One Saturday in 1938, J.E. Thompson was playing cards with his staff at Rancho Joaquina, when a stranger came calling.
TFH Exclusive: Owners Provide Inside Tour of Rancho Joaquina
Marc and Karen Goldblatt, the current owners of Rancho Joaquina, the estate built by my great grandfather in 1924-5, recently treated thompsongenealogy.com to an exclusive insider tour of the historic home, highlighting their extensive preservation efforts. OK, it was really like they were just nice enough to show me around. Maintaining the 6,709-square-foot home, much […]
New Discovery Confirms Rancho Joaquina’s Status as Historic Treasure
Why is Rancho Joaquina, my great grandfather’s 6,709-square-foot Adobe Revival home built in 1924-5, worthy of being listed on the National Register of Historic Places? Because it was built by my great grandfather J.E. Thompson, of course! No, seriously, what criteria had to be satisfied to list the gorgeous Phoenix home in 1984? An ideal […]
Rancho Joaquina Needed a Facelift Before It Could be Shown to the Public
The year was 1970. The occasion was the annual Phoenix Home and Garden Show. The opportunity was to open my great grandfather J.E. Thompson’s 46-year-old Rancho Joaquina estate for public viewing. The problem: It was a mess, inside and out. In stepped the local chapter of the American Institute of Interior Designers, along with The […]