In the MidTown District of Tucson the post World War II brick ranch house reigns supreme. There are thousands of them in sizes small, medium and large. Plus versions that are duplexes. Better yet, the brick colors range from pale blonde to deep dark traditional red so there is some variance.
1950s dream homes
The one at the top of this page is located in WinterHaven, a 1950s throw-back neighborhood at the far northern end of MidTown, not far from the Rillito River.
In WinterHaven the trees are tall and well established–you may even see a child’s playhouse in a big old tree. The lawns are always green and neatly mowed. (In an era of extreme drought the green lawns are a bit shocking to see.)
And if you plan to buy a home in WinterHaven you had better be a big Christmas enthusiast because the community holds a festival-of-lights every Christmas and all homeowners are expected to decorate their houses. 60,000 Tusconans show up to see this annual event in December.
One size fits all in a single wide
In a situation that echoes the odd juxtaposition of the expensive townhomes and the affordable Lander duplexes in the Mercado district, right across Country Club Road from WinterHaven is a large development of trailer homes. Not a trailer park, but trailers sited on city lots. Mostly old ones. Some newer ones. Almost all are single-wide trailers — not the more modern double wide manufactured housing. And many have been there since the 1960s.
It’s really a tale of two contrasting neighborhoods that sit side-by-side–a situation that is not uncommon in Tucson. Rentals in the trailer neighborhood are around $450 to $600 a month. Homes for sale in WinterHaven start around $350,000 and go up.
A street lined with colorful trailer homes. Many have small gardens beside and behind the trailer. Note the big trees in the area. This development is approximately the same age as WinterHaven and so are the shady trees.
These trailers really look vintage, especially because they are painted a peach color. Doesn’t show well in this photo but all the buildings on this lot are very peach! No tree houses or vast spreads of grassy green lawn here.
Plain vanilla trailers are often useful as rentals for couples or singles just starting out in life. WinterHaven is, obviously, for those who have “arrived”.
Two more colorful trailer homes. The one on the right has the ubiquitous Our Lady of Guadalupe in front. Click through to see the statue. And it looks like Christmas lights are still wrapped around the palm tree in front of the home. The residents may be Christmas enthusiasts, too.
MidTown runs–more or less–from Broadway on the south to the Rillito River on the north. It begins–more or less–at 1st Avenue on the west and extends to Craycroft on the east. It is the great big middle of Tucson. Most homes were built after World War II.
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