Tovrea Castle at Carraro Heights

After 5 years of trying to get tickets through the raffle, we got lucky and received an email that provided a link to pay for the tickets. 4 months later we got to finally see it. The tour goes through the property and they tell you about the history of the family etc. The castle itself is only open for tours on the 1st floor and basement, the 2 upper floors are not available for the tours and that was very disappointing as we hoped to explore the whole castle. Lots of history there and the volunteers do a good job explaining it to the visitors. They have sometimes cancellations and you can check with them and if there is open spaces they allow you to take the tour. They have a small gift shop/welcome center were you arrive and check in.

It is a beautifully place but it is not open to the public so they have a lottery and you have to plan your visit ahead

I had tried for tickets a few times and was finally lucky enough to score one - and it was fabulous! This building/residence has a very unique history and the tour did not disappoint. The tour guide was very enthusiastic and gave so much insight into this castle. Highly recommend for anyone interested in history, architecture or just learning more about the Tovrea family and their impact on Phoenix. I would say the tour is more oriented towards adults but there were children on the tour I went on and they were still entertained!

Lived in Arizona for 30+ years and have always driven by the "birthday cake" castle but never been on a tour. Cool old nostalgic building. The tour was great and worth it to me as I enjoy visiting historic sites. On the guided tour you aren't allowed to the upper levels of the castle but there is interesting things to see on the first floor and the basement. Somewhat reminds me of visiting Hearst Castle in California. This is obviously much smaller and less to see but still interesting. The grounds aren't refurbished except for the cactus gardens but it sounds like there are plans at some point to redo some of the other buildings that have fallen down.

With the help of a volunteer, history came alive for about 90 minutes. From the early 1900s to modern day, the City of Phoenix saved the castle and so much more. Relative to tickets, you are chosen via a lottery to attend and then you have to pay in advance.

Tovrea Castle at Carraro Heights: Historic Icon and a “Jewel in the Sonoran Desert” is an intriguing site tucked off the highway with 100+ years of Arizona History surrounded by beautifully maintained cactus gardens.  I did not get to tour the castle itself due to the lottery for tickets however the view from the shop area was beautiful! Want to go back for a tour sometime!

It's a very pretty place, very verbal and visual tour, but you have to order tickets several months in advance. I placed my tickets at the end of September 2017 and attended the castle June 2018. The tour is an hour long, no hikes. They only show you two rooms and not the upstairs :( kinda bummed about that, I wanted to see the upstairs. It is very clean, neat, and there is not much AC so it gets warm almost immediately. When you want to take phots, the photos are rushed, I wanted at least 20 minutes to take photos,but they rush you out. It is an Arizona experience, I do recommend to look around, but just be prepared several months in advance with tickets. Tickets were $20 each for an adult. No student discount.

As a single, local resident I’ve been religiously applying to the lottery 5+ years and still haven’t been selected. Since the selection process is inherently random, it doesn’t seem to prioritize persons who have applied multiple times nor is there an option to self-add to a waitlist. It’s quite frustrating being passed over. As a PHX “point of pride” this really should be more broadly accessible to the general public.

If you live in the Valley it's highly likely that you have driven by this place. From the 202 fwy you can easily see it. I often wondered what is that building? Finally after passing it so many times I was curious enough to look it up. I googled "cake shaped building PHX" and it was the first result. "Tovrea (said tov-ree) Castle aka A jewel in the Sonoran desert" Since 2010 the City of Phoenix purchased, renovated, and opened it for tours. The very abbreviated story with this place is that some homesteaders from the early 1900s owned the land, sold 277 acres to a wealthy Italian man. Alessio Carraro had built a fortune in the sheet metal business in the 1920s from San Fran. He planned to build a hotel resort surrounded by a housing subdivision on 277 acres, Carraro Heights. The castle was built near the timing of when the Great Depression set in. Carraro wanted out, he sold the castle and some amount of acreage (for a fraction of his investment) to Della Tovrea, wife of cattle baron E.A. Tovrea. She lived there until her tragic death in 1969. Nearby is the Stockyard Restaurant, built by E.A.'s son so cattlemen had somewhere to eat near the stockyards. That restaurant still exists today. I plan to check it out. If you want more details and full story, go take the tour :) however tickets are not easy to come by. Tours sell out many months in advance and they started using a lottery system. I bought my tickets months ago. However worth a try to go. I wouldn't say its the most amazing thing I've ever seen and the use of the word "castle" is a stretch. I've been inside some real castles in US and Europe, however it's interesting and a fun thing to do and it satisfied my curiosity! :) Per their website- The Ticket Lottery for Fall 2022 Tickets has ended and all tickets have been distributed - look for last minute cancellation tickets. Ticket Lottery for Spring 2023 Regular Tours closed on October 15, 2022 and Winners will be notified via email starting November 1, 2022. https://tovreacastletours.com

Finally got the tour option after years of trying the ticket lottery and it was soooo good! The tour is about 90 minutes and it starts and ends on covered golf carts that take you to the castle. You can take water, just not inside the castle. It was so hot and thankfully ac was added to the castle. You get to see the basement and the first floor of the castle as the other rooms are not open to the public. The grounds are beautiful and you see that also on the tour. The volunteers are so nice and the tour people were so friendly and well prepared. What a fun experience! You can get in the ticket lottery and they also offer last minute tickets for people who cancel so it's all on the website. Highly recommend

What's better than a great dose of history? I've looked at this place from afar my whole life and finally able to tour. It was fantastic. I entered this lotto more than once and it paid off. Roma was the BEST Docent ever. What a great investment of bond money.

An interesting story, and the guides were very friendly and knowledgeable. Downside is that you can't tour the full home, and the grounds are viewed while riding in the vehicle - definitely worth the visit, but temper your expectations.

Absolutely beautiful worth going to see inside and out. Waited until we were here for three years before we went to see it and I regret that need to put it at the top of your bucket list.

Interesting insight into Phoenix history Looking at past photos and seeing the amount of restoration that has been completed was insightful Need to book well I advance. For 2019/20 the tickets come open some time in early March. The tickets go fast. It took our group 2 years to obtain tickets The guides were very friendly and offered good insights

If you've ever wondered "Hey, what's that castle looking thing on top of that hill in the middle of nowhere" while driving down the I-10, turns out it's actually a castle! This white castle (Sans sliders, Harold or Kumar) was built by an Italian sheet metal mogul back in the early 20th century, then sold to the Tovrea family when the Great Depression hit. The tour was informative and interesting. There's a tram that will take you to the castle and you'll get to see a lot of the native desert life surrounding the area. We saw lots of cacti, including some cholla, and a hippity hoppity little Cottontail bunny roaming around (Probably looking for Peter Rabbit, Flopsy and Mopsy). The tour then continues to the ground floor, then to the basement. The architecture here is really unique and I loved the art deco feel to the decor. Apparently this castle was intended to be a hotel by the original owner but the Tovrea family decided to make it their own private residence. There's a video on the tour that shows the remodeling process and it gives you a lot of respect for the contractors that put so much love and care into bringing back the Tovrea castle to its former glory. I booked the "Twilight tour" which is an evening tour of the castle (With no whiny sparkly vampires though, thank goodness). The temperature was still warm-ish outside and slightly warm on the ground level of the castle but the basement was nice and cool. It was overall a pretty short tour, I'd say with the tram rides and the tour itself we spent about 45 minutes on our actual excursion. I enjoyed hearing about the history and looking at the interior of the castle, but for me the tour felt a bit short. Maybe one more additional element would make it worth it. There's a small gift shop at the visitor's center which has locally made jewelry and art, Rango honey, postcards, and clothing. Need a copper bunny bird feeder for the fancy outdoor birds in your life? Done. The one thing that is frustrating about this experience is that it is very hard to actually book tickets for this tour! I had tried for a few years to actually book but there is very limited admission and you have to keep in mind the exact time tours will be released online because they sell out very fast. I booked shortly after the evening summer tours went on sale back in October for the June tour and I'm pretty sure they were sold out within a few days, and I wouldn't be surprised if they were actually sold out in a few hours! These tours are a hot commodity! Details: - Open to the public since 2012 - General admission $20 per person - Tours held Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays - Next tickets will be released on July 1 for tours in Jan-May 2019

I set the alarm for 5:45 in the morning on July 1st to call in a Rez by 6 a.m. for 2 people. It was for an appointment at 8 a.m. on July 18th, wow. I wasn't feeling well because of the change of weather but forced myself to attend. I paid $20. The entrance was through a small but cute gift shop which I browsed briefly (I noticed a few choice items I wanted to buy). The volunteers were pleasant and knowledgeable. I thought inside the 'cake house' it was a bit rushed and not enough time to read the few placards. I didn't bother taking the survey cause I didn't want to waste my time while touring. Overall I'm glad I went but perhaps next time I'll research first and have some background.

Enjoyed the tour at Tovrea Castle at Carraro Heights in Phoenix, Arizona. Have passed by this landmark all my life and finally got the opportunity to tour the facility. The Tovrea Carraro Society has periodic tours of this jewel. Built in 1928 the City acquired the property in 1993 and began restorations in 2005. The property was opened to the public in 2010. Tours are guided and take about 90 minutes. Great art deco design and beautiful cactus gardens. Interesting history and more rennovations are planned.

My wife and I just took a tour of Tovrea Castle at Carraro Heights and we absolutely loved it. We both felt very priveliged to be included in a group tour of retired America West employees and their spouses. A member of our group had put their name in the lottery and was choosen to take the tour along with 20 other people and we were invited to go. The tour guides are volunteers and they both did a great job and were very knowlegable. If you are lucky enough to be some of the few people to take this tour, GO! You will love it!

After waiting three years for tickets, I was FINALLY able to get in for a tour. Was very interesting and fun. The tour guides were nice, enthusiastic, and seemed to be very dedicated to the castle. (They wouldn't even accept my tip at the end!) The views are beautiful and it is definitely worth the wait. Every local should check it out at least once!

Horrible personnel. I'm sure the place is great and the cactus garden outside seems really inspiring. But the staff is just absolutely awful. All we did was park, walk towards the visitor center, and ask the man out front how to enter.. He was actually quite reasonable and told us that the event was sold out and was running a lottery system starting next year. We started walking out, but overheard the most loud dismissive conversation from the lady inside by the counter (who I don't even know what we did to offend). Us just being there seemed to be agonizing for her - which is awkward since she is supposedly there to help tourists and locals learn about this place.. Just a terrible experience in general, but who knows maybe she was just having a bad day.. I don't think we will be coming back here.

Buy tickets months in advance if you know you will be in town. I bought mine last June for a tour in march. They only take 12 people on the tour so it's small which is fantastic. Our tour guide was great and while you don't get to see the upper floors of the castle you do get the main rooms. Lots of great stories and tickets are $15 each

I went online looking for tickets for a friend and discovered that Tovrea Castle Tours are so popular that 2013 March - May tickets are completely SOLD OUT! If you want to tour this little piece of Phoenix history you definitely need to plan ahead! 2013 Tour Schedule: January - April 8:30 AM & 11:30 AM Fri, Sat and Sun May 7:30 AM & 10:30 AM Fri, Sat and Sun June - July 7:30 AM Fri, Sat and Sun August Closed September 7:30 AM Fri, Sat and Sun October 7:30 AM & 10:30 AM Fri, Sat and Sun November - Dec 8:30 AM & 11:30 AM Fri, Sat and Sun PLAN AHEAD FOLKS! PLAN AHEAD . . .

A beautiful castle that deserve your attention, please go check it out. You can check the YouTube introduction before you visit, too.

Let this review be a warning to you to always read the fine print! I tried for a couple of years to get tickets to Tovrea Castle, finally scoring a dozen of them in 2017 for a tour in May 2018. I planned to surprise a group of friends with this outing. Well, when you try to plan that far ahead, life happens. As it turned out, I was unable to go on the date I had picked because I was going to be out of the country. I decided to purchase tickets again for the next opportunity, and I did. A dozen more tickets for a tour in late 2018. So I found myself with a dozen tickets I could not use. I was able to pass them along to some friends and neighbors, most of whom reimbursed me for the face value ($15). Guess what? That's against the rules. I received an email from the Tovrea people that not only was I "busted" for selling my tickets, I was not going to be permitted to use the ones I purchased for the later date in 2018. They canceled those tickets and they say they will be refunding my money. I AM ALSO BANNED FROM EVER BUYING TICKETS AGAIN. They said that if I am found to have purchased tickets in the future, they will also be canceled. So be aware, don't mess with the Tovrea Nazis, and always read the fine print! I have never heard of a situation where you cannot share tickets with others, and I certainly would not have done so had I taken the time to read the website more carefully. So enjoy your tour -- you won't see me there!

When the Tovrea Castle opened for tours I was as anxious as any Phoenician to see the place to only discover tour tickets sell out months in advance. This is still the case so I took the docent training and am now leading tours and I love it. Here's a couple notes for those interested in touring: -the tour is about 2 hours and there is no bathrooms after leaving the visitor center. -for fire safety guests only get to see the basement and first floor. There's nothing really to see on the second and third floor since it never opened as a hotel in 1931 as planned. -70% of the tour is the grounds and cactus gardens although the updated docent guide is allowing guests more time inside the castle. -volunteers are needed in all aspects of operation, please sign up.

As others have noted, tours book up extremely fast. We booked ours six months ago and I'd nearly forgotten about it. Was it the most awesome thing ever? No. But having lived in Phoenix for 16 years and driving past the castle more times than I can count wondering what the heck it was... it was nice to put curiosity at rest. The tours are entertaining (and I'm not much of a history buff) and the inside of the castle is beautiful.

Absolutely abysmal communication of the lottery. email links do not work and of course there is a recording to leave a message-big shock no response. I won't be volunteering for help in their garden through the city of phoenix. There are many other interesting sites in Phoenix

Very disappointed in the attitude the tour company has taken during this time. It is to much to expect compassion from a business. It seems even human beings have become little more then emotionless machines. I take comfort in the fact that they will not be keeping my money. It's a small consolation.

Yeah... I'm gonna be that guy. So I tried calling Brown Paper Tickets for tour tickets today. They are sold out until March 1, 2020. Wtf? I've travelled to all 50 states and many places around the world. I've never encountered a castle this booked. Most castles in Europe are free. Casa Loma in Toronto, Canadá has had so many movies in it. The lineup is long but I can still get a tour day of. And that castle is more impressive than this one. Yelp says it's open Saturday/Sunday from 7pm to 10 pm. But if you look on their website that's wrong. They have tours from Friday to Saturday, group tours on Thursday and special events on Monday and Tuesday. I even called them to get this on the voicemail. Brown Paper Tickets (BPT) told me that people buy these tickets faster than a Beyoncé concert when they drop. And what's bizarre is that you can't resell them. It's not like one guy is buying them all and selling them on Craigslist. They enforce a strict no reselling policy so you'd have to return the ticket then they would put it back up for sale online. There are 36 tickets a day for the Friday to Sunday according to the BPT. I can't imagine that everyone that books months in advance goes and that if they don't someone else gets those tickets. Seems like a waste. Sure Phoenix is the 5th most populous city in the US. And there isn't much to do compared to LA or NYC. But damn. At least raise the prices on tickets, offer more tour times or offer Audio guide tours to get more people in. I'm wondering if this is poor business practice or if it's done this way to create an air of exclusivity and thereby generate more demand. Vice did an 18 minute documentary on How to Become Trip Advisor's #1 Fake Restaurant in London. The "always booked" tactic worked. Look it up on YouTube. You know it's bad when the folks at BPT tell me to buy a ticket to England/Scotland to look at their castles for free (and I've been to England before). I'll probably never see this castle, but that's fine with me.

My family and I arrived at Tovrea Castle and Carraro Cactus Garden in the late morning on a Sunday. We saw that the gate was closed. We called the number on the gate and sadly found that due to the current economic state, the park has been closed and no tours were available. That was such a shame because this looked like a beautiful, interesting place to visit.

I waited 18 months to take this tour. Excitedly anticipated the day! The day came, arrived 15 min early and we were off. Three starts because the grounds are beautiful and the history is wonderful to learn but I think it depends on your docent. We had two, one had a lot more impact delivering the history and the other unfortunately did not. The second one delivered the bulk of the message and it was so long of just hearing her talking. I felt more forced to hear her then take in the castle. We were told to stay on the cart (I understand why) so we had to sit in one spot and listen to her talk and she took forever to deliver the message . She took so long to talk that when it came time to go to the basement they rushed to the door and said to each other oh no we are going to run out of time, how did that happen? We got to the basement where there was a video we were to be shown that a lot of touree questions were diverted to and it didn't work! This video was hyped up about how much we would see down there and in addition to being rushed we were shorted out of the video as well. It was a bummer, to wait that long for this tour and have a slight experience. Castle is beautiful tour could use some help.

Catching a glimpse of that little castle from the freeway, or even from a plane arriving at Sky Harbor, you can't help but wonder what the story is... Fortunately, the castle and desert grounds are now open for tours! What's equally impressive, is that the public tour program is entirely run by volunteers - although the preservation process was competed in 2010, the city was unable to open the facility to the public due to lack of funding, an agreement was created between the city and a volunteer driven non-profit organization that allows public access, and all tour ticket sales goes directly to program. Fun little tour, neat place to visit and supports local history - Phoenix needs more programs like this - check it out!

If you have ever been curious about the castle at all do yourself a favor and hop on over to the City of Phoenix Parks and Rec Website and sign up for a tour of the Carraro Cactus Garden. Tours are Saturdays and are $15. You will learn the about the history of the property (including all the urban legends), meet the master gardner who is restoring the cactus garden, and get a peek inside the Tovrea Castle (they opened all the first floor doors and windows for us). There are plans to create a visitor center for the castle and gardens. They would also like to allow special events like weddings, etc. Learn a little Phoenix history while helping to restore this Phoenix landmark! Sign up. You will not be disappointed. P.S. Bring your nice cameras. There are some amazing photo opps on the tour!

I had viewed this place from the freeway so often and had always wondered what it was and what is was being used for. I was pretty excited when I happened upon an opportunity to take a tour and find out. That was when they first started doing tours but from what I understand now, they are a bit harder to book. I just checked the website and they are indeed booked through June. All I can say is, it is worth the time so make an effort, you won't be disappointed! The tour lasts approximately 2 hours and starts off with a little video. The video was pretty good and explained the history of the Castle and a bit of Phoenix History. You get to go into the castle and it is really pretty awesome. Like I said before, I always wondered what this place was and I had no idea of its significance to the area before. The people that work here are all volunteers, so help support and take a tour if you have the chance.

In my family, it was known as the Cake House. I moved to Phoenix in 1992, and this building has always been a point of curiosity for me. Imagine my delight to discover that it is now available for tours! It must be a delight for lots of people since tours are fully booked until next year. The visitor center is clean and entirely operated by volunteers. There is a short introductory video and then you're taken on a golf cart out to the expansive grounds of the castle. The tour is limited to only the main floor and basement of the actual building, and a series of loops around the cactus gardens that surround the property. Unfortunately this means no access to the cupola at the top of the castle, which is really a shame. We were told this is due to building codes and accessibility issues. I was quite disappointed not to see these areas, especially when the price for a tour is $15, I felt that there should have been more of the building to see. They do have an iPad hooked up with a panoramic view of the upper floors, but obviously that isn't quite as cool as getting to see it for yourself. For the most part, I felt that the tour guides were well informed about the history of the building and surrounding property, and it was fun to learn a bit about old timey Phoenix. I appreciate that tours are available, but I do wish they were a bit more extensive. Our guide mentioned they hope to offer garden tours in the future, but I'm personally more interested in architecture. I do recommend a visit to Tovrea Castle, since it is a unique opportunity to see such a prominent landmark up close.

Put simply, I love everything about this place. Although a viewer can very well appreciate this building and its environs just by walking along East Van Buren or East Washington Streets (or even driving past it on the Red Mountain Freeway), nothing beats getting up close and going inside on a tour. Tovrea Castle is worth the trip.

I honestly had never heard of Tovrea until my friend asked me to go. I am so glad I went. I loved learning about not only the history of Tovrea but also the City of Phoenix past. The gardens were beautiful. I loved the art deco detailing.

Such an interesting place to tour. Wish they would let you walk around on your own to see the grounds.

Loved the gift shop. Knowledgeable, friendly, patient docents. Large tram, so you don't have to walk up to the castle. The renovations that have been completed are superb. Very interesting, very beautiful. You can have wedding ceremonies outside on the terrace next to the castle! So beautiful. I'm so glad I got an opportunity to see Tovrea Castle up close and inside.

The volunteers were super nice and very well-informed on the history of the castle. The surrounding area was pretty neat, seeing the different reasons for building the castle the way they did... but..... this tour was very bland as far as what is in the castle. A few replica pieces here and there and again, everything was re-done... so it was hard to see any history in this landmark. Also, you do not go upstairs as noted on the website, there is no decor anywhere, it is just a large open room with one "replica" chair and some informative poster boards... For waiting 6 months to see this (since it sells out insanely fast) I would not recommend this as it is not a castle tour and there is nothing to see.

The Tovrea Carraro Society was recently formed to take over the operations of the castle tours while the property remains owned by the City of Phoenix, The tours are set to begin in mid-Febtuary 2012 to coincide with the Arizona Centennial. Check back for more information in a couple of weeks. www.tovreacastletours.com or call 602-256-3221.

Good news! The castle is open for tours. Only on the weekends right now & you must make a reservation at tovreacastletours.com

The Birthday Cake Castle is now open for tours. Having grown up in Phoenix and just down the street from the castle I had many grandios ideas about the castle. I was fortunate enough to tour the castle this year when it opened. It is a great tour, however it is my reservation only. Call now for a tour next year as they are booked up through the year. It is a must see tour when coming to the valley.

Three stars because we were not able to see it since they only accept online tours thru their website. And from to this day (Thanksgiving Day 2013), the next available tour will be next year January. Wonder why this is so popular? I'm so curious now.

Catching a glimpse of the castle from the road was awesome. Definitely provides the curiosity & desire to imagine what the story "fairy-tale" is. My family and I walked in, however they're booked in until fall. Apparently you must make reservations to take the hour tour to see the beautiful little castle. My family and I are looking forward to making a trip there... So I would say the downfall was that you must make reservations months in advance to see the castle.

Just took the tour and loved it! The tour took just about 2 hours and was so informative! My Mom and I have been waiting to see the Castle for ever since my family is 2 generation AZ natives. Can't wait to become a Member when they start their memberships.

I am a disabled grandfather. On the last Saturday of March 2015, I made the long trip from house with my 4 and 10 year old grand kids to visit the castle. I am poor, but with a lot of sacrifice, since the entrance fees are so high, I was able to gather enough money to pay for our entrance. To my and my grand children s disappointment the guard at the entrance refused to allow us to enter because we were supposed to make a reservation. What a terrible surprise. We were only a few minutes late from the previous tour group. Unlike other places such as Mystery Castle and the Arizona State Capital Museum, here you are forced to join and take a tour. Shame on you people for such a negative experience.

An interesting bit of history. My curiosity about this landmark was finally satisfied as I became a Master Gardener and volunteered with classmates to help Jason replant the garden. The rehabilitation of the house is underway, but the tour of the gardens is definitely worth the trip.

My husband and I, born and raised in Scottsdale, are guilty of not exploring some of Arizona's best points of interest. So back in October of 2012 we purchased tickets for a tour of Tovrea Castle and Carraro Gardens on 3-3-13. You need to plan ahead for this tour, because it books up months in advance. There are only 15 people per tour, and it's closed in August due to the heat. The tour lasts 1 3/4 hours and starts with a ride up to the castle in golf carts, with several stops along the way. The docents tell you about the history of the immediate area, how it was landscaped, and how it came to be known as the Tovrea Castle. You then tour the first floor and basement of the castle, where the family spent most of their time. (Here I wish we had a little more time because they have information boards about the history of the rooms. We didn't have a lot of time to read.) They can't take you to the top floors because the rooms are so small, they can't be made accessible to the disabled, as well as due to fire code restrictions. At the end of the tour, you are in the basement where they have a very small gift shop that supports the continuing renovation of the castle. From there you ride the golf carts back down the hill to the parking lot. This is a great way to spend a couple of hours - for tourists as well as locals. Just plan ahead!