Tovrea Castle at Carraro Heights
The Tovrea Castle at Carraro Heights has been a historical landmark nestled on 44 acres in the heart of Phoenix for over 70 years. Alessio Carraro, an Italian immigrant, built the Castle between 1928-1930 along with a breathtaking cactus garden that surrounded the Castle. His vision was to have the Castle serve as a hotel where visitors from around the world could relax while enjoying the beauty of the Phoenix desert. Thie vision was shattered shortly after completion when he sold the Castle and surrounding grounds to the Tovrea family in 1931. The City of Phoenix puchased the Castle and grounds in 1993 in order to preserve it for future enjoyment and use, and spent the next 13 years rennovating the delapidated Castle and Garden, but ran out of funds in 2010. That same year, a group of community volunteers recognized the need to make this landmark available to the public and formed the Tovrea Carraro Society. They were granted a 501(c)3 non-profit status by the IRS in May of 2011 and signed a five year agreement with the City of Phoenix to operate the Castle on behalf of the City. With help from countless volunteers and financial donations, the Society plans on opening the Castle for limited public tours in mid to late February 2012 to coincide with the State’s Centennial Celebration but needs additional financial assistance from community friends who want to enjoy this Historical Landmark and Phoenix Point of Pride location for future years. While the castle itself has been restored by the City much restoration work remains to be completed. On the grounds are additional structures such as workers accommodations, dovecote, aviary, reflecting pool, and rose garden which are in need of restoration. A master plan for the ongoing maintenance of the cactus garden also needs to be developed in order to maintain the gardens in their original dense desert condition. As such the Tovrea Carraro Society hopes to be able to raise additional funds to contribute to restoration work and enhance the experience for visitors to this historic site.
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