City guide
49 buildings worth a detour, each with what to look for. Open them on the map, or walk them with the iPhone app, which collects each one you photograph.
The buildings that define the city's architecture.
The Arizona State Capitol was completed in 1901 to a Neoclassical design by James Riely Gordon. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and stands as one of the city's most prominent civic landmarks.
Photo: unknown , CC BY 2.5
Bethlehem Baptist Church dates to 1920 and is built in the Colonial Revival style. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, marking it as a recognized piece of the city's architectural history.
Photo: Kabugenyo , CC BY-SA 3.0
Brophy College Chapel was designed by the firm Lescher & Mahoney in the Spanish Colonial Revival style. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and carries a documented institutional history as a school chapel.
Photo: Kabugenyo , CC BY-SA 3.0
Landmark
The Burton Barr Central Library in downtown Phoenix was designed by Will Bruder, a nationally noted architect, and is recognized for its distinctive design as the city's central library.
Photo: Cygnusloop99 , CC BY-SA 3.0
Landmark
The David & Gladys Wright House is a spiral house completed in 1952, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright for his son David and daughter-in-law Gladys. Its elevated spiral form is a distinctive presence visible from the street.
Photo: Lockley , CC0
The David Morgan-Earl A. Bronson House is a Pueblo Revival Style house completed in 1927 and designed by Albert Chase McArthur, an architect associated with Frank Lloyd Wright and the Arizona Biltmore. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Photo: Tony the Marine (talk) , CC BY-SA 3.0
Landmark
First Christian Church is a Frank Lloyd Wright-designed church, part of the body of ecclesiastical work in which Wright is noted for typological experimentation.
Photo: en:User:Jaydec (Transferred by Arch2all/Originally uploaded by Jaydec) , CC BY-SA 3.0
Landmark
Grady Gammage Memorial Auditorium was completed in 1964 to a design by Frank Lloyd Wright, and it is widely retold as Wright's last public commission. Its distinctive circular auditorium form sets it apart on sight, and the building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Photo: Wars , CC BY 2.5
The Heard Building is a downtown Phoenix commercial building in the Chicago School style, an idiom rarely seen in the city's early commercial architecture. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and its commercial facade remains visible from the street.
Photo: Tony the Marine (talk) , CC BY-SA 3.0
The Maricopa County Courthouse was designed by Edward Fairfax Neild, Sr. in the Mission Revival style. Located in downtown Phoenix, it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and serves as a prominent civic landmark with a retellable civic history.
Photo: Zeb Micelli , CC0
Orpheum Lofts is a downtown Phoenix building designed by Lescher & Mahoney, a prominent regional architecture firm, in the Moderne style. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Photo: Zeb Micelli , CC0
The Orpheum Theatre, in downtown Phoenix, opened in 1929 to a Mediterranean Revival design by the firm Lescher & Mahoney. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is known for its ornate facade and retellable history as a historic theater.
Photo: Visitor7 , CC BY-SA 3.0
Landmark
The Phoenix Carnegie Library and Library Park in downtown Phoenix was designed by James M. Creighton, described as a notable local architect. The historic Carnegie library building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and its facade remains visible from the street.
Photo: Tony the Marine (talk) , CC BY-SA 3.0
The Polly Rosenbaum Building is a Moorish Revival landmark designed by the regional architecture firm Lescher & Mahoney. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and its Moorish facade stands out as a rarer style specimen on the street.
Photo: Tony the Marine (talk) , CC BY-SA 3.0
The Professional Building is a downtown Phoenix office building completed in 1932 and designed by Morgan, Walls & Clements, a notable Southwest architecture firm. Built in the Moderne style, it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Photo: JCordova , Public domain
The Rosson House, in downtown Phoenix, was completed in 1895 to a Stick style design by George Franklin Barber, a rare specimen of that style in the city. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and today operates as a well-known historic house museum.
Photo: Photograph by Greg O'Beirne , CC BY 2.5
Sacred Heart Church was designed by Albert Braun, a regional church architect, and completed in 1954 in a modern architectural style. The building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Photo: Chris English , CC BY-SA 3.0
The Sandra Day O'Connor United States Courthouse is a downtown federal courthouse designed by Richard Meier, a Pritzker Prize-winning architect. It is named for Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, and its distinctive glass facade is a defining presence on the street.
The Sirrine House is a Queen Anne-style residence, individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Photo: Marine 69-71 , CC BY-SA 4.0
St. Mary's Basilica, in downtown Phoenix, was completed in 1881 in the Spanish Colonial Revival style. It holds the distinction of being the first basilica in Arizona and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Photo: Beyond My Ken , CC BY-SA 4.0
The Sun Mercantile Building is a downtown Chicago School commercial building carrying a dual historic designation: it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and also carries an OSM heritage=yes designation, a combination noted as strengthening the evidence for its historic standing.
Photo: Cygnusloop99 , CC BY-SA 3.0
The Swindall Tourist Inn is a bungalow-style building listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It is noted as a rare surviving example of a Green Book-era tourist inn, a facility that served Black travelers during the era of segregated lodging.
Photo: Kabugenyo , CC BY-SA 3.0
Landmark
Taliesin West, in Scottsdale, was built in 1937 as Frank Lloyd Wright's winter home and studio. Wright used the compound as a personal architectural experiment, effectively a desert laboratory, and the site is now designated a National Historic Landmark, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and recognized as part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Photo: Photograph by Greg O'Beirne , CC BY 2.5
Temple Beth Israel is a downtown Mission Revival landmark designed by the regional architecture firm Lescher & Mahoney. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and its Mission-style facade remains a visible presence on the street.
Photo: Visitor7 , CC BY-SA 3.0
The Van Buren is a downtown hotel completed in 1930 and designed by the regional firm Lescher & Mahoney in a baroque revival and Spanish Colonial Revival idiom. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and its ornate hotel facade remains visible from the street.
Photo: Dmadeo , CC BY-SA 4.0
Worth a stop when you're nearby.
The 6th Avenue Hotel-Windsor Hotel is a downtown Phoenix hotel built in the Moderne style. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Photo: Tony the Marine (talk) , CC BY-SA 3.0
Landmark
The Arizona Biltmore Hotel opened in 1929, designed by Albert Chase McArthur, an architect associated with Frank Lloyd Wright's studio. The large resort hotel has a well-documented origin story and a substantial approach and street presence.
Photo: Tony the Marine (talk) , CC BY-SA 3.0
Landmark
Cosanti is an experimental studio complex in Scottsdale dating to 1956. It is listed on the Arizona Register of Historic Places.
The Hotel San Carlos is a downtown Phoenix hotel built in the Renaissance Revival style. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and its facade remains a fixture of the downtown streetscape.
Landmark
The Norman Lykes House was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in 1967, placing it among the last residential designs Wright produced.
Photo: User:Jaydec , CC BY-SA 3.0
Phoenix Indian School dates to 1891 and is built in the Spanish Colonial Revival style. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Photo: Tony the Marine (talk) , CC BY-SA 3.0
Phoenix Union High School was built in 1895 in downtown Phoenix in the Neoclassical style. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Photo: Tony the Marine (talk) , CC BY-SA 3.0
Landmark
The Rose Pauson House was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright as a desert-scheme residence in Arizona, and it carries a well-documented story as one of his Arizona house designs.
Landmark
The United States Post Office in downtown Phoenix was designed by the firm Lescher & Mahoney. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Photo: Cygnusloop99 , CC BY-SA 3.0
The Wrigley Mansion was designed by architect Earl Theodore Heitschmidt in the Spanish Colonial Revival style for the Wrigley family, and it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Photo: Pamla J. Eisenberg from Anaheim, CA USA , CC BY-SA 2.0
Fine buildings that fewer people seek out.
Beadley House No. 11 is an International Style building individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Photo: Marine 69-71 , CC BY-SA 4.0
The Edward L. Jones House is a Pueblo Revival home in Scottsdale, completed in 1932 and individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Photo: Tony the Marine (talk) , Public domain
First Church of Christ, Scientist, in downtown Phoenix was designed by Fitzhugh & Byron in the Neoclassical style. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Photo: Kabugenyo , CC BY-SA 3.0
First Presbyterian Church in downtown Phoenix was built in the Spanish Colonial Revival style. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Photo: Tony the Marine (talk) , CC BY-SA 3.0
Franklin Police and Fire High School, dating to 2007, was built in the Renaissance Revival style. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Photo: Tony the Marine (talk) , CC BY-SA 3.0
The Hurley Building is an Art Deco commercial building in downtown Phoenix, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, with its Art Deco facade still visible from the street.
Photo: Tony the Marine (talk) , CC BY-SA 3.0
modern architecture
The Jorgine Boomer House was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in 1953 in a modern architectural style. It is individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Photo: Cygnusloop99 , CC BY-SA 3.0
Kenilworth Elementary School is a Neoclassical school building in downtown Phoenix, listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Photo: Kabugenyo , CC BY-SA 3.0
The Louis J. Bohn and Gertrude Lee House is a Pueblo Revival residence completed in 1929, individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Photo: Kabugenyo , CC BY-SA 3.0
Monroe School in downtown Phoenix was built in the Neoclassical style. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Photo: Beyond My Ken , CC BY-SA 4.0
The Rose Eisendrath House is a Pueblo Revival residence completed in 1930, individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Photo: Jon Roanhaus , CC BY-SA 3.0
Landmark
The Security Building is a downtown Phoenix commercial building designed by architect Claud Wilbur Beelman, listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Photo: Tony the Marine (talk) , CC BY-SA 3.0
The Squaw Peak Inn is a Pueblo Revival building completed in 1929, individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Photo: Tony the Marine (talk) , CC BY-SA 3.0
Webster Auditorium is a Pueblo Revival building in Scottsdale, completed in 1939 and individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Photo: Tony the Marine (talk) , CC BY-SA 3.0
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