The historic Hayden House, located at the southwest corner of Rio Salado Parkway and Mill Avenue, is considered by many to be the birthplace of modern Tempe. 

History of the house
Built in 1874, it was the home of Charles Trumbull Hayden, father of Senator Carl Hayden and owner of the Hayden Flour Mill. It is the oldest continuously occupied building in Maricopa County and a premier example of adobe craftsmanship. It was the longtime home of Monti's La Casa Vieja Restaurant from the 1950s through 2014. Read more history by searching our Historic Facilities Directory. 

Rehabilitation 
The Hayden House was recently rehabilitated to its 1924-era state. From removing the exterior stucco to replacing hundreds of damaged adobe bricks, much was done to bring the house back to its original beauty. Work was done by Hensel Phelps as a condition of developing other parcels of the site. The City of Tempe purchased Hayden House from Hensel Phelps for $10. This will be the first time that the City of Tempe will have any ownership of our most historic building.

Now that Hayden House is finished, Hensel Phelps is building a 258,000 square foot commercial office building and potential hotel or residential building. All work on Hayden House was complete before work on the new components began as part of the conditions of the development agreement.

Downtown Tempe Authority now uses the Hayden House as its offices. The Arizona Masonry Council gave its highest annual award to the Hayden House adobe restoration effort in 2021. 

Tempe Adobe Houses

Tempe has substantial success with the rehabilitation of adobe buildings, such as Eisendrath House, Sandra Day O'Connor House and others. Visit our adobe resources page to read their stories. www.tempe.gov/adobe

Watch a video of the ceremony.