Donna Reiner has written many articles over the years for the Arizona Republic and others about Phoenix history and memorials.  She is a regular contributor to our newsletter. This month Donna tells us about the Rancho Ko-Ma-Ke, a beautiful historic stone structure near south mountain.

Nestled between Highland Canal and South Mountain, in the middle of a city park, quietly stands a shaded two-story stone building. A plaque near the building’s entrance indicates that this structure is on the City of Phoenix Historic register, but city staff knows little about its former life.

The name Rancho Ko-Mat-Ke conjures up images of some large estate, but in actuality, it contained only 35 acres of citrus and dates along with the Spanish Mission Revival home. It was a quiet place in the desert whose means Hump-Turtle’s Back in O’odham.

John and Helen Albrecht purchased the land in 1932, and built their home sometime after that. While the 1938 city directory lists them residing on South 16^th Street near the Highland Canal, later directory entries also listed it as a guest ranch.

According to ads and a brochure, the five bedroom Tufa stone construction offered exclusive residency for only eight people from October through June. Each room had its own bath and the secluded area offered a unique retreat. Glassed-in sun porches and places for private sun bathing along with areas for shuffleboard, badminton, croquet, and quoits (a game similar to ring toss) were amenities were offered to the guests for the mere price of $35-$70 per week. According to the brochure, “Rancho Ko-Mat-Ke” [was] not a Dude Ranch, Hotel or Resort, but a Spacious Country home.” The elevation of 1,100 feet provided views of Phoenix which was six miles away in 1942.

One distinguished guest was Baroness Bettina Von Hutten who came for the winter in 1942.  Born in Pennsylvania, she was once married to a German Baron. The Baroness was the author of 23 mystery romances and later moved to England in 1948 where she died in 1957. Whether she worked on a new novel during her stay is not known, but she did give at least one lecture before a local women’s group.

John Albrecht died in 1945 and the property changed hands a number of times before the city acquired it in 1972. For a short period, Rancho Ko-Mat-Ke may have been a retreat for Sears and Roebuck executives and later it was a youth hostel. Today it is the headquarters for the Southern Division of the Phoenix Parks Department located in Circle K Park between 12^th and 16^th Streets and the Highland Canal and South Mountain Avenue.

We’ve sold all or our current listings! See our listings page for updates as that changes. We may have another one coming soon.
This one was a challenge, due to the huge garage and storage that the owner was using for his unique collection of VW vehicles. But now they are ready to blast off to their next adventure.

So, just to jog your memory, here are the details on this listing.

SOLD! 10018 E Indigo St., Mesa. 4br/3ba, 3,000sf. Closing this month.

If you want space for all your toys, your garden and all your things, this roomy home and huge lot will be great for you.

The owners updated the flooring, the kitchen, the back yard and added a huge, four-bay garage. This is perfect for the auto enthusiast, or for all the toys.

That’s in addition to the three-car garage that is attached to the home! The additional garage bays are 30 feet deep and the entire garage is 50 feet wide with 8 foot tall doors.

You will be able to sit out on the back patio with amazing views of the mountains, with Usery Mountain Regional park almost out your back door. Whether you are all about indoor or outdoors, you will love this one!

From what we are hearing, prices may push further downward. So, if you are thinking of selling, do it now before the market forced another price drop. We can help!

Donna Reiner has written many articles over the years for the Arizona Republic and others about Phoenix history and memorials.  She is a regular contributor to our newsletter. This month Donna tells us about the Fiesta del Sol. Long before the pride parade and all the other fun that we have parading ourselves around, this event was the big one in the valley

Reg Manning, an Arizona Republic photographer and artist, lamented in an October 1937 column that Phoenix had been a “dead pan” city for years. But he sensed that things had begun to turn around first with the Dons Club Superstition Gold Treks, then the recent initiation of the Jaycee Rodeo earlier in 1937, and finally the Chamber of Commerce was about to kick off the Fall visitor season with a three-day event: Fiesta del Sol!

Yes, this was going to be huge. Sponsors had acquired the loan of 3000 costumes from Hollywood studios that residents could rent for a nominal fee. The Arizona Republic provided suggestions on how one could make their own costume. The streets would be decorated, along with cars, and even some homes.

Downtown stores were encouraged to decorate in a Spanish motif particularly using the colors of red, yellow, and green. Employees gladly dressed up during Fiesta Week just as they had for Rodeo Week. All this community engagement was intended to create a dynamic atmosphere.

The Chamber of Commerce had even gone so far as to commission a painting by local artist David Swing. Titled “Fiesta,” it was hung in the chamber’s building in August and then given to Phoenix Junior College.

Of course, there was a parade which travelled along Washington Street. Floats with masked young ladies vying to be crowned queen of the Fiesta, horse riders in Spanish attire, and wagons filled with costumed people and so much more. The streets were packed with attendees.

Outdoor evening activities included street dancing and “Casa Manana” under a tent at Central and McDowell that the chamber planned to transform “into an artificial Spanish garden with splashing fountain, palm trees and myriads of colored lights.” Music for dancing was to be provided by Phil Harris and his orchestra. While that name may not ring a bell, this group played for Jack Benny on his J-E-L-L-O radio show and was quite well-known by radio listeners.

Officials from the Tournament of Roses Parade attended that first year and complimented the Chamber of Commerce suggesting that Fiesta del Sol could become a “major national attraction.” The following year, the Thunderbirds was formed as part of the chamber. Its initial task in 1938 was to manage all aspects of running Fiesta del Sol.

And there is no doubt that coverage in the November 1938 Arizona Highways helped create a bigger buzz about the event which was purported to be larger than the first year. The 1940 edition of the parade saw it moved to traveling south on Central Avenue. Casa Manana was held at the Shrine Auditorium and there were multiple dance spots throughout the festivities, some indoors and some in the streets.

Unfortunately, the 1941 Fiesta del Sol was the last ever held. Reg Manning, if he were alive, might wonder why we are in a “dead pan” state again.

Our friends at the Cromford Report are confirming what we are seeing. There is an excess of supply and prices are down a little bit from last year.

If you are looking to buy, we suggest you get it done before the inventory is bought up and we return to increasing prices.

We don’t expect prices to drop significantly, a la 2008. There are just too many people moving to Arizona still for that to change.

So says Cromford…

“Here are the basics – the ARMLS numbers for March 1, 2023 compared with March 1, 2022 for all areas & types:

• Active Listings (excluding UCB & CCBS): 14,739 versus 4,588 last year – up 221% – but down 5.5% from 15,598 last month
• Pending Listings: 5,911 versus 8,333 last year – down 29% – but up 15.7% from 5,109 last month
• Monthly Sales: 5,693 versus 7,993 last year – down 29% – but up 31% from 4,357 last month
• Monthly Average Sales Price per Sq. Ft.: $271.14 versus $284.56 last year – down 4.7% – but up 1.2% from $267.83 last month
• Monthly Median Sales Price: $413,000 versus $445,000 last year – down 7.2% – but up 0.7% from $410,000 last month

Volumes remain much lower than a year ago, but they have recovered some ground. Monthly sales were down 29% compared with 2022, which is a major improvement on the 39% deficit last month.

Although the market remains unhealthy from a volume perspective, it is warming up from a supply versus demand point of view. The supply of active listings has been trending lower for several months, although this is not true of the luxury sector, and particularly Paradise Valley. You might expect demand to be very weak because mortgage rates have jumped back over 7% again. However buyers are not capitulating and the growth of listings under contract is much healthier than we expected under these circumstances. The 16.6% growth in listings under contract since the beginning of February, and the 31% increase in the monthly sales rate are surprisingly strong.

The balance between supply and demand has shifted significantly over the past 3 months and there is now upward pressure on pricing once more. We note that the monthly median sales price is up 0.7% over the last month while the average price per square foot for closed listings has risen by 1.2%. Pricing remains weaker than a year ago, when we were still in a boom period with exceptionally low supply. But the trend is now pointing higher, not lower. It is possible that the Federal Reserve may do more damage to interest rates, but the risk premium in mortgage rates is currently far above normal. This means there is plenty of scope for lower mortgage rates to be introduced if the risk abates.

The current pricing trend may contradict the claims by various amateur pundits and their daft YouTube channels, but there is almost no data that supports the theory that prices are going to collapse from this point. For this to happen we would need to have a wave of new supply creating problems for sellers. While this is always a remote possibility, there is very little foreclosure activity and low levels of mortgage delinquency. So where is this flood of homes for sale supposed to come from. The builders have cut back drastically on new home permits, so we are more likely to see a shortage of homes for sale than a glut. And rising mortgage rate discourage homeowners with mortgages from selling because that would mean the loss of their cheap loan and the acquisition of a much more expensive one.

Even though buyers are scarce, homes for sale remain stubbornly hard to find. It is always good for sellers when they have less competition from other sellers. This means much less need to cut their asking price, especially if the are patient and present their property well.”

Donna Reiner has written many articles over the years for the Arizona Republic and others about Phoenix history and memorials.  She is a regular contributor to our newsletter. This month, Donna tells us about the Barbara Jean Apartments, these days sandwiched between the Cambria Hotel and restaurants on Portland St. downtown.

Occasionally researchers discover new information about a person or building. Sometimes that happens as material is digitized and more readily available and other times when someone finds a hidden cache of stuff “hidden” in an old trunk in some attic.

But for the Barbara Jean Apartments quietly standing on East Portland Street in what is now Evans-Churchill neighborhood, this researcher had to muddle through old documents, deeds, surveys, and newspaper articles to try to undercover its parentage. And you may ask, who cares? The trouble is we historians do care about verifying accepted information, so the record is accurate because eradicating misinformation is extremely difficult.

Eighteen years ago, the city of Phoenix Historic Preservation Office requested placing historic overlay on eight properties located in the Evans-Churchill Area including the Barbara Jean Apartments. For those not familiar, this is bounded by McDowell Road on the north, Van Buren Street on the south, 7th Street on the east, and Central Avenue on the west. And this writer was on the Phoenix Historic Preservation Commission at the time.

In those subsequent eighteen years, a tremendous amount of digitization of materials has made a difference in verifying the information that originally dated from a several surveys done in the early 1980s. Thus, when a friend asked about this property, I delved into its history and can now reveal new information.

Constructed in circa 1927, one of the first ads for renting one of four apartments appeared in the Arizona Republican in September 1928. The 1928 city directory actually showed that at least two of the units had been rented. One occupant being James P. Whelan, a lumberman.

For some odd reason, one 1980s survey called this small two-story apartment complex, The James Whelan Apartments. Yet, no such name appears in the newspapers nor was any deed of purchase found in Whelan’s name. Even the 1930 census indicates that Whelan was a renter. But still the hint that he was the owner persisted. Besides, who was Barbara Jean? Whelan’s wife’s name was Ida.

But what struck me was odd, was why would a man who worked in the lumber business build something like the Barbara Jean Apartments? You see, this was not your typical wood frame building nor even a brick building. Rather the Spanish Colonial Revival Style building was concrete block covered with stucco. That was a puzzler. Still, it is a lovely, designed building even if we have no idea the names of the architect, builder, or owner.

Digging deeper, I discovered that the original lot where the  Barbara Jean Apartments are located was huge. However, tracking down when the lot may have been subdivided was not fruitful. Still the original owner of the large lot was part of the real estate company, Greene & Griffith, which sold many of the lots in this subdivision. Did Mr. Griffith decide to build those “modern” apartments? Perhaps, someday that mystery may be solved.

Now that you know a bit more about this particular building, it’s time to explore the neighborhood.

Our friends at the Cromford Report shared this great summary of what you can expect every year, regardless of how hot or cold the market is.

When people ask me the best time of the year to list or buy a home, I share a variation of this.

“We experienced a huge increase in demand during January, though this was from an extremely low level as of January 1.

The number of listings under contract rose from 5,456 to 7,810 an increase of 43%. This is by a wide margin the highest percentage increase we have ever measured from one month to the next. It shows us that buyers are getting used to interest rates around 6%. It helps a lot when sellers are willing to help them buy down the initial rate.

Pending listings increased almost 40% while UCB listings jumped over 50%.

It is time to drop the Skepticism and enter the Hope stage of the cycle. In most market cycles this diagram takes 3 to 5 years to pan out. However we have moved from Euphoria to Hope in just 1 year. I suppose this is the result of the increased speed of communication.

Listings are going under contract so quickly that the supply of new listings cannot keep up, despite a much higher flow of new listings than we saw in December. We are heading back towards a supply-constrained market and it is likely that prices will start to move higher within a short space of time. Asking prices are moving upwards quickly and these are usually a leading indicator.

While there is no guarantee that mortgage rates won’t go higher again, 2023 has started out much stronger than anyone expected back in November. This underscores why it is important to track the market daily, not just once a month.

It’s been tough on sellers for the last 9 months. We are happy that we have almost cleared the deck.

See our listings page directly for more information about this price drop.

Price Drop! 10018 E Indigo St., Mesa. 4br/3ba, 3,000sf. NOW $895,000

If you want space for all your toys, your garden and all your things, this roomy home and huge lot will be great for you.

The owners updated the flooring, the kitchen, the back yard and added a huge, four-bay garage. This is perfect for the auto enthusiast, or for all the toys.

That’s in addition to the three-car garage that is attached to the home! The additional garage bays are 30 feet deep and the entire garage is 50 feet wide with 8 foot tall doors.

You will be able to sit out on the back patio with amazing views of the mountains, with Usery Mountain Regional park almost out your back door. Whether you are all about indoor or outdoors, you will love this one!

From what we are hearing, prices may push further downward. So, if you are thinking of selling, do it now before the market forced another price drop. We can help!

Those of you who read this newsletter know I don’t shy away from certain public policy issues. For instance, our water security and planning. There is a direct connection between making the right choices today and what your house may be worth 15 years from now.

So, it’s relevant.

You may recall this article and this article, in which I talk about the future of water in AZ and who bears responsibility for it.

Our most recent governor, despite dire warning from the US government, never really took water conservation seriously. He put forward an incredibly wasteful, pie in the sky plan to build desalination plants in the desert.

He could have considered incentives to change what we farm in the desert from high water use alfalfa and cotton to lower water use plants. He could have spent much less money bolstering infrastructure that will recycle water from our cities and towns to refill our aquifers and reservoirs.

But this is conservation and he seems averse to that. It’s hard politically.

That’s why I’m hopeful that our new governor, Katie Hobbs, will take a new direction.

Full disclosure. I helped edit her “Resilient Arizona” plan, which speaks to the importance of working on land, energy and water policy comprehensively.

It’s a great start.

So, please watch this space and watch what our new governor does. She has a lot of opposition from the same forces (realtors, home builders, developers, farmers and ideologically-driven legislators) who have created this mess.

She will need our help, as home owner or prospective home owners, to say that we need policies that will protect our investments for our future generations.

Coming in to the new year, our motivated clients are dropping prices. In one case, the buyer exited the sale and lost their earnest money. It was a huge lesson for our client. See below for more.

See our listings page directly for more information.

Price Drop! 10018 E Indigo St., Mesa. 4br/3ba, 3,000sf. NOW $899,000

If you want space for all your toys, your garden and all your things, this roomy home and huge lot will be great for you.

The owners updated the flooring, the kitchen, the back yard and added a huge, four-bay garage. This is perfect for the auto enthusiast, or for all the toys.

That’s in addition to the three-car garage that is attached to the home! The additional garage bays are 30 feet deep and the entire garage is 50 feet wide with 8 foot tall doors.

You will be able to sit out on the back patio with amazing views of the mountains, with Usery Mountain Regional park almost out your back door. Whether you are all about indoor or outdoors, you will love this one!

Back on the Market. 1107 W. Osborn Rd., #101. 1br/1ba, 849sf. $195,000.

This is a rare condo in Central Phoenix for under $200,000 from a motivated seller who just did another price drop.

Since it was last purchased, the owner has completely remodeled the bathroom and has updated the kitchen to complement the historic features.

Walk around the grounds and you will see why people love living here. The trees are big and offer plenty of shade.

This particular condo is in the center of a beautiful breezeway, which feels like a green jungle, even in summer.

This listing is a lesson in how buyers can sometimes be, well, less than up front. We presented an offer from a buyer (and agent), who swore up and down that they had great credit and were eager to buy quickly. But as we got in to the process, we started to see what they were really all about. You can often tell when there begin to be excuses and delays that something may be going wrong. It turns out that the buyer did not disclose all of their financial obligations to their lender.

Crazily enough, they wanted us to just delay close until they worked it out. Naturally, we called their bluff and asked them to perform. Even crazier, once they pulled out of the contract, they still thought they could keep their earnest money. For those of you who know the AAR contract, this buyer definitely could not. We fought to get our client that earnest money payment and we won. It did not cover the cost of the delays and having to go back on the market.

But it demonstrates the value of having a team, like us, that knows that contract well.

Donna Reiner has written many articles over the years for the Arizona Republic and others about Phoenix history and memorials.  She is a regular contributor to our newsletter. This month, Donna tells us about the history of droughts and floods before we began moderating water flow with dams and canals.

“Unless we have early summer rains and plenty we will experience the most drouth ever known here…. May the Lord have mercy on us.”

-J.A.R. Irvine, 1904

Irvine’s words were no exaggeration. At the time, the Salt River Valley was firmly in the grip of a nearly seven-year drought that had dried up the Salt River, severely crippled farming, and forced other residents to leave the area. The passing of the Newlands Reclamation Act of 1902 followed by the formation of the Salt River Valley Water Users Association in 1903 set the stage for the construction of Roosevelt Dam. While this would eventually provide a steady source of water for the valley, it was not completely filled until 1915. In the meantime, everyone prayed for rain. And eventually it did come.  But Phoenicians needed to be careful of what they wished for. Too much rain was also a hazard.

As anyone who has experienced the valley monsoon knows, sudden and torrential downpours can create “rivers” as the rushing water fails to soak into our caliche soil.  Presumably, today such water is either diverted into catch and flood basins, or spills into underpasses and streets. During a heavy storm, many of us still watch from our windows to see how quickly the streets back up “just in case” because too often the water goes where it wants and not necessarily where the experts expect. This might be Mother Nature’s gentle reminder to many Phoenicians of why they still have flood hazard insurance.

However, in 1891, without the protection of dams on the Salt River, the flooding was so extensive near the Salt River bed that the residents of the southern part of Phoenix (the Irvine, Montgomery, Collins, Murphy and Linville additions just south of Washington) were forced out. Many of their adobe structures “melted” as the water lapped at their walls.

Floodwaters even invaded the Territorial Capitol building on 17^th Avenue and Washington several times after its construction in 1901. During 1905, the “rain gods” were overly generous: 19.73 inches of rain fell from the sky (over 2 ½ times our normal rainfall). Yikes!!

Fierce forest fires throughout the state this year could again impact the valley’s watershed increasing the chances of flooding and mudslides IF and when it rains. Climatologists know how much rain it will take to officially declare the end to this prolonged drought and this means here and in the mountains.

The official start of the monsoon season is June 15^th. Are we prepared for the amount of rain which would spell the end of our drought?