Campus Vista is a postwar Ranch district: about 9 in 10 of its historic houses are one-story Ranch or Transitional Ranch homes, mostly brick or painted block with steel casement windows, built from 1939 to 1956 beside Phoenix College. More than 70 builders worked here, so the streets look uniform while the houses differ one by one. Before you buy, check that the house is still contributing, because carport infill, replacement windows and stucco over brick are what cost Campus Vista houses that status.
Buyers who want a 1940s or early-1950s Ranch house inside a City historic district.
At a glance
| City register (HP zoning) | April 2003 |
|---|---|
| National Register | June 10, 2010 |
| Period of significance | 1939 to 1956 |
| Location | Thomas and Osborn roads, Seventh and 15th avenues |
| Homes | 190 single-family houses and 8 duplexes |
| Contributing | 165 of 202 resources (82 percent) |
| Average lot | 70 by 125 feet |
What a Campus Vista Historic District house looks like
Almost 90 percent of the historic-age houses in Campus Vista are Ranch or Transitional Ranch houses, and 98 percent of all its resources are Ranch or a Ranch variant. Every house and duplex is one story, apart from one house on Verde Lane with a partial second-story addition. The district was built around one house type, and the reason is the Federal Housing Administration: College Addition was laid out to FHA guidelines, and FHA recommendations put houses at about 1,600 square feet.
Brick Ranch houses in Campus Vista
About 90 percent of the historic houses are masonry: brick, painted brick or painted block. Roofs are mostly asphalt shingle, often with tiled ridgelines, and two-thirds of the Ranch houses have hipped roofs, the rest gabled. Most windows are steel casements. Have the steel casements looked at window by window, since keeping them protects the house's status (see below); the Phoenix historic home inspection checklist covers the masonry and the roof.
French Provincial, Colonial Revival and Modern Ranch houses in Campus Vista
The National Register nomination names the Ranch variants one by one: six French Provincial Ranches, five Modern Ranches, four Colonial Revival Ranches and one Spanish Colonial Revival Ranch. There are also two Cape Cod Revival houses and one Colonial Revival house. They are scattered, so a street can show a hipped-roof brick Ranch next to a French Provincial one with the same setback.
Detached garages and alleys in the Campus Vista Historic District
Alleys run between most streets, and many houses have a detached garage at the rear near the alley. Side yards are seven to ten feet in most places. If you plan to add space, the rear garage is the obvious place, and it is also where a change to a carport or garage can cost the house its contributing status (see below).
Campus Vista Historic District streets and subdivisions
The City describes Campus Vista as generally bounded by Thomas and Osborn roads and Seventh and 15th avenues. The district itself is an irregular shape wrapped around Phoenix College, and it covers about 70 acres. It was put together from six subdivisions and the remnant of a seventh, all platted between 1939 and 1948.
| Subdivision | Platted |
|---|---|
| College Addition | 1939 |
| Campus Vista | 1945 |
| Mocking Bird Manor | 1946 |
| Mulberry Place | 1946 |
| East Mulberry Place (remnant) | 1946 |
| Campus Manor | 1946 or 1947 |
| Aztec Place | 1948 |
College Addition, the first Campus Vista subdivision
College Addition was dedicated on March 8, 1939, by Frank and Clara Barton with their partner L. E. Patterson, on part of the Caldwell farm. It had forty-one lots of about 8,000 square feet on a slightly curving street, laid out to FHA guidelines with city water, gas and electricity paid for. Developers advertised it as "just a stone's throw from the beautiful Encanto Park and close to the new junior-college", and it was completely built out within two years.
Campus Drive and the orange trees
Campus Drive has a pronounced 90-degree curve, and orange trees stand in the grass strip between the street and the sidewalk. Other streets on the City's district map include Avalon Drive, Catalina Drive, Earll Drive, Mulberry Drive, Verde Lane and 8th to 13th avenues.
Flower Street and 11th Avenue through the Campus Vista district
Only two streets, Flower Street and 11th Avenue, cross the whole neighborhood. The rest run one or two blocks before they end or turn.
Churches and the former Temple Beth Israel in the Campus Vista district
Three of the 202 resources are religious complexes: College Park Baptist Church (1333 W. Osborn Road, 1949, contributing), Good Shepherd Evangelical Lutheran Church (3040 N. 7th Avenue) and the former Temple Beth Israel complex (3310 N. 10th Avenue, built 1948 to 1949), now used by Phoenix College.
How the Campus Vista Historic District filled in, 1939 to 1956
Phoenix College moved to a 52-acre site on the north side of West Thomas Road in 1939, built with $750,000 in Works Progress Administration funds, and the new campus created the demand for houses next to it. In 1940 general contractor Elmer Schler built two speculative cement-block houses with steel sash windows on N. 8th Avenue, and the W. J. Murphy Realty Company advertised two spec houses at $4,000 and $4,350 on FHA terms.
Then the war stopped it. A 1942 federal moratorium on non-essential building paused new subdivisions, and materials shortages held the district to about a dozen houses a year until 1948, when 58 were finished. A local housing surplus cut 1949 to six houses; building picked up again in 1950, and the district was almost fully built by 1956.
More than 70 builders in the Campus Vista Historic District
The City's brochure counts 197 homes built by more than 70 builders. Most built only one house, and none built more than twenty. About half the houses went up on speculation and about half were custom-built. Builders on record include Lescher & Mahoney (as Westward Homebuilders), Valley Construction Company, C.F. Crittenden, G.N. Richards, Ralph Haver, Frank Wallace, Willard Mouritsen, Bowers & Darrow Construction Company, C.L. Jones and Barer & Young. Haver's name will be familiar if you have been looking at mid-century modern homes in Phoenix; here his work sits among Ranch houses by builders who did one or two.
Buying in the Campus Vista Historic District: what costs a house its status
Campus Vista went onto the City's register, with HP overlay zoning, in April 2003, and onto the National Register on June 10, 2010. With the HP overlay, exterior changes need City review: a Certificate of No Effect for minor work, or a Certificate of Appropriateness for larger or street-visible work. Paint and in-kind repairs don't need either. The guide to Phoenix HP zoning explains how each review works.
The National Register nomination counts 165 contributing resources and 37 noncontributing ones, 82 percent contributing, and it names the changes that most often made a house noncontributing. They are the first three things to look for on a tour.
Carport and garage infill on Campus Vista houses
The first is garage or carport infill, closing the opening to make a room. If the house you like has a den where the carport was, it may already be noncontributing. If it still has the open carport, keep it open if contributing status matters to you.
Replacement windows on Campus Vista Ranch houses
Original steel casements are part of what makes these houses contributing. Replacing them is the second change on that list, so price repair of the steel windows before you assume replacement.
Stucco over brick in the Campus Vista district
Stucco applied over the original masonry, along with replacement siding, is the third. National Register listing is what makes a property eligible for state and federal incentives, and the guide to Arizona historic property tax savings explains how that works for a house like this.
Campus Vista or North Encanto: two postwar Phoenix districts side by side
North Encanto, another postwar historic district, adjoins Campus Vista on the west. The City lists it from December 2002, with a period of significance of 1939 to 1950, bounded by Osborn Road, Thomas Road, 15th Avenue and the alley west of 18th Avenue. The two cover the same years and the same kind of house. Campus Vista's difference is its mix of builders and its edge on Phoenix College; walk both before you decide.
Census figures help only at the edges here. Tract 1104 shows a median owner-occupied value of $539,900, about $120,000 above the Phoenix median of $420,700, and ZIP code 85013 sits at $567,700. Both mix in newer housing (the tract's median home was built in 1966), so neither prices a contributing 1940s Ranch; recent district sales do. For a district with bigger lots in the same ZIP code, compare Medlock Place, which runs to half-acre lots. For an earlier federal housing experiment, see the adobe houses of Phoenix Homesteads, and for the full list of 37 districts, go back to Phoenix historic districts by era.
The City lists the Campus Vista Neighborhood Association for the district. Joe Janus can pull recent Campus Vista sales and check whether a house is listed as contributing: get in touch with Joe.
Campus Vista Historic District FAQs
Where is the Campus Vista Historic District?
It is in central Phoenix, generally bounded by Thomas and Osborn roads and Seventh and 15th avenues, wrapped around Phoenix College. Streets include Campus Drive, Flower Street, Mulberry Drive, Verde Lane and 8th to 13th avenues.
When were the Campus Vista houses built?
From 1939 to 1956, the City's period of significance. College Addition filled within two years, wartime limits and shortages slowed building, 58 houses were finished in 1948, and the district was almost fully built by 1956.
What size are Campus Vista homes and lots?
FHA recommendations shaped houses of about 1,600 square feet, and the average lot is 70 feet wide by 125 feet deep, with setbacks of 25 to 30 feet and side yards of seven to ten feet in most places.
Is Campus Vista on the National Register?
Yes. It was listed on the National Register on June 10, 2010, seven years after the City added it to the Phoenix Historic Property Register with HP zoning in April 2003.
Can I add a second story to a Campus Vista house?
It would be unusual: every house in the district is one story except one on Verde Lane with a partial second-story addition. A street-visible addition needs a Certificate of Appropriateness from the City, which goes to a public hearing.
Do I need permission to paint or repair a house in Campus Vista?
No. Paint and in-kind repairs need no City review. Changes to materials, such as new windows or stucco over brick, do, and they can also cost the house its contributing status.
Sources
- City of Phoenix: Residential Historic Districts
- National Park Service: Campus Vista Historic District NRHP registration form
- City of Phoenix: Campus Vista Historic District map (listed April 2003, map updated November 2016)
- City of Phoenix: Campus Vista Historic District brochure
- National Park Service: National Register listed properties database (May 22, 2026 download)
- City of Phoenix: Neighborhood Associations & Preservation Organizations (Rev. 09/26)
- City of Phoenix: Historic Preservation FAQ
- US Census Bureau: ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates, table B25077 (median value, owner-occupied units)
- US Census Bureau: ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates, table B25077 (median value, owner-occupied units)