North Central Phoenix

Living in North Central Phoenix

William J. Murphy platted the Orangewood Subdivision along Central Avenue in 1895, laying out 20-acre irrigated lots meant to be "rural homes at an easy distance from the city." The bridle path he cut down the center of Central Avenue, first paved in 1920, still runs from Bethany Home Road north to the Arizona Canal and gives the corridor its name and its signature look: broad grass medians, mature shade trees, and large lots that have made it one of Phoenix's most consistently desirable addresses for a century.

The area known as "between the sevens," 7th Avenue to 7th Street, is really several distinct historic districts stitched together, including Windsor Square and Pierson Place, both on the Phoenix Historic Property Register. Homes range from 1920s-40s originals to 1950s-60s brick ranches to ground-up custom rebuilds on the largest lots, with the Murphy Bridle Path core commanding the biggest premium. Phoenix Country Club, founded in 1899, borders the district's southern edge at 7th Street, and North Mountain Park and the wider Phoenix Mountains Preserve give the neighborhood's north end direct trailhead access.