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Look I am an anarchist and I don't want any government period.
But as long as we have government, and since the government
thieves stole build this museum at the Tovrea Castle I think
it would be interesting to check out.
Of course if I had my way I would let the private sector handle stuff like this. Tours of Phoenix icon Tovrea Castle to begin by Connie Cone Sexton - Mar. 7, 2012 09:24 PM The Republic | azcentral.com The welcome mat is back out at Tovrea Castle. Shaped like a wedding cake with tiers of white lights that can be seen for miles in the nighttime sky, the castle in Phoenix has caught the eye of visitors and longtime residents alike. But, in the 80-plus years since it was painstakingly constructed atop a granite hill by Italian immigrant Alessio Carraro, few have ever set foot inside the three-story, cream-colored building. Now's your chance. Tours inside the castle begin Saturday, thanks to Phoenix's partnership with the Tovrea Carraro Society, a non-profit that will run the tours. The castle, built by Carraro, who later sold it to cattle baron E.A. Tovrea, sits among 44 acres near 52nd and Van Buren streets. Since the late 1980s, the city worked to purchase the land and preserve the castle as a public park. More than $15 million in grants, bonds and other money went to restore the building and surrounding cactus garden. Tours are being offered on weekends, but the goal is to be open five days a week. But here's the bad news: Only the basement and first floor are open to the public. The second and third floor and the tiny copula -- the castle's crown, which provides 360-degree views -- are off-limits because they don't meet fire or structural codes. The good news: The two-hour tour will take visitors in golf carts along the main paths of the cactus garden that surrounds the main building, stopping at a few key points before dropping visitors off near one of the castle's four tunnels. The tour begins on the main floor, showcasing the main parlors, kitchen and bathrooms and then down to the basement, where the highlight is the pulled-plaster ceiling looking much like a spiky meringue. Along the tour are panels. They tell the story of an American dream derailed by the Great Depression, which began in 1929. Carraro, who had owned a successful sheet-metal company in San Francisco, was lured to Phoenix in 1928, having heard the Valley was a perfect place to develop a resort. In time, he met a family that had built a home where the castle stands today. It had been homesteaded by Ferdinand and Matilda Warner. The story, as passed down by family members, has it that Matilda offered Carraro a sip of water from the well. "He said it was the sweetest water he had ever tasted," said Carraro's granddaughter, 68-year-old Marie Cunningham of Phoenix. "And that was that." He bought the 277 acres, called it Carraro Heights, and made plans to run a bed-and-breakfast and build a housing development at the base. "He wanted to take people up on the hill and have them point out which plot of land they wanted," Cunningham said. Creating the building and its surrounding cactus garden took not only muscle but a bit of explosives. The granite was stubborn, Cunningham said. The top of one knoll was blasted to create the foundation of the house. Another knoll was leveled for open space. "My father, Leo, was about 13 or 14 in 1928, when they started building it all," she said. "He told me stories about loading dynamite, carrying the boxes and being hoisted down in the ground by grandfather," she said. It took about 2,600 truckloads to line the property with river rock. When Leo suggested that the rock would look pretty painted white, Alessio handed him a bucket and brush. Many of the rocks around the castle today are still painted white. Leo is at least partly responsible for the building being called a castle. In 1930, as construction continued, Leo entered the Phoenix Spirit of Christmas outdoor-decorating contest sponsored by The Arizona Republican newspaper. Leo, who had draped the castle in lights, won. The newspaper referred to the hotel as a castle, and the name stuck. Cunningham said the struggling economy during the Depression was part of the reason her grandfather never realized his dream. Leo and Alessio lived in the castle for less than a year when they sold it. E.A. Tovrea and his wife, Della, had built cattle and sheep pens nearby on land that Cararro had attempted to purchase. Thinking the drifting scent of the animals wasn't conducive to his resort ideal, Carraro sold his parcel for $22,000, a tidy sum in those days, Cunningham said. E.A.'s time in the castle was short. He died in 1932 living there less than a year. But Della went on to make the castle her home. She died in 1969. Eileen Marrero, president of the Tovrea Carraro Society, got involved with the castle in 2009 while participating in a master gardening class there. She fell in love with the gardens and the potential for the castle. She became a catalyst for helping with the restoration and the creation of the non-profit. Marrero hopes the public will develop its own fondness, not only for the castle -- now called Tovrea Castle at Carraro Heights -- but the cactus gardens, dotted with succulents, aloes and agaves. "It's a beautiful piece of desert right in middle of the city," she said Tovrea Castle Tours Where: 5041 E. Van Buren St., Phoenix. Tour times: 9 to 11 a.m. or 12:30 to 2:30 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. Tours must be booked in advance and are limited to 15 people. Group tours also are available. Summer hours may change. Tickets: $15 for adults; $13 for those in the military or 55 and older; $10 for children 12 and younger; free for ages 2 and younger. Information: 602-256-3221 and tovreacastletours.com. |