Tempe Directory of Historic Buildings 

Tempe has more than 200 historic buildings. Enjoy this searchable directory of information and photos.  For more information on any of these properties or to learn how your property can be listed, please contact Tempe Historic Preservation Officer Zachary Lechner at Zachary_Lechner@tempe.gov.

Many of the properties on the Tempe Historic Register, the National Register of Historic Places, or the list of Historic Eligible properties are privately owned and not open to the public. Please respect the privacy of those who may be living in these houses. 

Historic Eligible is a formal classification of parcels which contain buildings, structures, or sites which meet the criteria for designation as a Tempe Historic Property, but which have not been formally designated as "Historic." 

How to Use This Directory

You may search this directory by the categories of Tempe Historic Register, National Historic Register and Historic Eligible Properties. Simply click the down arrow on the All Categories box below and select the one you would like to see. All the properties in that category will appear.  

YEAR BUILT: 1903

HISTORY

The Harry Walker House was constructed in 1903. The house originally belonged to Harry Walker, a groundskeeper for the Tempe Normal School (now Arizona State University), who later relocated with his family to northern Arizona to work for the Sante Fe Railroad.

After Walker’s departure, the house was primarily used as rental property. In 1954, local architect Thomas S. Montgomery opened his office in the building. Montgomery remained in the building until it was bought in the 1990s by Bob and Robin Trick, the owners of the House of Tricks restaurant on the adjacent property.

The Tricks were looking to expand their cramped space. After acquiring the Walker House, they used it as the restaurant’s wine cellar. While the restaurant was still in operation, the Tricks temporarily closed the restaurant to perform maintenance and restoration on both buildings.

House of Tricks closed in 2021, when the Tricks decided to retire, and the property was sold to a developer. Four years later, the house was moved to the northwestern portion of the City Hall parcel at 25 East 5th Street and conveyed to the City of Tempe. The City oversaw a historical rehabilitation of the house and leased it to Novel Ice Cream.

ARCHITECTURE

The Harry Walker House was built in a common turn-of-the-century residential style that was derived from Neo-Colonial and Georgian Revival design influences, sometimes referred to as the “Classic Box” style.

The Harry Walker House is a one-story, adobe building with a brick facade. The front of the house has a recessed porch in the center of it, the floor of which was removed to accommodate the new location northwest of City Hall. The house features a central entry emphasized by pediment-like ventilator gale on the roof’s front slope. The roof itself is a truncated hipped roof with boxed eaves and cornice molding.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Burton, Kevin. “After 34 Years, House of Tricks to Close in June 2022.” Phoenix New Times, December 17, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20250325230807/https://www.arizonahighways.com/article/eat-my-words-house-tricks-close.

Cornelius, Keridwen. “Tricky Business.” Phoenix Magazine, September 01, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20250325231431/https://www.phoenixmag.com/2017/09/01/tricky-business/.

Janus Associates. “Inventory Number 105.” In Tempe Historic Property Survey. 1983.

Ryden Architects. “Survey Site No T-105.” In City of Tempe Multiple Resource Area Update: Final Report, Volume Two: Inventory Forms. 1997.
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