Phoenix has 37 residential historic districts with Historic Preservation (HP) overlay zoning, from Woodland, with a period of significance from 1880, to Roman Roads, added in September 2026. The era a district was built in decides the house you get: early bungalows and cottages near downtown, 1920s Period Revival suburbs, or postwar Ranch and New Deal streets. HP zoning, not National Register listing, is what puts a house's exterior under City review.
Buyers sorting Phoenix historic districts before touring, and owners checking what HP zoning means for a house.
Phoenix historic district guides
- 01→
Coronado
Phoenix's bungalow district: 1,014 single-family homes, 50-foot lots and the Tenth Street streetcar route.
- 02→
Willo
Period Revival and 1940s houses on long east-west blocks between First and Seventh avenues.
- 03→
Encanto-Palmcroft
Curving palm-lined streets, a 9,877-square-foot median lot and Encanto Park inside the boundary.
- 04→
Roosevelt
A 1920 median build year, Prairie and Craftsman houses, and Portland Street's landscaped medians.
- 05→
F.Q. Story
Tudor and Spanish Colonial Revival rows on palm-lined streets, at a value close to Coronado's.
- 06→
Garfield
Phoenix's second addition: pyramid cottages and Craftsman bungalows at a median value well below Coronado's.
- 07→
Campus Vista
One-story brick Ranch houses from 1939 to 1956, built by more than 70 builders next to Phoenix College.
- 08→
Alvarado
Architect-designed 1920s estate homes on big lots, with the 1930s brick houses of East Alvarado next door.
- 09→
Medlock Place
Half-acre lots, flood-irrigated lawns and Period Revival and Ranch houses between Central and Seventh avenues.
- 10→
Cheery Lynn
One 1928 subdivision of English cottages and Monterey houses on 60-foot lots, west of 16th Street.
- 11→
Phoenix Homesteads
Adobe houses from a 1935 to 1937 New Deal homestead project, on farm lots between 26th and 28th streets.
All 37 residential historic districts in Phoenix
- Alvarado
- Ashland Place
- Brentwood
- Campus Vista
- Cheery Lynn
- Coronado
- Country Club Park
- Del Norte Place
- Earll Place
- East Alvarado
- East Evergreen
- Encanto Manor
- Encanto-Palmcroft
- Encanto Vista
- Fairview Place
- F.Q. Story
- Garfield
- Idylwilde Park
- La Hacienda
- Los Olivos
- Margarita Place
- Medlock Place
- North Encanto
- North Garfield
- Oakland
- Park Lee Alice Apartments
- Phoenix Homesteads
- Pierson Place
- Roman Roads
- Roosevelt
- Roosevelt Park
- Villa Verde
- Willo
- Windsor Square
- Woodland
- Woodlea
- Yaple Park
The 37 residential historic districts with Historic Preservation (HP) overlay zoning, as listed by the City of Phoenix Historic Preservation Office. Linked names have a full guide.
All 37 Phoenix historic districts by era
The quickest way to sort Phoenix historic districts is by the years the City says each one is significant for, because that period tells you what house you will find on the lot. A district that starts in the 1880s is a grid of small lots near downtown with Victorian-era cottages and bungalows. One that starts in the 1920s is usually a planned suburb of Period Revival houses. One that starts in 1935 or later is a street of Ranch houses, or something less common: a New Deal adobe colony, an apartment complex, a 1960s cluster on Maryland Avenue. The tables below list all 37 residential districts with Historic Preservation (HP) overlay zoning, grouped that way. Names with a link have a full guide.
Historic districts from 1880 to about 1914: the early grid
Eleven districts have a period of significance that starts before 1915. They sit close to downtown, mostly on narrow lots and alley grids. Woodland has the earliest period of any district (from 1880), and Garfield grew from the Dennis Addition, recorded in 1883 as only the second addition to the city. Expect Victorian vernacular houses, pyramid cottages, Prairie houses and bungalows, often with later houses mixed in. Roosevelt and Coronado were the first two residential districts the City designated, in September and November 1986.
| District | Designated | Period of significance | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| Woodland | February 1989 | 1880 to 1935 | Seventh to 16th avenues, Van Buren Street to the alley north of Adams Street |
| Garfield | April 1989 (as Victoria Place); renamed February 2005 | 1883 to 1942 | Roosevelt to Van Buren streets, Seventh to 16th streets |
| Oakland | September 1988 | 1887 to 1951 | Grand Avenue, 19th Avenue, Van Buren Street and the alley north of Fillmore Street |
| North Garfield | June 1997 (as Diamond Street); renamed February 2005 | 1887 to 1942 | Interstate 10, Roosevelt Street, Seventh Place and 16th Street |
| Roosevelt | September 1986 | 1895 to 1930 | McDowell Road, Fillmore Street, Central and Seventh avenues |
| Los Olivos | December 2003 | 1906 to 1935 | Monte Vista Road between Third and Seventh streets |
| Alvarado | September 1992 | 1907 to 1933 | Monte Vista and Alvarado roads, north to Oak Street, east to Third Street |
| Coronado | November 1986 | 1907 to 1942 | Seventh to 14th streets, Virginia Avenue to the alley north of McDowell Road |
| East Evergreen | November 1999 | 1909 to 1929 | Third to Seventh streets, McDowell Road to the alley south of Willetta Street |
| Willo | July 1990 | 1910 to 1950 | First to Seventh avenues, McDowell Road to the alley north of Edgemont Avenue |
| Windsor Square | July 1996 | 1912 to 1945 | Central Avenue, Seventh Street, Camelback Road and the alley north of Oregon Avenue |
Historic districts from the 1920s: Period Revival suburbs
Eighteen districts start between 1920 and 1929, the largest group. These are the subdivisions developers platted as streetcar and automobile suburbs, and their houses are mostly Spanish Colonial Revival, Tudor Revival, Monterey Revival and late bungalows, with Early Ranch houses filling the last lots after the war.
| District | Designated | Period of significance | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| Encanto-Palmcroft | March 1987 | 1920 to 1952 | Seventh to 15th avenues, McDowell Road to the north edge of Encanto Park |
| Ashland Place | May 1992 | 1920 to 1950 | Third Street and Virginia, Hoover and Central avenues |
| F.Q. Story | March 1988 | 1921 to 1942 | McDowell Road, Roosevelt Street, Seventh and 17th avenues |
| Pierson Place | November 2005 | 1924 to 1956 | Camelback Road, Grand Canal, Central and Seventh avenues |
| Roosevelt Park | March 2003 | 1924 to 1942 | Seventh to Ninth streets, Old Southern Avenue to the alley north of Southern Avenue |
| Brentwood | April 2003 | 1926 to 1956 | 16th to 20th streets, Culver Street and the alley north of Brill Street |
| La Hacienda | April 2003 | 1926 to 1954 | Verde Lane and Catalina Drive between Third and Seventh streets |
| Medlock Place | April 2003 | 1926 to 1956 | Seventh and Missouri avenues, the alley west of Central Avenue and the alley south of Pasadena Avenue |
| Del Norte Place | July 1993 | 1927 to 1945 | Virginia Avenue, Encanto Boulevard, 15th and 17th avenues |
| Earll Place | April 2003 | 1927 to 1942 | Earll Drive and the north side of Pinchot Avenue, 16th to 18th streets |
| Margarita Place | October 1999 | 1927 to 1949 | Thomas Road, Windsor Avenue, 15th and 16th avenues |
| Cheery Lynn | February 1994 | 1928 to 1945 | Flower Street, Earll Drive, 16th Street and Randolph Road |
| Fairview Place | February 1994 | 1928 to 1948 | McDowell Road, Encanto Boulevard, 15th Avenue and the alley west of 17th Avenue |
| Idylwilde Park | June 1991 | 1928 to 1941 | 11th and 12th streets, Weldon and Fairmount avenues |
| Villa Verde | January 1999 | 1928 to 1940 | 19th and 20th avenues, between the alleys north of Monte Vista Road and south of Granada Road |
| Woodlea | January 1999 | 1928 to 1949 | Mackenzie Drive, Heatherbrae Drive and the south side of Glenrosa Avenue, 15th Avenue to the alley west of Seventh Avenue |
| Yaple Park | June 1997 | 1928 to 1940 | Grand Canal, Turney Avenue, Third Avenue and the alley east of Seventh Avenue |
| East Alvarado | May 1992 | 1929 to 1942 | Alvarado Road between Third and Seventh streets |
Historic districts from 1935 on: New Deal, postwar and mid-century
Eight districts start in 1935 or later. Phoenix Homesteads is a federal subsistence homestead project built in adobe from 1935 to 1937. Campus Vista, Country Club Park, North Encanto, Encanto Vista and Encanto Manor are postwar Ranch neighborhoods shaped by Federal Housing Administration lending. Park Lee Alice Apartments (1955 to 1966) is an apartment district, and Roman Roads, the newest, covers 1964 to 1971. If those decades are what you want, the guide to mid-century modern homes in Phoenix covers houses outside the districts too.
| District | Designated | Period of significance | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| Phoenix Homesteads | January 1990 | 1935 to 1937 | Two areas north of Thomas Road and south of Osborn Road, 26th to 28th streets |
| Campus Vista | April 2003 | 1939 to 1956 | Thomas and Osborn roads, Seventh and 15th avenues |
| Country Club Park | January 1993 | 1939 to 1946 | Thomas Road, Virginia Avenue, Dayton Street and the alley west of Eighth Street |
| North Encanto | December 2002 | 1939 to 1950 | Osborn and Thomas roads, 15th Avenue and the alley west of 18th Avenue |
| Encanto Vista | April 2003 | 1943 to 1953 | Windsor Avenue, Encanto Boulevard, Seventh and Eighth avenues |
| Encanto Manor | February 2006 | 1945 to 1959 | Thomas Road and Windsor, Seventh and 15th avenues |
| Park Lee Alice Apartments | December 2018 | 1955 to 1966 | Pierson and Hazelwood streets, 15th and 17th avenues |
| Roman Roads | September 2026 | 1964 to 1971 | 1605 to 1699 E. Maryland Avenue |
Most of these districts lie in central Phoenix, between Interstate 17 on the west, State Route 51 and Interstate 10 on the east, Missouri Avenue on the north and Buckeye Road on the south. Phoenix Homesteads (26th to 28th streets), Roosevelt Park (near Southern Avenue) and Roman Roads (Maryland Avenue) sit outside that box.
Choosing a historic district from the 11 guides
Eleven districts have a full guide on this site. They fall into three kinds of purchase, and the questions that sort them are simple: do you want a bungalow on a 50-foot lot near downtown, a 1920s Revival house in a planned suburb, or a postwar or New Deal house with more land around it?
Bungalow historic districts near downtown
Roosevelt has more Prairie-style buildings than any comparable area of Phoenix, along with bungalows, duplexes and some older apartment buildings. Garfield, east of downtown, has the largest group of pyramid cottages in the city and street names taken from presidents. Coronado is the big one: its National Register nomination counted 621 bungalows on a grid of fifty-foot lots.
Period Revival historic districts west of Central Avenue
F.Q. Story splits almost evenly between Spanish Colonial Revival and Tudor Revival houses, and Interstate 10 cuts it in two. Willo mixes Period Revival houses with Minimal Traditional and Monterey designs on long blocks between First and Seventh avenues. Encanto-Palmcroft has curving streets laid out around Encanto Park and deed restrictions that once set minimum house costs.
Estate and large-lot historic districts
Alvarado is a small district of architect-designed 1920s houses on big, irregular lots, with East Alvarado, a separate street of 30 brick houses from the late 1930s, next door. Medlock Place, north near Camelback Road, has lots from a fifth of an acre to half an acre and flood-irrigated lawns.
Small 1920s cottage historic districts
Cheery Lynn is one 1928 subdivision of single-story brick English cottages and stucco Monterey houses on 60-foot lots, just west of 16th Street.
Postwar and New Deal historic districts
Campus Vista, beside Phoenix College, is almost all one-story brick Ranch houses from 1939 to 1956. Phoenix Homesteads is the outlier: 45 surviving adobe houses from a 1930s federal homestead project built on farm lots between 26th and 28th streets.
HP zoning vs the National Register in a historic district
Phoenix has two lists, and only one of them affects what you can do to a house. The Phoenix Historic Property Register is the City's list, and a property gets on it by being rezoned with an HP overlay. The National Register of Historic Places is the federal list. Many districts are on both, often years apart: Campus Vista went on the City register in 2003 and the National Register in 2010. Both lists use the same tests: a property generally has to be at least 50 years old, historically significant and still have its historic integrity.
What HP overlay zoning controls in a historic district
With HP zoning, exterior work goes through a City permit review. Small changes, such as walls, fences, rear patio covers and small rear additions, usually get a Certificate of No Effect from staff with no hearing. Larger or street-visible work needs a Certificate of Appropriateness and a public hearing. Paint, routine maintenance and in-kind repairs need no approval, interiors are not reviewed, and the City charges no review fee for listed properties. The guide to HP zoning rules walks through each step.
What National Register listing does in a historic district
National Register listing does not rezone a property and gives it no formal protection. What it does is make the property eligible for state and federal incentives, which is how a house in a listed district can qualify for the Arizona historic property tax program.
HP-L landmark zoning and demolition delays in a historic district
An HP-L overlay marks a landmark of exceptional significance, with more protection and first call on incentives. If an owner applies to demolish a contributing property in a listed district, the City can delay demolition for up to one year while it looks for alternatives, and up to three years for an HP-L property. Appeals of the Historic Preservation Officer's decisions go to the Historic Preservation Commission, a nine-member citizen panel, and from there to the City Council.
How to tell whether a house is in a historic district
A listing description is not proof. Before you write an offer, confirm three things yourself.
Check the zoning for an HP historic district suffix
A property inside a City historic district has "HP" (or "HP-L" for a landmark) added to its zoning. If the suffix is there, exterior work is under City review. The City's historic property maps show the same thing as district boundaries. Those boundaries often run along alleys and lot lines, so a house across the alley from a district can be outside it.
Check whether the house is contributing to the historic district
Each district nomination sorts its buildings into contributing and noncontributing. That status can change when a house is altered (replacing original windows has cost houses their status), so check it for the house as it stands today. The guide to buying a historic home in Phoenix sets out the steps from search to closing.
Ask the Historic Preservation Office about a district address
The City's Historic Preservation Office is at 200 W. Washington St., third floor, Phoenix, AZ 85003, on 602-261-8699 or historic@phoenix.gov. Staff can tell you whether an address is listed and what review a change would need. For the house itself, read the guide to inspecting a historic home before your inspection period starts, and the guides to insuring an older Arizona home and financing a historic home cover the other two costs to price before you commit.
How Phoenix built its historic district register
In 1985 the City Council adopted the recommendations of an ad hoc committee on historic preservation: an HP overlay zoning ordinance, the Phoenix Historic Property Register, a Historic Preservation Commission, a preservation officer and a review process. The register was created in the mid-1980s, and the first residential districts were designated in 1986. Voters approved $15 million in preservation bonds in 1989, then $14.2 million in 2001 and $13.1 million in 2006.
Of today's 37 residential districts, 34 were designated between 1986 and 2005. Then Arizona's Proposition 207 (2006) required compensation when a land-use rule lowers a property's value, which the City says virtually ended new local designations without owner support. The residential districts designated after 2005 are Encanto Manor (February 2006), Park Lee Alice Apartments (2018) and Roman Roads (2026).
For a buyer, that history means the map is close to fixed: the districts are what they are, and new ones are rare. Local historic districts cover just over 1 percent of the city's land once the South Mountain Park district is left out, and in a City-commissioned 2021 study, 91 percent of people in historic districts lived within a 10-minute walk of a park, against 49 percent citywide. In 2021, 30 of the 36 residential districts then listed had active neighborhood associations.
Phoenix historic district FAQs
How many historic districts are there in Phoenix?
The City's October 2026 register counts 37 residential historic districts with HP overlay zoning, after Roman Roads was added in September 2026. There are also 9 non-residential districts, such as Papago Park and the Phoenix Indian School, and 244 individually listed properties.
Which Phoenix historic district is the oldest?
By period of significance, Woodland is the oldest (1880 to 1935), followed by Garfield (from 1883) and Oakland and North Garfield (both from 1887). By designation date, Roosevelt came first, in September 1986, followed by Coronado in November 1986.
Does National Register listing stop me from changing my house?
No. National Register listing on its own does not rezone a property or put it under City review. It is HP overlay zoning on the City register that brings exterior review, and many districts carry both.
Can I paint a house in a Phoenix historic district any color?
Yes. The City does not regulate paint colors, and paint, routine maintenance and in-kind repairs need no approval. Interior work is not reviewed either.
Does a historic review cost anything?
The City charges no review fee for listed properties. Minor work usually gets a Certificate of No Effect from staff; larger or street-visible work goes to a public hearing for a Certificate of Appropriateness.
Which historic districts have mid-century houses?
Seven districts have a period of significance starting in 1939 or later: Campus Vista, Country Club Park, North Encanto, Encanto Vista, Encanto Manor, Park Lee Alice Apartments and Roman Roads. Many older districts also run past 1945 and include postwar Ranch houses on their last-built lots.
Can a house in a historic district be torn down?
The City can delay demolition of a contributing property in a listed district for up to one year while it looks for alternatives, or up to three years for an HP-L landmark. Before you make an offer, you can contact Joe Janus to check whether the house is a contributor in a listed district.
Sources
- City of Phoenix: Residential Historic Districts
- City of Phoenix: Phoenix Historic Property Register list (Rev. 10/26)
- City of Phoenix: Phoenix Historic Property Register
- City of Phoenix: Historic Preservation FAQ
- City of Phoenix / PlaceEconomics: Preservation Phoenix Style (October 2021)
- National Park Service: National Register listed properties database (May 22, 2026 download)
- National Park Service: East Alvarado Historic District NRHP registration form (additional documentation)