which celebrates the GLBT community and diversity and is one of the largest street festivals in Phoenix. I am diggin on you, Heritage Square. Werd!

Phoenix is full of history and Heritage Square is one of those places that maintains some of its…read morepast. Heritage Square is home to some preserved 19th and 20th century homes, museums and restaurants. The Rosson House is a beautiful restored 1895 Queen Anne Victorian house that was once home to early settlers in Phoenix. Heritage Square also hosts many food and cultural festivals. There is a large garage nearby for parking and ASU has a small campus next door. The Arizona Science Center is the building that stands out the most here at Historic Heritage Square. I have gone to it a couple of times and have enjoyed my time there. Arizona's most iconic restaurant Pizzeria Bianco by James Beard Award-winner Chris Bianco is also here. It can be a very long wait to get a table and has been visited by many celebrates like Jerry Seinfeld and Jimmy Fallon over the years. Sometimes I will park near Heritage Square while going to a baseball game and like to enjoy its relaxing peaceful atmosphere before the game. There are some shaded areas to take cover on warm sunny days.

My family and I were in the Phoenix area for a few weeks and our cousin recommended a haunted pub…read moretour. I am typically very scared of spooky haunted things, but I am so happy that we ended up going! It was the perfect mix of spooky, educational, and fun. Add some alcohol to it and its a party! Jared was our tour guide and her took us to three locations. Jared's personality is infectious! Not only was he knowledgable, but his storytelling skills really impressed me. He was able to immerse us at each place and provided eerie facts and information that added to the over atmosphere. He also had employees that work at each place give first hand testimonies which made things even spookier! A few things to remember! 1) Make sure to take lots of pictures and videos! You never know if you will catch something supernatural. 2) You have to get at least 1 drink at each place. 3) Have fun!

Loved Jared's guide style! He is so fun, funny, and entertaining, so knowledgeable, and so…read moreaccommodating! We learned a lot about history and had a ton of fun, meeting new people along the way. Looking forward to the holiday light tour

Decided to take a ghost tour at the last minute and Phoenix Ghosts made it simple to do online…read more Adam did a great job taking on this tour which we thought was pretty resonably priced. We added the additional 30 minutes on our original tour. Phoenix downtown is such a modern city now, that sometimes the past is overlooked so this is a nice tour of history and ghost stories combined. We had a great time and needed a good walk after dinner. Make sure to wear comfortable shoes for walking.

This past week we were in phoenix for a wedding and our bride, being a bit spooky herself, arranged…read morefor us to go on this ghost tour and we had a blast! Lucas was our guide and he was charming, kind and very informative. We were a group of sassy girls and he handled our sass and played along while still keeping us on track and focused. We had warned Lucas ahead of time that I had a knee injury and he was so careful to make sure I was accommodated and had places to sit whenever possible and checked in with me to make sure I was doing ok. I had been to phoenix hundreds of times but still managed to learn a ton of things I didn't know. Also we caught a weird figure in photos at the Rosson House when we looked back. A lot of us had the same photo from the same angle and the figure wasn't in all the photos. So definitely spooky!! 100% would recommend.

Did a night tour with a friend. This house, its story and the treasures it houses were colorful and…read morefascinating. I don't want to give anything away that my photos didn't already reveal. You owe it to yourself to do a tour. The gift shop/cottage houses more of the properties treasures: lavender inspired home, bath, and body products. I'm coming back to take a soap making class.

I've always assumed a celebrity once lived here, but it turns out that's far from the truth. The…read morereal history was nothing like I expected. I won't give it away--you'll have to go on the tour yourself. Upon arrival, there's free parking on the premises in a designated grassy area. John was a great tour guide--nice, informative, and absolutely hilarious! There were a few places we couldn't see that I personally would've loved to explore, such as the hidden rooms behind the doors and the son's room upstairs. Due to time, those areas weren't included, which was a bit of a bummer. Overall, though, the tour was enjoyable. Since the place was built in the '80s, there aren't really any ghost stories--probably because in the '80s the only ghosts people talked about were the Ghostbusters. The property definitely needs a bit of love. The carpets need cleaning, and the whole place could use a refresh to bring back that '80s charm instead of feeling more like the '50s. I did love the artwork throughout, especially the stair rails, doors, and mural. A small on-site café or coffee spot would be amazing--there's so much potential here to elevate the experience, especially if they plan to maintain it as historic grounds. They no longer host weddings here, which is disappointing since I remember driving by years ago and seeing celebrations happening on the property. Overall, the tour is worth the price and definitely something to check out for yourself. Drink your coffee before you go! And remember: don't touch anything on the tour. It's always embarrassing when the guide has to remind everyone because of that one person who just can't follow the rules. Sheesh! Why is there always that one human?‍ The kitchen was definitely a 80s kitchen. In any case, I recommend checking it out if you're a history buff or just simply need something to do. Tours are held on the weekends in 3 sessions... check their site and get your tickets online. (Subject to change) Tell John that you heard it here! Btw... There's a cute gift shop on premises that sells lavender soaps and trinkets. They also sell sugar cookies and soda No coffee on the premises at all!

Wow! What a great experience and such a fun time with Captain Kirk and Monica at the helm! Safe,…read morefun, great time learning all about Scottsdale too! You won't regret booking with them, fun, personable, thoughtful, and great time!

We were in the Scottsdale area on vacation and came across their website. We texted them and…read morereceived a call back from Monica within 15 minutes. We booked an Ice cream and Gelato tour around Old Town and the Waterfront and were picked up within 15 minutes by "Captain Kirk". He is a very warm and personable guide. He was well versed in the area including buildings/archetecture, public art, history of the area, restaurants and entertainment venues. We had three stops on the tour for 1) Ice cream, 2) gelato and 3) sorbet. All were excellent. We certainly had our fill of sweet treats, all included in the price of the tour. We would certainly recommend this company for one of their many various tours, based on this experience. It was a weekday in January so just be aware that you may need to make more advanced reservations than we did. Thank you Monica and Kirk.