The bell tower is all that remains of the once legendary Jokake Inn at the Phoenician

As part of the Last Resorts series, The Show is exploring architectural elements from Phoenix’s iconic resort past that still exist.

The bell tower, a Pueblo-revival style building just inside the grounds of the Phoenician, is all that remains of the once legendary Jokake Inn, which got its start in the 1920s as a tearoom.

Scott Jarson, a longtime realtor in town who specializes in architecturally unique homes, joined The Show to explain what makes the building near 60th Street and Camelback Road so exceptional.

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SCOTT JARSON: So I have a lifelong interest in unique pieces of architecture and design that are left in the Valley — and we're at one of the best of them. This is what's left of the historic Jokake Inn. This is the bell tower, and it's a beautiful adobe structure. It dates from 1936. It was an absolute beacon in the desert that drew people to this resort. It really speaks to why people came here and their first introduction to Arizona and the Sonoran Desert.

And if you can imagine the sense of awe of the unique beauty we had here that these visitors got to enjoy, Camelback [Mountain] as a beautiful backdrop in this soaring, multilevel adobe structure. It had to be just a point of arrival as you came to start your winter vacation in Arizona.

The architect of this was R.T. Evans. He was just known for doing these beautiful pueblo revival structures. He did probably 20, 30 structures up and down Camelback. His mother owned this property, and his mother was Jessie Benton Evans. She was an artist. And so you get these artists and architects with these desert dreams, and they realize them.

She worked with Mary Colter at Santa Fe Railroad and Fred Harvey resorts. So there was that connection. She'd seen this. She understood what it was like to have these destination resorts. And her son realized it in the architecture.

This bell tower structure was really important because it anchored this visually for miles. I mean, it was a very ambitious structure. And this is where they would hold tea in the afternoon. It was a multipurpose use. So this, this became the Jokake Inn and the symbol for it.

It's actually quite modern. So built in the 1930s, it had a conventional foundation. It had good quality windows. But it's multilevel, which is hard to do with adobe. vans was a master of it. It was locally built, George Ellis was the general contractor. He has rich family ties and built for people like Frank Lloyd Wright.

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Originally, there were lower adobe structures to the east of the property. They were more like guest casitas. That was the initial start of the inn.

There was the Jokake School for Girls on property. So if you can imagine this is a place where you might winter and then also have your children educated at the same time. This was complete destination resort unlike anything we see today.

So at the time, this is probably — well, it was — the largest building that you could find in and around Scottsdale. It it had to be visible from downtown Scottsdale when the tree canopy was low and the people built lower. So it was so integrated. And if you can imagine Camelback Road when — "camel back" was two words — and it's a two lane road, mostly dirt. And you're coming from the train station in downtown Phoenix all the way out here in the desert. By the time you got out here, you, you saw this beacon of this tower and went, "Wow, phew."

You would have had Arcadia to the south. All irrigated citrus groves. If you're here in the spring, it's heaven against this desert backdrop. So very special places. And they just spoke of Arizona, the climate and the space.

The Jokake Inn was such a signature, detailed building. Evans really understand the nature of these pueblo structures and how to control how they — he ornamented them. So they weren't over the top, they were very subtle.

But it still stands today. We're grateful for it.

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