Phoenix Indian School, Cottage, Northeast Corner of Central Avenue & Indian School Road, Phoenix

Source document Quoted word for word from HABS ARIZ,7-PHEN,17E-. Not written, edited or summarised by this site.

Once flanked by two similar structures to the south, by the Cottage was the only remaining building on the east side of Redwing Place. It was the last surviving example of this kind of structure, and the only complete evidence of the character of early twentieth-century residential building on the site. PHOENIX INDIAN SCHOOL, COTTAGE (Residence) HABS NO.: AZ-145-E (page 2) PART

Historical Information

Physical History. 1. Date of Erection: (Pierson). 2. Architect/Builder: Architect not known; builder not known, but almost certainly the work of students at the School itself. 3. Original and Subsequent Owners: U.S. Department of the Interior. 4. Alterations and Additions: An evaporative cooling unit was added on top of the roof. The screened porches to the north and east were closed in with boarding at an unknown date.The windows were covered over with plywood sheeting and the building was abandoned at an unknown date, but probably c. B Historical Context. The Cottage (Residence) was erected in (Pierson: "The old Superintendent's Cottage was moved and made into two houses on Redwing Place north of the Doctor's cottage" ).

The Aerial View confirms that the location later occupied by the two houses was vacant in At the time the Cottage was built the Hospital stood on the north side of Midway, flanked east and west by small cottages which, together with the three houses to the southeast, on Redwing Place, formed the medical complex on the site. As Pierson's reference made clear, it was the southernmost of the three Redwing Place cottages that was the Doctor's house. All of the cottages served as residences for hospital staff. The last use of the Cottage was as a Dental Clinic, probably from c. to c. A small sign: "Dental Clinic" was on the west wall, next to the front door, and another similar sign on the east wall at the north end.

For several decades there was a small shed to the east of the Cottage, used as a garage. The shed, along with the two cottages that stood to the south, appeared on the Site Plan; all three were demolished after that date. The Cottage was abandoned, probably c. and allowed after that to degrade to the point of unusability. PART II ARCHITECTURAL INFORMATION. A. General Statement. The Cottage was in a general way in the bungalow style, as testified by its relatively low roof pitch and purlins projecting below the eave overhangs.

On the other hand the use of wood shingles and weatherboarding for the entire exterior suggests survival of the surfaces and detailing common in the residential style known as Queen Anne, a fashion whose vogue did not extend beyond the turn of the century elsewhere.The combination of characteristics from more than one stylistic period was not at all unusual in Arizona architecture up to the product less of a vigorous eclecticism than of an ignorance of architectural niceties that would have raised eyebrows in more sophisticated parts, but which was not remarked on the PHOENIX INDIAN SCHOOL, COTTAGE (Residence) HABS NO.: AZ-145-E (page 3) wild frontier.

Even the bungalow style was falling out of favor by about but its persistence in somewhere like Phoenix speaks only of the cultural lag that continued even then to separate the more remote parts of America from the major centers of cultural influence. B. Description. E&tSQQC. A single story, rectangular house, 42' north-south x east-west, of timber construction (balloon frame), on concrete foundations. The long axis of the rectangle runs north-south, covered by a low-pitched roof with gables at the north and south. On the west (principal) face, there is a projecting entrance porch with a central stair, wide overall x deep in concrete to a concrete porch base, 25' wide x 8' deep; above, carried on two posts, a gabled porch roof.

At the northeast corner of the building there is an extension, east-west, projected 42" to the north, covered by its own small gabled roof, which originally opened to the east as a porch. Along the south half of the east face of the building was a screened porch, north-south x 8' east-west, covered by a shed roof. Interior- The interior consists of a large central room or entrance hall entered from the west porch, opening to the south to a smaller room [dining room?} through a double width doorway, beyond which to the east lay the kitchen, and beyond mat in turn the southeast porch. To the north of the entrance hall lay another room [bedroom?], beyond which to the east lay a smaller room and a bathroom.

Between the northeast corner room and the kitchen at the southeast there was a large room with its floor about 6" below the floor level of the rest of the house, perhaps originally a sleeping porch opening to the east. Construction. A typical residential structure of the Territorial period, entirely timber above top of footings which are at grade. Sheathed externally from top of footings to floor level (about with wood shingles on the north, south and west; on the east side, the shingles were replaced by a screen of pickets laid vertically. From floor to ceiling height, the Cottage was sheathed externally with t & g, V-jointed, horizontal timber siding, 7" wide; at the north and east porches, vertical t & g sheathing floor to ceiling; all wood shingle sheathing above the ceiling line.

The roof was carried on purlins, 4" x 6", which project out to the eaves, the rafters above are 1 x 3 av. 30" c/c with t & g boarding above, covered with wood shingles; the eaves overhang an av. 36" on all sides. All gables vented below the ridge position with screens of vertical battens. All windows were double hung, wood framed, either 1 over 1 or 2 over 2. Interior floor timber, walls and ceilings plaster. The double width opening between entrance hall and dining room was narrowed at an unknown date; subsequent alterations removed any original fixtures. Sources. See Source List in Phoenix Indian School Report, HABS NO.: AZ-145. Drawings located: no drawings were located for the original building or for the alterations.

PHOENIX INDIAN SCHOOL, COTTAGE (Residence) HABS NO.: AZ-145-E (page4) Project Information. This project was undertaken according to the terms of Subagreement No. 2 to Cooperative Agreement No. CA-80O0-9-8O05 between United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service and the Arizona Board of Regents for and on behalf of Arizona State University. This project was carried out prior to transfer of the property from Federal ownership, and the property was documented as part of the Memorandum of Agreement among the Department of the Interior, Arizona SHPO, and the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation. Prepared by: Bernard M. Boyle. Title: Professor.

Affiliation: School of Architecture, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona- Date: 31 December PHOENIX INDIAN SCHOOL, COTTAGE (Residence) HABS NO.: AZ-145-E (page 5) COTTAGE, Sketch Floor Plan 1 1 is ! D 1 1 1 i 1 1 1 1 1 ! % ' l 1 ^ i i i i i i i i