At a glance
| City HP listing | March 1988; adjustments March 2000 and January 2004 |
|---|---|
| Period of significance (city) | 1921 to 1942 |
| Boundaries | McDowell Road, Roosevelt Street, Seventh and 17th avenues |
| Single-family homes | 492 (Maricopa County Assessor) |
| Median year built | 1931 (middle half 1926 to 1938) |
| Built before 1950 | 94% |
| Median living space | 1,473 sq ft (middle half 1,223 to 1,830) |
| Median lot | 7,096 sq ft (middle half 6,869 to 8,894) |
| Median Assessor full cash value, tax year 2027 | $485,800 (middle half $438,125 to $549,550) |
| School districts | Phoenix Elementary; Phoenix Union High School |
Who should shortlist the F.Q. Story Historic District
F.Q. Story was built mostly in the 1920s and 1930s (a median build year of 1931) on a grid of palm-lined streets, with lots of 45 to 63 feet of frontage, consistent setbacks and one-story houses. The National Register form says Period Revival houses dominate, split almost equally between Spanish Colonial Revival and Tudor Revival, with bungalows and Ranch houses occurring in roughly equal numbers.
F.Q. Story fits if
- You want a Tudor. The 900 block of West Willetta has Tudor Revival houses on both sides of the street.
- You want a bit more house than Coronado offers. The median F.Q. Story home has 1,473 square feet.
- You like a detached garage. Backyard garages built to match the house, and side porte-cocheres, are common here.
Look beyond F.Q. Story if
- Freeway noise is a deal-breaker. Interstate 10 and Grand Avenue both cross the district.
- You want a bigger house and lot. Willo's median home has 1,739 square feet on 7,698 square feet of land.
- You want the oldest houses. The first F.Q. Story house dates from 1921; Roosevelt and Garfield go back to the 1880s and 1890s.
Where the F.Q. Story Historic District is in Phoenix, and the I-10 split
F.Q. Story runs ten avenues west from Seventh Avenue to 17th Avenue, between Roosevelt Street on the south and McDowell Road on the north. Streets on the city's map include Culver, Willetta, Lynwood, Portland, Moreland, Latham and Linden streets and Laurel Avenue.
F.Q. Story on both sides of Interstate 10
The Papago Freeway, Interstate 10, runs east-west through the district and splits it into two sections, and Grand Avenue cuts across it as well. When you look at a house, note which section it's in and how many lots sit between it and the freeway, then visit at rush hour before you make an offer.
The Pay'n Takit Market on Seventh Avenue in F.Q. Story
On Seventh Avenue, at the district's east edge, the Pay'n Takit Market at 1012 North Seventh Avenue, designed by Lescher and Mahoney, has been individually listed on the National Register since 1985. Kenilworth School, which opened in 1920, was the nearby school when the Story plats were sold; today F.Q. Story falls in the Phoenix Elementary and Phoenix Union High School districts, which assign schools by address.
A walking list of F.Q. Story Historic District homes
The National Register nomination names examples of each style block by block, which makes F.Q. Story easy to tour on foot. Use this list to see the styles before you look at listings.
F.Q. Story's Tudor Revival rows
The densest single-style group in the district is the row of Tudor Revival houses on both sides of the 900 block of West Willetta. More Tudors stand on the 1100 and 1300 blocks of West Portland and the 900, 1100, 1300 and 1500 blocks of West Culver.
Spanish Colonial Revival houses in F.Q. Story
For Spanish Colonial Revival, walk the 700, 900 and 1300 blocks of West Portland and the 700 and 900 blocks of West Culver. Several of these sit on the same blocks as the Tudors, so one loop covers both.
F.Q. Story's Norman and English Cottages
The most unusual house on the list is a square-towered Norman Cottage on the 1300 block of West Portland. English Cottages stand on the 700 and 1100 blocks of West Culver and the 1100 block of West Latham.
Outstanding bungalows in F.Q. Story
The bungalows singled out as outstanding are on the 700 blocks of West Willetta, West Culver and West Moreland and the 900 block of West Portland. The first house in the district, a 1921 bungalow, is on the 700 block of West Portland, near the Seventh Avenue edge where building started.
F.Q. Story bungalows: raised floors and sleeping porches
F.Q. Story's bungalows were built in a particular way that matters when you inspect one. Their wood floors typically sit about 18 inches above grade, and they typically have a screened sleeping porch at a rear corner.
Inspecting a raised-floor F.Q. Story bungalow
A raised wood floor means a crawlspace under the house. Ask your inspector to go under it and report on the framing, the vents and any plumbing or wiring that runs there. The checklist for inspecting a historic home lists the other items to add.
F.Q. Story sleeping porches and additions
If you want to enclose the sleeping porch for an extra room, remember that it changes the outside of the house, so the work goes through HP review. Treat the porch as it is when you price the house. If you plan to fund the work with the mortgage, the renovation loan guide compares the options.
How the F.Q. Story Historic District was platted
The district is named for Francis Quarles Story, a Boston wool merchant turned Southern California citrus grower who bought about 200 acres here in 1887. Story is credited with founding the national advertising campaign behind Sunkist oranges and was president of the California Fruit Growers' Association from 1897 to 1920. He never platted the land; in 1919 he sold the tract to the Phoenix firm of Jordan, Grace and Phelps.
The six F.Q. Story plats
The Story Addition was platted in six sections: Plats A and B in 1920 (40 acres each); "New Story" Plats C, C West and D, opened in 1927 on 80 acres from 11th to 15th avenues; and "West Story" Plat E, 40 acres from 15th to 17th avenues. The first two plats were annexed in 1920, New Story in 1926 and West Story in 1928.
The 1921 flood and the F.Q. Story building boom
The Cave Creek flood of August 21, 1921 hit the Story area hard, and building picked up only after Cave Creek Dam was built in 1923. The Dwight B. Heard Investment Company reopened Plat A in January 1924, Lane-Smith opened Plat B as "North Story", and by 1926 there were 113 homes between Seventh and Ninth avenues. Lane-Smith had a model home built on the 1100 block of West Lynwood in July 1927.
West Story and the Franklin Addition
West Story was also called the Franklin Addition, after the nearby Franklin School (1926), and was developed by the Cowley, Higgens and Delph Company.
HP review in the F.Q. Story Historic District
The City of Phoenix listed F.Q. Story in March 1988, with boundary adjustments in March 2000 and January 2004. Its houses carry the HP overlay, which you can confirm from the "HP" suffix on a parcel's zoning. On the National Register, the district was listed on March 24, 1988, and a 1993 boundary increase added the area between 15th and 17th avenues from Culver to Lynwood streets, plus lots on Roosevelt and McDowell.
What F.Q. Story owners need approval for
A porch enclosure, a second story or a new garage all change the outside of the house, so each needs either staff sign-off (a Certificate of No Effect) or a Certificate of Appropriateness after a hearing. Windows work differently: since July 1, 2011, replacing windows as a stand-alone job needs no building permit or HP review if the city's conditions are met, while windows inside a larger permitted project are reviewed. The district counted 333 contributing and 80 non-contributing structures, and the review applies to both. The guide to the city's HP rules explains the process, and the historic property tax savings guide covers the state program.
F.Q. Story or Coronado: what the same budget buys
| Measure | F.Q. Story | Coronado |
|---|---|---|
| Median full cash value (2027) | $485,800 | $462,250 |
| Median living space | 1,473 sq ft | 1,241 sq ft |
| Median lot | 7,096 sq ft | 6,700 sq ft |
| Main styles | Spanish Colonial and Tudor Revival | Bungalow |
| Single-family homes | 492 | 1,014 |
At the median, F.Q. Story costs $23,550 more than Coronado and gives you about 232 more square feet. The bigger difference is style: F.Q. Story is the Revival district, Coronado the bungalow district. Coronado also has twice as many houses to choose from. If the house you want is a Tudor, choose F.Q. Story and pick your block carefully; if it's a bungalow, Coronado has more of them.
Census figures cut the other way here. Tract 1129's 2020 to 2024 median for owner-occupied homes is $566,700, above the Assessor median, but the tract's housing is much newer (a median build year of 1956); ZIP code 85007 comes in at $480,600. Sales on F.Q. Story's own blocks are the better guide.
Seeing inside at the F.Q. Story Home & Garden Tour
The Story Preservation Association, which took that name on July 11, 1984, lists its 40th F.Q. Story Home & Garden Tour and Holiday Market for Saturday, December 5, 2026, at North 11th Avenue and West Portland Street. For houses on the market, Joe Janus can pull recent F.Q. Story sales. The Phoenix historic districts overview lists the other 36.
F.Q. Story Historic District FAQs
Who was F.Q. Story?
Francis Quarles Story was a Boston wool merchant turned Southern California citrus grower who bought about 200 acres here in 1887. He is credited with founding the advertising campaign behind Sunkist oranges, but he never platted the land; he sold it in 1919.
Where is the F.Q. Story Historic District?
West of downtown, from Seventh Avenue to 17th Avenue between Roosevelt Street and McDowell Road. Interstate 10 splits it into two sections.
What style are F.Q. Story homes?
Period Revival houses dominate, split almost equally between Spanish Colonial Revival and Tudor Revival, with bungalows and Ranch houses as well. The 900 block of West Willetta has a row of Tudors on both sides.
How much are homes in F.Q. Story?
About the same as Coronado on the county's numbers: a median Assessor full cash value of $485,800 for tax year 2027, against Coronado's $462,250, with the middle half of F.Q. Story homes from $438,125 to $549,550. Those are tax values, so check recent sales for prices.
Does Interstate 10 run through F.Q. Story?
Yes. The Papago Freeway runs east-west through the district and splits it in two. Check how close a house is to the freeway before you offer.
When is the F.Q. Story home tour?
The Story Preservation Association lists its 40th Home & Garden Tour and Holiday Market for Saturday, December 5, 2026, at North 11th Avenue and West Portland Street.
Reviewed by Joe Janus, Realtor®, on November 6, 2026. Our research process
Sources
- City of Phoenix: Residential Historic Districts (Phoenix Historic Property Register)
- City of Phoenix: F.Q. Story Historic District map (updated November 2016)
- National Park Service: National Register listed properties spreadsheet (2026-05-22)
- National Park Service: F.Q. Story Neighborhood HD nomination (1987)
- Maricopa County Assessor: parcel layer (MaricopaDynamicQueryService/Parcels), queried 2026-11-06
- City of Phoenix: Historic Properties GIS layer
- City of Phoenix: Historic Preservation Approvals and Guidelines
- City of Phoenix: Historic Preservation Financial Incentive Programs
- City of Phoenix: Historic Preservation FAQ
- US Census Bureau: Geocoder, school district layers (ACS2023 vintage)
- US Census Bureau: ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25077
- US Census Bureau: ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25077
- F.Q. Story Preservation Association: About
- F.Q. Story Preservation Association: Events