The Beadle Archive on Modern Phoenix: The Neighborhood Network

Introducing The Beadle Registry

It's time for YOU to take part in honoring and preserving Desert Modernist Alfred Newman Beadle's architectural legacy.

After three years of careful documentation, Al Beadle's wife Nancy Beadle, his daughters Geri and Caren, Ned Sawyer and Alison King of Modern Phoenix have identified over 80 residences and 200 other properties designed by Alfred Newman Beadle. We're calling it the Beadle Registry and it is hosted right here at BeadleRegistry.com.

Roger Brevoort talks with Ned Sawyer at Executive Towers by Al Beadle
UPDATE: Roger Brevoort successfully wrote Executive Towers' nomination for the National Register of Historic Places in 2016! The blueprints were found in the basement and have been successfully placed at the ASU archive. Blueprints for Executive Towers by Al Beadle

Beadle's friends and creative colleagues—like Wayne Chaney and Ned Sawyer (above) plus Rich Fairbourn and Eddie Jones—have helped the Beadle Family compile the most comprehensive list of Beadle homes and buildings ever.

We encourage you to join the Registry's efforts by purchasing a commemorative, custom-designed plaque and examining the benefits of historic designation for your Beadle home.

Nancy and Gerri have authenticated dozens of Beadle residences by reaching out homeowners like you. They may have knocked on your door or emailed you to start a conversation about the great opportunity to promote Beadle's design legacy, and yet balance your right to privacy. If they haven't contacted you yet, hold on—it's only a matter of time! In April of 2015 the family held an invitation-only gathering of Beadle homeowners who are open to privately commemorating their homes or publicly register them on the Beadle Registry website, even designate them as historic properties with the city. Several of them were eager to do all three!

Gerri Beadle addressed the audience of about 35 friends, family and homeowners to celebrate her father's love for clean lines, exotic cars, and open carports to display them in. Alison King then explained the value of documenting and preserving these remarkable Beadle Homes. For years she has managed the BeadleArchive.com, but sees the longer view of honoring and authenticating the designs.

We believe authenticating your custom Beadle home is the first step to honoring and preserving the Beadle legacy for generations to come. Being on the Beadle Registry helps preserve your home's value as an authentic Beadle, not a knockoff or an example of "Beadlesque" architecture. Modern Phoenix can help you discover your home's history and share its value to the market should you decide to sell. The Al Beadle Facebook Page and Modern Phoenix Marketplace Facebook Group are here to help you promote the sale of your home. Though Modern Phoenix is not a real estate agency, these promotional channels and private tours are offered out of desire for the right owners to connect with the right homes. Please have your real estate agent reach out when that day comes.

Are you curious about the plaque we've mentioned? The prototype for the Beadle Plaque program was revealed at our first get-together. Crafted by Beadle's preferred sculptor, Gary Slater, to be the same size as a typical CMU block the architect used in many of his residential designs, the plaque is marked with Al's signature and a serial number representing each home's unique number in the Beadle canon.

The signature style used on the plaques is Beadle's signature already used on Al Beadle designed sculptures fabricated by Gary Slater for the Beadle Estate. Al would prefer for the steel to rust, but you may choose to degrease and clearcoat the plaque, or powdercoat it in red, yellow or white as shown below.

The prototype plaque was originally made for the Steiner House in 2014, and features the year the home was built. Since it is the only home built that year, 1955 was chosen as its serial number. In most cases, the street address numbers will be used. Red plaque A different numbering system will be used for homes in Paradise Gardens, where duplicates are likely to occur. Because Paradise Gardens is a special case, a committee of community members will be formed to help authenticate the homes in this subdivision.

Friends were given a chance to examine the prototype and ask questions. Some wanted to know if their home's block was not the same size as the CMU unit selected, and more closely resembled the CMU shown in the background here, if a slimmer plaque could be ordered instead. Due to the slim proportions, we are still figuring proportions out and will post a response soon. If you would like to order a plaque, please contact Alison King. Include your street address to find out if your home is already authenticated through the Beadle Registry. Polished steel plaques are $95 plus $25 for shipping or may be picked up at Slater's Tempe studio. Powderpainted plaques are $200. Please make your preference known when ordering and indicate yellow, red, black or white for the paint.

Ned Sawyer gave some background on sculptor Gary Slater and good advice on how the plaque might be semi-permanently adhered to a brick surface. Industrial strength double-stick tape is one option. Alison endorsed a permanent or semi-permanent installation and suggested it be prominently featured at eye level on the first accessible wall inside the home. The plaque should remain with the home, not to be removed as a souvenir.

Jennifer Gunther (center), a contributing MoPho since 2011, has been crucial in creating the Beadle Registry's back end. She has spent hours interviewing, transcribing and researching maps and public records over the past two years for our primary-source data. Jennifer mingled with Beadle homeowners at our event and collected requests the first batch of plaques, taking special note of homeowners' privacy preferences.

The Beadle Registry will soon include a map of authenticated Beadle homes and buildings, like the one shown above. You may enlarge and explore the preliminary map of multifamily and commercial buildings here, but we will only place private homes on it with your permission. If you elect for your home to be on the public map, we do not anticipate that it will bring you much unwanted attention. All the homes are already pinned on a private map for research purposes, but letting us pin your home on this public map makes it easily authenticatable by both real estate agents and buyers. Pins on the public Beadle Registry map may be easily removed at any time.

To close our event, Monique de los Rios-Urban and Neil Urban addressed the group about the Boardwalk community's effort to place their complex on the National Register of Historic Places. In the future, individual homes may apply on their own for their historic register, or a MPD (Multiple Property Designation) may be filed for all Beadle Homes opting-in for a group overlay. While the National Register is honorific, the City Register has more teeth preventing demolition post-sale.

The National Register guidelines are used for both National and City of Phoenix Historic Registers. Alison King is happy to send the shorter "Cliff Notes" version of the PDFs to anyone seeking to explore historic designation of their Beadle Home. The full process for getting on various historic registers can be found here:

AZ State Historic Preservation Office manages the National Register nominations
Guide to applying for the National Register of Historic Places
City of Phoenix Historic Register Process
Paradise Valley does not have a Historic Preservation Office. Neither does Carefree. Many Beadle properties are in Paradise Valley and Carefree. That means getting on the National Register is of utmost importance, even if it is only honorific.

Vintage renderings and photos from Al Beadle's portfolios and small scale sculpture fabricated by Gary Slater were on display for the day. Contact Gerri Beadle to receive a catalog of officially licensed Beadle sculpture.

Thanks to everyone for attending our inaugural Beadle Registry event! Special thanks to Rich and Steve, who hosted us in one of the first authenticated Beadles in Paradise Gardens and are turning their courtyard, shown above, into a tiki paradise! If you are a Beadle homeowner and have not been contacted yet, you may contact Gerri Beadle for more information.