Information
provided courtesy:Historic Preservation Office
of the City of Phoenix Neighborhood Services
Department
200 West Washington Street Phoenix, Arizona
85003
"You
will find the tract on the west side of Sixteenth Street
one and one-quarter miles north
of McDowell Road. Just three miles north of the post
office, in walking distance from golf links and Country
club.There are two model homes on the tract, awaiting
your inspection - beautiful homes.
There is an abundance of good water. The lots have a
60-foot frontage and can be bought for easy terms.
Watch for the opening announcement!
DRIVE OUT TO CHEERY LYNN TODAY"
And drive they did- in Studebakers, Packard's, and
Nash's. The year was 1928, Hoover won the White House,
Earhart flew across the Atlantic, and Phoenix was in the
midst of a building boom. The Cheery Lynn subdivision
was one of several new neighborhoods brought to market.
Its call to
buyers drive out today heralded a new phase in the
physical expansion of the growing city.
Laying the foundation
Two generation earlier, in 1867, Phoenix was born as a
dusty supply outpost serving Camp
McDowell to the northeast. Inspired by the traces of
ancient Hohokam canals, speculators sensed
the potential for a fertile Salt River Valley. The
canals were reconstructed, irrigation spawned
agriculture, and settlers began to arrive. By 1870, a
township had been planned and platted in square-mile
grids just north of the Salt River flood plain.
As the population grew, the lands to the south were
devoted to agriculture, and the town expanded north
toward its only natural boundary, the Cave Creek ash.
Selected as the territorial capital in 1889,
the city added the business of government to its
economic mix. By the turn of the century, Phoenix
had developed into a small but flourishing urban center.
The production of cotton and citrus fueled growth in the
commerce of marketing and distribution. The majority of
Phoenix land now was controlled by a small number of
speculators anticipating agricultural and residential
development.
Though the rejuvenated canals brought life giving water
to the Valley, stable growth required more
than the seasonal flows the Salt River could provide.
Landowners pressed for governmental action on
water control projects of a massive scale. Their efforts
were rewarded with the passage of the National
Reclamation Act of 1902. The Act enabled legislation
that led to construction of Roosevelt Dam in
1911, ensuing a stable supply of water for the Valley.
With the granting of statehood in 1912, the elements
were now in place for an explosion of growth.
The population of Phoenix doubled during each of the
first three decades of the 20th century. In 1923,
construction of the Cave Creek Dam stemmed persistent
floods of water, spawning new construction
along the city's north-west side. The northward march
continued, and growth and technology soon would
couple to change the face of Phoenix
On the
road to the Biltmore
From its origins in 1887, the Phoenix Street Railway
Company was the main transportation system
for the city, early track lines radiated from downtown
north to the Phoenix Indian School and north-
west to the State Fairgrounds. Subsequent lines
paralleled Central Avenue north along second and Fifth
avenues, providing transportation to the emerging
"suburbs.
"The correlation of streetcar lines and subdivisions was
not a chance occurrence. The proximity of
transportation was key to the promotion of residential
developments. Eager to enhance their property
values, real estate owners and investors financed the
construction of extensions to the major lines. By
the late 20s, however, the automobile was beginning to
influence the location of new neighborhoods.
The dependence on the streetcar was over.
On January 28, 1928, a tract of land described as Lot 1
Beverly Heights was subdivided under the
name of Cheery Lynn. Bounded by 16th Street on
the east and Earl Drive on the south, the project
was three miles from downtown, somewhat isolated from
"in-town" neighborhoods, and a dramatic
departure from development patterns of the past.
Ownership of automobiles was now widespread,
and neighborhoods no longer need be tied to rail lines.
Services, amenities and marketing now determined the
success of residential development. Cheery Lynn
was promoted as ultra modern, progressive, and
indicative of the decline of streetcars, heralded as on
the road to the new Arizona Biltmore. Subdivided by
William Fosburg, the project contained 89 lots, 60 feet
wide along 60-foot streets. While early Phoenix
developments had concen-
trated on the sale of lots, Cheery Lynn
represented the newest trend of packaging completed
homes
in a neighborhood stamped with a defined character and
identity.
Back to
the future
Fosburg and his designer and superintendent of
construction, Marion E. Carr, conceived Cheery
Lynn as a neighborhood of"…English type homes…of the
very latest designs." Responding to the arch-
itectural trends of the time, the homes were of English
Tudor and English Cottage Styles. Compact, with
rectangular and L-shaped plans, these styles are usually
single story, brick homes that feature massive
chimneys, half-timbering and gabled roofs, which vary
from the medium pitch of the English Cottage
Style to the very steeply gabled English Tudor.
Fourteen Tudor Revival homes were constructed in Cheery
Lynn in 1928. This early construction, when teamed with
subsequent styles, has left Cheery Lynn with its most
striking feature - a dramatic interplay of the angles
and pitches displayed by the roofs of competing
architectural styles.
Changing fortunes
The rapid success of Cheery Lyn was a testament
to Fosburg' s keen timing and marketing savvy. He
successfully packaged financing, neighborhood amenities,
and architectural design. The development capitalized on
the popular Period Revival styles and captured the peak
of Phoenix prosperity in the late 20s.
In 1932, in response to the advance of the Depression
into Phoenix, Fosburg engineered a trade of his
Cheery Lynn properties with Peoria cotton ranch
owner, H.M. Stough. A former builder in the Los Angeles
area, Strough appeared enthusiastic about the Phoenix
housing market and put his talent as a builder to work
in Cheery Lynn.
While the effects of the Great Depression were slow to
arrive in Phoenix, like the rest of the country,
the Valley eventually succumbed. Though his trade of
land was poorly timed, Strough remained undaunted and
began to fashion his own success in Cheery Lynn through
resourcefulness and ingenuity.
Teaming with the O'Malley Building Materials Company,
Strough worked his way through the Depression one house
at a time. Sustained by advances of materials and money
from O'Malley, Strough would construct a single home,
while housing his family in the structure's garage.
After a few months, construction of another new house
would commence. The Strough family would move its
residence to
each new structure as the cycle continued. Using
proceeds from rental and sales to repay O'Malley,
Strough eventually would construct 23 homes within
Cheery Lynn until his death in 1938.
Under Strough' s influence, Cheery Lynn blossomed
with an abundance of parapets, stucco, and red
clay tile. Trips to California kept Strough abreast of
the latest trends in architectural styling. Monterey
and other Spanish Revivals had eclipsed the English
styles, and Stough' s transplant of the Monterey look
would provide Cheery Lynn with its most dominant style.
Constructed primarily of block, a typical home
featured low walls and wing walls, some forming
courtyards; vigas (wood beams); arches; and rooflines
highlighted by red tile.
The
imprint of Uncle Sam
As the Depression persisted, the federal government
began to play a dominant role in the
construction of homes throughout the country. Congress
enacted the National Housing Act of
1934 to stimulate industry, provide employment, and
improve both nationwide housing standards
and conditions with respect to home mortgage financing.
Fueled by the loan insurance programs of the Federal
Housing Administration (FHA), home construction took on
a new vitality. With the loans came regulation and
standards that once again changed the look of
construction. Lavish Period Revivals gave way to more
muted forms.
Diversity was replaced by uniformity and consistency.
Floor plans were simplified, material was standardized,
and ornamentation reduced to a minimum. Period styles
gradually evolved into the Transitional and Early Ranch
Styles, simple structures characterized by an L-shaped
pan, low-pitched gable or hip roof, and columned porch
at the entry. While a small number of these homes were
constructed in Cheery Lynn prior to World War II,
the majority of the subdivision's post-War homes were
modest versions of the French Provincial Ranch Style,
which became the quintessential style of the Post-War
West.
Today and tomorrow
Bearing witness to the past, Cheery Lynn today
reflects and preserves the history of the city's
development. Water, politics, technology, and
ingenuity all combined to create this unique enclave of
homes at the northern edge of the city's surging
residential core. Historic designation of the district
has focused added attention on the value of preserving
such an asset and will ensure the
future of Cheery Lynn into the new century.
Desert Showcase
