Harrington Birchett House

This house is an unusual example of remodeling during the historic period to transform a house’s stylist character completely. The Harrington Birchett House was remodeled in 1931 from Victorian to Tudor Revival. In 1904, the house was acquired by Mattie Birchett at the time her son, Joseph T., married Mattie, Joseph and his family occupied the house until around 1920, after Joseph retired from the Birchett Brothers store. Mattie died in 1925. The house was a rental property until 1930s, when it was re-occupied by Joseph and Guess Birchett. Joseph was also director of the Tempe National Bank as well as mayor of Tempe from 1912 to 1914. Guess was well-known locally for her work in bird and nature studies and her participation in beautification efforts for Tempe.

This house represents an excellent example of Period Revival styling. The core of the Harrington/Birchett house was built in 1895 as part of the J.W. Harrington homestead. The original house was a single-story brick Victorian cottage built by the Goodwin Brothers. The building was remodeled in 1931 into a Period Revival style house with English Tudor qualities including enclosure of porches, sheathing the brick with stucco.