Petersen, Niels, House - Tempe Arizona
Posted by: Groundspeak Premium Member sundevil1994
N 33° 23.605 W 111° 57.711
12S E 410547 N 3695316
The house is significant as the oldest Queen Anne Style brick residence in the Salt River Valley.
Waymark Code: WMAJHZ
Location: Arizona, United States
Date Posted: 01/21/2011
Published By:Groundspeak Regular Member scrambler390
Views: 10

From the Tempe Historic Preservation site (link below):

"...It is also important for its association with Niels Petersen, a Danish immigrant and prominent local farmer and entrepreneur. It is also significant for its design by James Creighton a well-known Arizona architect. The house was built in 1892 by Niels Petersen, a Danish immigrant who came to Tempe in 1871. He developed a ranch with substantial land holdings, was president of the Farmers and Merchants Bank, co-founder of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and a representative at the 18th Territorial Legislature. Creighton, the architect, worked for many years in Arizona, and among his extant works are the Pinal County Courthouse, Old Main at the University of Arizona, and the Tempe Hardware Building on Mill Avenue in Tempe. Petersen’s entrepreneurial success, based largely on agriculture, is representative of a recurring theme in the growth of the community of Tempe. When he died in 1923, Petersen was buried in the Double Butte Cemetery, a site he had donated to the Town of Tempe. He was later reburied on the Petersen House property. When his wife, Susanna, died in 1927, her nephew, Rev. Edwin Decker, inherited the house and property. He made modifications to the house in 1930, and lived there until his death in 1948. In 1968, the house was turned over to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, who cared for it until it was donated to the City of Tempe in 1979. The Niels Petersen House was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977. The exterior of the house was stabilized and restored in 1982 with a grant from the Arizona State Historic Preservation Office. The interior was restored in 1989, and in that year, the project received the Governor's Award for Historic Preservation. The Petersen House is now operated as an historic house museum by the Tempe Historical Museum.

The Niels Petersen House is a Queen Anne style brick residence with a steep multi-gabled roof, decorative shingles, balconies, dormers and chimneys. The asymmetrical structure has a one-story kitchen wing on the west, and a bungalow-style porch on the south and east, which replaced a wood Victorian porch in 1930. The two-story frame addition on the north was also added in 1930, and houses a study on the ground level and a bathroom on the second floor. The interior is comprised of thirteen rooms, with a foyer, study, parlor, dining room, bedroom, bathroom, enclosed breezeway and kitchen downstairs; three bedrooms, a bathroom and sitting room upstairs. Original features included three stained glass windows, brass door hardware, doors, windows, moldings, balustrade posts, and some wallpaper."
Street address:
1414 W. SOUTHERN AVENUE
TEMPE, AZ


County / Borough / Parish: Maricopa

Year listed: 1978

Historic (Areas of) Significance: Architecture/Engineering

Periods of significance: 1875-1899

Historic function: Domestic Single Dwelling

Current function: Recreation And Culture, Museum

Privately owned?: yes

Season start / Season finish: From: 04/12/2014 To: 04/12/2014

Hours of operation: From: 12:00 AM To: 12:00 AM

Primary Web Site: [Web Link]

Secondary Website 1: [Web Link]

Secondary Website 2: Not listed

National Historic Landmark Link: Not listed

Visit Instructions:
Please give the date and brief account of your visit. Include any additional observations or information that you may have, particularly about the current condition of the site. Additional photos are highly encouraged, but not mandatory.
Search for...
Geocaching.com Google Map
Google Maps
MapQuest
Bing Maps
Nearest Waymarks
Nearest U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Nearest Geocaches
Create a scavenger hunt using this waymark as the center point
Recent Visits/Logs:
Date Logged Log User Rating  
T2D visited Petersen, Niels, House - Tempe Arizona 07/24/2020 T2D visited it
rjmcdonough1 visited Petersen, Niels, House - Tempe Arizona 08/31/2014 rjmcdonough1 visited it
merlot visited Petersen, Niels, House - Tempe Arizona 04/12/2014 merlot visited it
jennyanykind visited Petersen, Niels, House - Tempe Arizona 03/15/2014 jennyanykind visited it
Greasepot visited Petersen, Niels, House - Tempe Arizona 02/25/2014 Greasepot visited it
ILuvAZ visited Petersen, Niels, House - Tempe Arizona 08/31/2013 ILuvAZ visited it
Go Boilers! visited Petersen, Niels, House - Tempe Arizona 05/21/2012 Go Boilers! visited it
roadrunners visited Petersen, Niels, House - Tempe Arizona 03/13/2011 roadrunners visited it
adenium visited Petersen, Niels, House - Tempe Arizona 03/14/2010 adenium visited it

View all visits/logs