Country Club Park Historic District

Generally bounded by Thomas Road, Virginia Avenue, Dayton Street and the alley west of Eighth Street.

Period of Significance: 1939-1946

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The Country Club Park Historic District is located in Phoenix, Arizona, northeast of the downtown business district. The district boundaries are Thomas Road and Virginia Avenue to the north and south, Dayton Street to the east and the alley between Seventh and Eighth Streets on the west. Adjacent to the residential development of Country Club Park is the North High School Complex on its eastern boundary, commercial uses along Seventh Street to the west and the Phoenix Country Club on the north. The Coronado Historic District, an earlier residential neighborhood, is immediately south of the district. The district occupies approximately 44 acres of land platted as a residential subdivision in 1939. The focal point of the neighborhood is a 2.5-acre elliptical park, known as Country Club Park Oval, which is located in the center of the development. Due to the park, the district has a curvilinear street plan and variations in the size and configuration of the lots. Although the right-of-way is substantially wider, the streets are only 30 feet wide, allowing ample room for street trees, lawns and public sidewalks. Early residents of the subdivision had the opportunity to select from a variety of curb and sidewalk options which resulted in a wide variety of combinations. The diversity of the infrastructure, coupled with the curved non-through streets and public open space, creates a distinct setting for the district's dwellings which are placed with common setbacks along the blocks. Most houses have detached garages located on the rear of the lots or porte cocheres in sideyards.

The Country Club Park Historic District consists of 142 houses built between 1939 and 1945. Ninety-seven percent (97%) of these structures are Ranch style homes. The variations that can be found in their plan and detailing is representative of the evolution of this important residential building form in Phoenix. All houses are one-story and almost exclusively of brick construction. Although generally laid out in square, rectangular or L-shaped plans, the inclusion of a variety of porch forms, projecting bays and porte cocheres create some complexity in their basic arrangements. Roofs are both hipped and gabled with cross and sidegabled versions equally represented. The pitch of the roofs range from a medium to low. Exterior brick walls are both natural and painted and occasionally covered with stucco. Modern roofing materials, such as asphalt or composite shingles, predominate with some wood shake and shingles. Windows are uniformly steel casement.

The primary difference among the Country Club Park Ranch houses relates to the decorative treatments or the absence of detailing which can be found. Approximately a third of the houses are reflective of the transition from earlier Period Revival styles. These houses tend to be more asymmetrical in their massing and proportions. An occasional bay, octagonal or circular window is incorporated in the building along with the more standard rectangular and square window openings. Decorative iron or wood porch supports and shutters also provide some interest to the exterior.

Source: https://npgallery.nps.gov/GetAsset/be0f4eaf-8d5b-451a-b7d5-72cd54b53161

A notable subset of the Ranch houses are the French Provincial style dwellings which account for over 50 homes in the district. Houses in this category are united by their characteristic hipped roof, although in Country Club Park the pitch tends to be more moderate than the steeply pitched high style versions found elsewhere in the community. Eaves are narrow with exposed rafters or, more commonly, a cornice molding. Variation to the facades of these houses are created through the use of offset doorways and a wide variety of entry porch configurations.

A handful of Ranch houses also exhibit features from other stylistic categories. The use of red tile, an arched window opening, decorative ironwork or stucco sheathing gives several buildings a Spanish Eclectic influenced appearance. Clapboard gables and classical porch treatments make some homes reminiscent of the American Colonial Revival traditions.

The Country Club Park Historic District also has three notable examples of the Art Moderne style. Typical of the Modernistic form, the houses are one-story, laid out in a linear plan, broadside with a strong horizontal orientation. Roofs are flat and the smooth stucco walls are rounded at the corners. Porch hoods and entry ways also are curved. Corner windows and glass block also are characteristically used on the houses.

Very few of the residences in the district have had significant alterations to their original designs or materials. Those modifications which have been made are minor and unobtrusive. As a result, only five of the houses in the district are considered non-contributing. The intact condition of both the houses and the original subdivision's layout and setting of the Country Club Park Historic District gives it a high degree of integrity.

Source: https://npgallery.nps.gov/GetAsset/be0f4eaf-8d5b-451a-b7d5-72cd54b53161