Rosson House Museum

Rosson House is the best surviving picture of what Phoenix looked like before air conditioning, freeways and the sprawl that followed, and it is a charming, unhurried hour in the middle of downtown. The brick Queen Anne Victorian was completed in 1895, when Phoenix was a small territorial town of irrigation canals and adobe, and it stands, fully restored and furnished, as the centerpiece of The Square PHX, the historic block long known as Heritage Square. The house was built for Dr. Roland Rosson, a physician who briefly served as the town's mayor, but its real story is the succession of owners, renters, lodgers and boarders who lived there over the following decades, and the guided tour uses room after room to tell that broader history of the city. Tours are the only way inside. They run about an hour, cover all the living areas from the formal parlor and dining room to the kitchen and pantry, the doctor's office, sewing area, bedrooms, nursery and attic, and are limited to about ten people, which keeps them conversational. The guides handle the details well: the woodwork and period furnishings, the veranda designed for desert evenings, and the ways a family coped with Phoenix summers in the 1890s. Two interior stairways mean the tour involves climbing, so let staff know if anyone in your group cannot manage stairs. Tours run Thursday through Sunday at set times; the museum is closed Monday to Wednesday and on several holidays. Admission is modest, children under five are free, and discounts apply for seniors, AAA members, students, teachers, veterans and same-day transit riders.

The Square PHX itself is worth lingering in. The block preserves several historic homes and buildings around shaded lawns and a memorial rose garden, with a visitor center and museum store, a coffee bar, a wine bar and restaurants in the old houses; the square has long been home to Pizzeria Bianco, the restaurant that put Phoenix on the national pizza map, so lunch can be part of the plan if you are prepared to wait. The square's resident cats have their own following. A self-guided Block 14 audio tour adds history beyond the house, and docent-led walking tours of the square run on a schedule.

For something different, look at the special tours. Happy Hour Tours of Rosson House run on selected evenings and include two glasses of wine at the visitor center afterward, and the Seances and Spiritualists tours explore the Victorian fascination with the afterlife inside the house, a popular choice in autumn. Both must be booked in advance and are scheduled only on certain dates, so check the calendar early. Group and private tours can also be arranged.

Downtown Phoenix makes the visit easy to combine. The Children's Museum of Phoenix is one block away, the Arizona Science Center and the convention center are close by, and the light rail connects to the Heard Museum, Roosevelt Row and Tempe. Fit: history-minded first-timers who want to see the town before the city, architecture lovers who enjoy period interiors, and couples who will appreciate an evening wine tour. Families with young children may prefer the self-guided square and the Children's Museum, since the house tour asks for an hour of careful listening.