A historic structure and former beloved Tempe restaurant has been picked up and moved to a new location in the city.
The Harry Walker House was built in 1903 and has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1984. It was originally home to Harry Walker, a groundskeeper at Tempe Normal School (now Arizona State University) during the first decade of the 20th century.
The house has changed hands several times since then, but is probably best known as the House of Tricks restaurant which operated for more than 30 years until its owners retired in 2022.
Tempe Historic Preservation Officer Zachary Lechner said the city recently had a historic architect examine the building.
“He said that it possessed remarkable architectural integrity,” Lechner said. “The house is really in very good condition. It’s had limited changes over the years, particularly to the exterior. It still has its original front door. It has most of its original windows.”
The only major change was the removal of a brick wall that separated the home’s two bedrooms, which was done to make it more suitable for an office space.
Doug Tichenor is the senior director of development with Core Spaces, the company that purchased the property the Walker House was sitting on. Tichenor worked closely with the city to figure out the logistics of moving the structure, which he called a "monumental feat.”
“The coordination of moving street lights temporarily, having to take down traffic signals, trim trees in some cases, in some cases, remove trees, making sure that the width and the height of the route that the house would move is feasible,” Tichenor said. “I’ve been developing buildings throughout the country for almost 15 years and I’ve only seen another structure moved one time in my entire career.”
The house was originally located on Seventh Street near Forest Avenue. It’s now next to City Hall on Fifth Street.
The former site will be turned into a 30-story mixed use project, including more than 800 new apartments and ground-level retail space. It will be among the tallest buildings in Tempe.
“The developer agreed to convey ownership of the house to the city of Tempe so the city can utilize it for the public’s benefit,” Lechner said “I think that that’s a really great solution to what could’ve been the potential loss of another architectural resource in Tempe.”
The city plans to secure the structure, establish utilities and restore the aesthetics of the house before exploring new options for it as a retail or restaurant space.
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