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
