Historic Tovrea Castle gets new life through restoration project

Tovrea Castle in Phoenix, the historic “wedding cake castle,” has a refreshed look after the Tovrea Carraro Society completed a restoration of its caretaker’s house and cottage, structures originally built nearly a century ago.

While not open for occupancy at this time, both the house and cottage serve as visual museum pieces preserving the site’s architectural heritage.

Tamera Zivic, President of the Tovrea Carraro Society, joined “Arizona Horizon” to share how the restoration connects the community to one of Phoenix’s most beloved landmarks.

For those passing on the Loop 202 in Central Phoenix, the Tovrea Castle greets drivers on a daily commute. Built in 1931, the castle currently sits on over 44 acres of land, previously 360 acres.

The original concept from owner Alessio Carraro was to build a boutique hotel, selling the remainder of the land for home sites surrounding the castle. However, due to the Great Depression that Carraro had to quickly sell the property to E.A. Tovrea and his wife Della. Turning it into a private residence for the Tovera family, E.A. passed a year later, and Della in 1969. Eventually, after decades of disrepair, the City of Phoenix purchased the property in the 1990s.

One of the recent renovations on the property is of the Carraro Cabin, where Alessio and his wife, Alicia, lived during the castle’s construction. Zivic said, “They’ve been recreated because the original buildings, there are seven outbuildings, were taken out by monsoons and microbursts.”

“We had terrific architects who went through all of the rubble to figure out what it would look like
and originally, it was painted the same colors as the castle,” said Zivic.

From the recent renovations, the Tovrea Carraro Society is restoring the property to its original look, back almost a century ago.