One super-hot, late summer morning, I got to go and see Tovrea Castle at Carraro Heights. That weekend the remnants of Hurricane Jimena, roaring through Baja California, were making their way up to the Valley, and so the morning started out steamy and unbearably hot, but by mid-day was cloudy and actually cool. And in between that time, there were gorgeous clouds above the castle, which, of course, make for pretty pictures.
Lately, I have been getting emails from Tovrea Castle volunteers who are trying to win a grant, so that they can do more work on the Castle. This is the text from the emails:
Tovrea Castle at Carraro Heights needs your help. The Tovrea Carraro Society is a group of volunteers that is working to open this beautiful historic landmark to the public for the first time. The group is partnering with the City of Phoenix, but receives no government funding. They're trying to win a grant from Intuit. Please help make a difference in our community by voting on the attached link. http://bit.ly/shNNSI All you have to do is choose a screen name, put in your email address and on the bottom click on "vote". You may also enter a comment. Please pass this information on to your family and friends. If you would like to get involved with this project, please email [email protected]. Volunteers are needed to maintain the grounds and to give tours. Docent training is scheduled to begin soon. Thank you.
Here are my photos from Tovrea Castle at Carraro Heights:
The Castle is near the airport, so when you are there you see all the planes leaving from and landing at Sky Harbor.
As a kid, I thought that the Tovrea Castle might be the White House. Even though I had been to the White House for a tour with my parents when we traveled all around the country. Kid geography - your mental map and your ability to order the space around you just is not that fine-tuned.
I love this wooden relief sculpture over the fire place of a 1920's flapper girl dancing. I wish I could have it.
The lowest level of the castle is partly underground. You climb down some steps and enter into a large room with three doors at different sides of the room.
This image below shows what the ceiling of the underground room looks like - kind of like really lux cake frosting. It made me hungry for a chocolate cake covered in white frosting.
And do you see the little nest? That's what that is, a robin's nest with three little eggs. Picture them in robin's egg blue. Here's the story that one of the relatives of the family who built the castle told us: They were created by a 12 year old boy, a son of the Carraro family. The boy was expected to help with the stuccoing of the ceiling, but would get really bored and create little nests here and there.
On one side of the underground room was a smaller room used as a safe. The door to the safe had this poster on it.
Click here to follow Tovrea Castle on facebook.
So far only a few hundred people have voted for Tovrea Castle to get the grant they are trying to get, so if you want to help, GO VOTE!!! http://bit.ly/shNNSI
And if you do, let me know in the comments or on my facebook! :)
