HISTORY
After World War II, Tempe experienced a population boom that resulted in a housing shortage. As result, many post-World War II housing subdivisions were platted and annexed by the City of Tempe. Among these newly platted neighborhoods was the Borden Homes subdivision.

Platted in 1947 by J. A. and Annie N. Farnsworth, the Borden Homes subdivision included 79 lots. In 1947, Farnsworth was selling 40 lots in the western portion. By 1950, he was selling 32 lots in the eastern portion (dubbed “Farnsworth Homes”). Residential lot sizes were typically 60 feet by 130 feet, but a 300-foot portion alongside the road was set aside for commercial development; eventually this location became an A. J. Bayless shopping center site. The subdivision was annexed by the City of Tempe under Tempe City Ordinance No. 201 on March 27, 1950.

The Borden Homes Historic District was added to the Tempe Historic Property Register on June 2, 2005 and listed in the National Register of Historic Places on November 18, 2011.

ARCHITECTURE
The Borden Homes Historic District contains houses displaying the Early/Transitional Ranch architectural style. Forty of the subdivision’s houses were constructed with row-lock brick masonry, something rarely seen in Tempe or the Phoenix area. The remaining houses are built with the more common reinforced concrete block.

The houses are either L-shaped or rectangular in plan and measure between 900 and 1,200 square feet. As typical with Ranch style homes, they sit on a concrete slab foundation. The windows are steel casement type, and the roof shingles are made of asphalt. Roofs are low-pitched hip, gable, or intersecting hip-and-gable with asphalt or asbestos singles.

While most of the houses do not have porches, they do have large overhanging eaves supported by porch posts. A few houses do have porches in the form of a small gable porch at the entry.

Houses in the subdivision come in various combinations of floor plan, roof type, porch, and masonry styles. The houses sit on large lots with consistent spacing between each house and a continuous lawn that stretches from lot to lot.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
“Borden Homes Historic District Design Guidelines.” 2012. https://www.tempe.gov/home/showpublisheddocument/12386/635323967996830000.

National Register of Historic Places Registration Form. “Borden Homes Historic District”. 1979.

RESOURCE
DO I HAVE A CONTRIBUTING PROPERTY? :: LOT KEY MAP BY PARCEL OR ADDRESS (PDF)

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