Tempe Historic Property Survey

The Steward House was significant for its architectural value as a house type, and as one of the oldest adobe buildings in Tempe in the 1980s. The modestly designed structure was built in 1893 by John Steward. The two-room dwelling featured 18"-thick plastered adobe walls detailed with subtle elements of the Queen Anne design tradition, including geometric proportions, decorative gable shingles, and cornice moulding. About 1914, a rear addition was built with a double-pitched roof; it enlarged the house to include indoor bathroom plumbing, kitchen, and sleeping porch, and depicts the typical evolution of this type of primarily rental dwelling. The use of traditional adobe construction for buildings was quite common during Tempe's settlement period (1871-1888), due primarily to the lack of available milled lumber or fired brick, as well as the economic condition of most settlers. Adobe was almost immediately replaced after 1888 when the arrival of the railroad made prefabricated wood materials more readily available, and local brick kilns provided a less time-consuming alternative to adobe.

The adobe core of the Steward House measured 18 feet by 30 feet, and faced onto Maple Avenue with its roof ridge parallel to the street. The equilateral triangle gable heads were constructed of decorative shingles and featured a central rectangular louvered ventilator. Other detailing, including enclosed eaves, cornice moulding at the facia, doors, and windows, were all original architectural elements evolved from the Queen Anne styles. A rear addition, measuring 20 feet by 25 feet, was built in 1914 and was of frame construction. It was covered by a moderate double-pitched, metal roof and included a screen porch. A front porch extended the length of the east (front) wall. The house was demolished in the 1980s.

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