The Ellis-Shackelford House

The Ellis-Shackelford House was designed by local architect R.A. Gray and built in 1917 by prominent physician William C. Ellis.

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, The Ellis-Shackelford House is significant for its architectural design, use of materials, early technological achievements, and high level of craftsmanship. The style blends elements of the Prairie Style, common in the Midwest, with detailing of the Craftsman Style, which was then in vogue in Phoenix

The house has three-stories and a basement, hardwood floors throughout, hand-painted globe-style chandeliers, and wire-cut bricks from Colorado. The wood trim and banister were imported as full mahogany trees from the Philippines and milled on-site.

The house is the only intact mansion along the downtown portion of Central Avenue. During the historic period from the mid-1910s through the 1930s, this section of Central Avenue was nicknamed Millionaires’ Row for the mansions of similar style and grandeur lining the avenue.

Dr. Ellis was a native of Ohio and moved to Phoenix in 1907. He helped organize the Arizona Deaconess Hospital (now Good Samaritan) and served as the chief of its medical staff.

Dr. Ellis’s daughter and her husband, J. Gordon Shackelford, lived in the house until 1964 after which the house became a boys’ home followed by the Arizona Historical Society offices and museum. Now, the building is owned by the Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) and is home to the Arizona Humanities Council (AHC) and the City of Phoenix Neighborhood Services. Very few repairs were done to the house during the last decade and as a result, the building has suffered.

AHC and the City of Phoenix, owner of the property, share use of the house for office and meeting space. The City received almost a million dollars in bond funds in 2006 for preservation and rehabilitation of the property.

Once renovated, the house will provide updated yet period-style office space for staff and much of the downstairs will function as period rooms, allowing visitors to walk through a turn-of-the-century home. Most importantly, the house will serve as a locus for information about the historic area in which it sits and to document the history of Roosevelt, Willo, Encanto, and other historic neighborhoods.