Story Architecture

1. Mission Revival, 738 W. Portland, 1890-1925

The Mission Revival substyle of the Spanish Colonial Revival style originated in California at the end of the nineteenth century. It was a revival of the traditions that produced California's Spanish missions. The style became nationally popular, but especially so in the Southwest. Following World War I, this style enjoyed renewed vigor with the resurgence of Spanish Colonial and other European revivals in American culture. The Mission Revival style is characterized by stuccoed surfaces, curvilinear parapets, and sloping Spanish tile roofs, and may include other decorative elements such as quatrefoil windows.
Examples may be found at: 726, 736-738, and 1113-1115 West Portland

2. Tudor Revival, 906 W. Portland, 1920-1935

Tudor Revival, a popular style of residential building in the early 20th century suburban houses throughout the nation, was particularly fashionable during the 1920s and 30s in Phoenix where it nearly supplanted the Craftsman Bungalow style. Identifying features include steeply pitched roofs, usually side-gabled; facade dominated by one or more multiple groupings and with multi-light glazing; and massive brick chimneys. The style is loosely based on various late Medieval English prototypes, ranging from thatch-roofed peasant cottages to grand manor houses.
Because of their concentration and height, the Tudor Revival houses dominate the F. Q. Story Neighborhood. Although the streetscapes are shared by almost equal numbers of low scale Spanish Colonial Revival and Ranch houses, it is the Tudor Revival image that is remembered by visitors to the neighborhood.
Examples may be found at: 902, 906, 1121, 1129, 1133, 1305, 1306, 1313, 1317, 1321, 1333, and 1334 West Portland; 1121 and 1309 West Latham; 717, 909, 910, 921,929, 1118, 1121, 1129, 1142, 1145, 1315, 1507, 1509, 1517, 1533, 1539 West Cu1ver; 921, 922, 925, 1133, and 1323 West Willetta; 915 West Lynwood; 907/909 West McDowell

3. Art Moderne, 1115 W. Latham, 1930-1945

The smooth, streamlined aesthetic of Art Moderne was introduced in the 1930s. The horizontally emphasized, smooth and rounded forms gave the impression that air could stream smoothly over them just as in the design of ships, airplanes and cars. Elements of this style include stuccoed walls, flat roof, coping (ledge) at the roof and horizontal lines in the asymmetrical facade. This style was an expression of the times. This new aesthetic reflected the 'modern' lifestyle and was architecture's answer to the refined, streamlined, industrial designs of this era.
Buildings of this style often display influence from the earlier Art Deco Movement. The vertical windows and massing of this example are indicative of such influence.
This is the single example of this style in the neighborhood.

4. Norman Cottage Revival, 1314 W. Portland, 1915-1945

Norman Cottage Revival houses are very nearly like their English counterparts in terms of half-timbering and roofing materials; however, these French examples normally lack the dominant front-facing cross gables characteristic of the Tudor. The most common Norman Cottages are based on rambling French farmhouses or can be identified by a prominent tower housing the principal doorway. Generally, these towers are round with a conical roof; however, in the F. Q. Story Neighborhood, there is a very unusual example with a square tower at 1314 West Portland Street. A second, asymmetrical Norman Cottage at 1338 West Willetta Street sits on its lot with the high-pitched, narrow end toward the street — very different from the Tudor houses.
Examples may be found at: 1314 West Portland; 1338 West Willetta

5. English Cottage Revival, 710 W. Culver, 1920-1935

Related to the Tudor Revival style is the English Cottage Revival. These houses replicate simple, rustic peasant cottages rather than the formal, refined baronial manors. English Cottages generally have low-pitched, jerkinhead roofs with rolled raves and cedar shingles which are reminiscent of thatched roofs. Often, they will exhibit in eyebrow dormer as an attic ventilator.
Examples may be found at: 710 and 1134 West Culver; 1125 West Latham

6. Mediterranean Revival, 737 W. Culver, 1920-1940

This substyle of Spanish Colonial Revival based its forms on the architecture of the Spanish Mediterranean rather than New World architecture. Typical elements of this style are flat roofs with parapets, Spanish-tiled roofs, little or no overhangs, arched tripartite windows, and Salomonicos (twisted columns).
The facade is often symmetrical with a central door rather than the asymmetrical composition of other Spanish Colonial Revival styles. It is usually similar to Spanish Colonial Revival in size, shape, and the use of stucco, Spanish tile, arches, and decorative details borrowed from Spanish architectural history.
Examples may be found at: 715 West Portland; 737 West Culver; 729 and 1329 West Willetta; 733 West Lynwood

7. Spanish Colonial Revival, 901 W. Culver, 1915-Present

The first commercial building in the district is the Spanish Colonial Revival at 1012 North Seventh Ave. Designed by local architects Royal Lescher and Leslie Mahoney, this building is individually listed on the National Register.
Spanish Colonial Revival is most common in the southwestern states and in Florida where original Spanish Colonial building occurred and continued into the 19th century. During the 1920's, many new communities in Florida and southern California were planned in this style, while other established towns tried to affect the Spanish Colonial character. The stylistic elements of Spanish Colonial Revival include low-pitched roofs with little or no overhang; red tile roof shingles; prominent arches over doors and windows or at porches; and an asymmetrical facade covered with stucco. The decorative features were borrowed from the entire history of Spanish architecture.
The Spanish Colonial Revival and Mediterranean houses account for about half of the Period buildings found in the F. Q. Story Neighborhood. These houses are low in scale and small in size. The Spanish Colonial Revival style now enjoys renewed popularity in Arizona, where it is seen as being responsive to, and compatible with, the arid climate and is also rooted in the regional ethnic traditions.
Examples may be found at: 715, 905 and 1325 West Portland; 910 West Moreland; 733, 901, and 925 West Culver; 729, 733, 1122 and 1310 West Willetta; 733, 725, 901, and 921 West Lynwood.

8. Pueblo Revival, 1102 W. Culver, 1915-1945

The buildings of this style are based on Southwestern historic precedent. Their forms reflect the Native American pueblos of the Southwest as well as the simple, flat roofed Spanish Colonial buildings made of adobe which are found in the region. Built of stone, adobe, or wood frame covered with stucco, the rounded edges of the walls mimic the historic adobe structures. Flat roofs and irregular parapets are also elements that reflect the earlier precedents. Protruding vigas, often mimicked by clay scuppers, simulate the old beam and adobe construction techniques. Windows are most commonly wood casement or fixed pane.
As a Period Revival style, the Pueblo Revival houses generally are of more recent construction than the Bungalows, gaining greatest popularity in the 1930s.
Examples may be found at: 1102 West Culver; 713 and 1121-23 West McDowell

9. Vernacular Ranch, 1345 W. Willetta, 1900-1930

The Vernacular Ranch houses in the F. Q. Story Neighborhood were constructed before 1936 and were based on the indigenous adobe structures of Arizona's nineteenth-century farms and cattle ranches. The Vernacular Ranch house is also reminiscent of Arizona's frontier military architecture. Such houses are identified by their rectangular floor plans; medium-pitched roofs with wood shingles; deep overhangs; raised wood floors; stuccoed walls; sleeping porches; small entrance porches (unlike the verandas of rural houses) and tall chimneys. Vernacular Ranch houses, as survivors of an earlier regional style and harbingers of a later popular style, are important contributors to the historic district.
Examples may be found at: 1309, 1333, and 1345 West Willetta; 922 West Culver

9a. California Ranch, 726 W. Willetta, 1900-1930

The California Ranch houses represent the last style introduced to the F.Q. Story Neighborhood in the closing years of its period of historic significance. They represent a reaction to the pre-Depression Period houses and are a link to the house types common in Phoenix today. The California Ranch house was developed by California architects in about 1935 as a new, affordable - yet respectable - compromise between high style and low budget. The California Ranch style was loosely based on Spanish Colonial precedents modified by influences of the Craftsman Movement and Prairie School. It also retained vestiges of Period Revival styles.

10. Prairie, 713 W. Willetta, 1900-1920

A group of architects in the Chicago area who were known as the Prairie School generated this style. Associated with Frank Lloyd Wright and Louis Sullivan, these architects helped the style to flourish from the turn of the century until about 1920. It gained widespread popularity through magazines and house plan books. The Prairie style is characterized by low pitched, hipped roofs with large overhangs, horizontal emphasis in details, massive square columns at the porch and rows of windows creating 8 horizontal band. Walls are brick or stucco covered wood frame.
Examples may be found at: 713, 730 and 734 West Willetta

11. Neoclassical, 714 W. Willetta, 1900-1920

The World Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893, with its classical theme, ushered in the popularity of the Neoclassical style which lasted until the 1950s. Although not as pure in its replications as the classic revivals that preceded it, the Neoclassical style used elements from classic Greek and Roman architecture. Most notable is the full-height porch in front with its roof supported by columns of the classic orders. Windows, dormers and other elements are arranged symmetrically around a central door. Roof balustrades, rectangular windows, cornices with classic motifs, and decorative door surrounds are typical features of this style.
This is the single example of this style in the neighborhood.

12. Bungalow, 707 W. Willetta, 1900-1940

The first house built in the F. Q. Story Neighborhood is a bungalow at 709 West Portland.

The Mission Revival substyle of the Spanish Colonial Revival style originated in California at the end of the nineteenth century. It was a revival of the traditions that produced California's Spanish missions. The style became nationally popular, but especially so in the Southwest. Following World War I, this style enjoyed renewed vigor with the resurgence of Spanish Colonial and other European revivals in American culture. The Mission Revival style is characterized by stuccoed surfaces, curvilinear parapets, and sloping Spanish tile roofs, and may include other decorative elements such as quatrefoil windows.
Examples may be found at: 707 West Willetta; 718 and 734 West Culver; 734 West Moreland; 918 and 921 West Portland.

Back to The Table of Contents Continue to FQ History