Dreams Do Come True! (Tovrea Castle Tour)

That castle on the hill-I see it every day driving to and from work. I have been enthralled with it for years, reading and listening to podcasts about it, and this weekend, we finally go to tour it! Tovrea Castle at Carraro Heights is owned by the city of Phoenix, but operated by the nonprofit Tovrea Carraro Society. As such, tours are by lottery, and a tight lottery at that. (Our actual tour was only about 12 people.) I had already put in for tours once, and had no luck. This time, God blessed us with favor, and we got in!

It was a hot October day to take a 10:30 am tour, but we went for it anyway. We checked in at the visitor center on Van Buren, and from there took a "tram" (aka large golf cart) around the property and up the castle. There was audio on the tram that told the story of the grounds and castle's buildings.

When we pulled up to the castle, we saw the giant bell that Della Tovrea rang when robbers got into the castle. She failed to attract the attention of the caretakers, so ran down the hill in the rain to get them. Ultimately, she succumbed to pneumonia two weeks later as a result of this foray.

The lights around the castle are art deco style, and all reflect the tiers of the castle. Did you know that Alessio Carraro built the castle without plans? Crazy!

Tours require wearing booties, so as to protect the restored maple floors. The history of the interior is fascinating. This seal, for instance, is also at the in Phoenix.

 

Carraro repurposed a lot of things in the house, including these mahogany kitchen cabinets, which were once teller cages at the bank.

There is a bullet hole in the kitchen ceiling from a gun that went off during the home robbery that led to Della's death.

In the basement (with passive ventilation which Carraro patented), I learned that Della's second husband, William Stuart was editor of The Prescott Courier.

We weren't the first to take tours of the castle.

The grounds are almost as fascinating as the home. 

They had ponds, a bocce ball court, and a horseshoe pit.

Della apparently once had 100 peacocks on the property.

The dove cote was used to feed workers during construction.

The caretaker's cabin and machine shop went down in the 2015 microburst (but the society hopes to rebuild them one day)

All in all, it was an amazing 65-75 minute tour. While Alessio Carraro's dream of building a boutique hotel and subdivision did not work out, after several rounds of the lottery, my dream of visiting has been fulfilled!