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Homeowners Jay Braun and Sara Gutierres.
Gutierres loves her art déco bathroom with aqua porcelain fixtures. There’s no way to know for certain, but they might be the original fixtures from when the house was constructed in the late 1930’s. “They are old, we know that every time we try to get a plumber to work on them, because this stuff is difficult to work on!” she jokes.
The “little upstairs bedroom” and the “teeny little bathroom,” as Gutierres calls them. Tess and Thomas are the couple’s indoor kitties. There is also outdoor roof space on this level but Gutierres and Braun don’t use it.
Thomas the cat relaxing in the cozy upstairs bedroom.
Added to the property sometime in the 1950’s, the guest house has been a rental in the past. Nowadays, Gutierres and Braun host their children and grandkids there. The building needed work, since there used to be a sun roof facing south, which made the small space hot enough “to cook a roast in it” during the warmer months. So Braun extended the roof over it. He also restored the ceiling and the walls.
The couple loves cats and are known in the neighborhood for helping cats find a forever home. This portrait was made for them by a local artist.
An eclectic display cabinet.
Braun restored the dining room table, which he bought at an auction. It used to belong to the Old Jefferson Hotel in downtown Phoenix.
The fireplace is made of river rock and was the only heat source back when the house was built.
The tiles and countertop were added by the homeowners.
The homeowners get crafty to make the most out of their wall space in the kitchen.
There wasn’t enough storage space in the kitchen, so the homeowners found someone who could build custom made cabinets to look exactly like the original ones. Many of the knobs are replicas too, made by a company that recreates vintage hardware.
“Hembra” mask from Guatemala.
Braun’s father was a baker by trade, “but a number of things in reality”. He was a second generation German who grew up in Washington and later moved to Alaska. Pictured here are his moccasins. In 1938, when Braun was born, Alaska was still just a territory.
The living room niche is adorned with masks and objects from all over the world. There are artifacts from Costa Rica, Panama, Guatemala, New Mexico, Africa, Asia, Ecuador, Perú, Nicaragua, Nepal, Australia, Vietnam, Norway and some local Native American ones.
The brick flooring originally covered only a small section of the patio. Braun and Gutierres extended it all while trying to maintain a cohesive look. Pandora is their outdoor cat; a sweet but wild feral they adopted even though she refuses to go inside the house.
The original logs of the patio cover had rotted, so the couple restored it using saguaro ribs instead. They had to ask for special permission for that, since there are strict rules against harvesting the cactus. They built it similarly to the Mexican tradition of placing a layer of tar paper on top of the wood for added shade. The wood and leather patio chairs are handmade in Mexico.
The original logs of the patio cover had rotted, so the couple restored it using saguaro ribs instead. They had to ask for special permission for that, since there are strict rules against harvesting the cactus. They built it similarly to the Mexican tradition of placing a layer of tar paper on top of the wood for added shade. The wood and leather patio chairs are handmade in Mexico.
The patio.
The Wilkie house was built for Irene Wilkie in 1937 by a contractor named Leonard Carr. It received historic designation in 2009 thanks to the efforts of its current owners.
The front porch
Once the homeowners obtain a historic designation, they can’t change the appearance of the facade of the house. That is part of the reason why Braun and Gutierres haven’t changed the windows. The other reason is that they love their aesthetic and fortunately, the house stays relatively cool in the summer regardless, thanks to their walls being 14” thick.
Homeowners Jay Braun and Sara Gutierres.
Gutierres loves her art déco bathroom with aqua porcelain fixtures. There’s no way to know for certain, but they might be the original fixtures from when the house was constructed in the late 1930’s. “They are old, we know that every time we try to get a plumber to work on them, because this stuff is difficult to work on!” she jokes.
The “little upstairs bedroom” and the “teeny little bathroom,” as Gutierres calls them. Tess and Thomas are the couple’s indoor kitties. There is also outdoor roof space on this level but Gutierres and Braun don’t use it.
Thomas the cat relaxing in the cozy upstairs bedroom.
Added to the property sometime in the 1950’s, the guest house has been a rental in the past. Nowadays, Gutierres and Braun host their children and grandkids there. The building needed work, since there used to be a sun roof facing south, which made the small space hot enough “to cook a roast in it” during the warmer months. So Braun extended the roof over it. He also restored the ceiling and the walls.
The couple loves cats and are known in the neighborhood for helping cats find a forever home. This portrait was made for them by a local artist.
An eclectic display cabinet.
Braun restored the dining room table, which he bought at an auction. It used to belong to the Old Jefferson Hotel in downtown Phoenix.
The fireplace is made of river rock and was the only heat source back when the house was built.
The tiles and countertop were added by the homeowners.
The homeowners get crafty to make the most out of their wall space in the kitchen.
There wasn’t enough storage space in the kitchen, so the homeowners found someone who could build custom made cabinets to look exactly like the original ones. Many of the knobs are replicas too, made by a company that recreates vintage hardware.
“Hembra” mask from Guatemala.
Braun’s father was a baker by trade, “but a number of things in reality”. He was a second generation German who grew up in Washington and later moved to Alaska. Pictured here are his moccasins. In 1938, when Braun was born, Alaska was still just a territory.
The living room niche is adorned with masks and objects from all over the world. There are artifacts from Costa Rica, Panama, Guatemala, New Mexico, Africa, Asia, Ecuador, Perú, Nicaragua, Nepal, Australia, Vietnam, Norway and some local Native American ones.
The brick flooring originally covered only a small section of the patio. Braun and Gutierres extended it all while trying to maintain a cohesive look. Pandora is their outdoor cat; a sweet but wild feral they adopted even though she refuses to go inside the house.
The original logs of the patio cover had rotted, so the couple restored it using saguaro ribs instead. They had to ask for special permission for that, since there are strict rules against harvesting the cactus. They built it similarly to the Mexican tradition of placing a layer of tar paper on top of the wood for added shade. The wood and leather patio chairs are handmade in Mexico.
The original logs of the patio cover had rotted, so the couple restored it using saguaro ribs instead. They had to ask for special permission for that, since there are strict rules against harvesting the cactus. They built it similarly to the Mexican tradition of placing a layer of tar paper on top of the wood for added shade. The wood and leather patio chairs are handmade in Mexico.
The patio.
The Wilkie house was built for Irene Wilkie in 1937 by a contractor named Leonard Carr. It received historic designation in 2009 thanks to the efforts of its current owners.
The front porch
Once the homeowners obtain a historic designation, they can’t change the appearance of the facade of the house. That is part of the reason why Braun and Gutierres haven’t changed the windows. The other reason is that they love their aesthetic and fortunately, the house stays relatively cool in the summer regardless, thanks to their walls being 14” thick.
The exterior of the Gutierres-Braun home.
Sara Gutierres and Jay Braun have always loved to explore the world. So much so that before purchasing their home, Braun didn’t think he’d become so invested in a house.
“What we were doing at the time, and we still love doing, is we were traveling a lot and doing a lot of wilderness stuff," he remembers. "We were kind of nomadic in many ways. I used to boast that I could live in a tent.”
But in 1990, Sara went for a run around the neighborhood one morning and saw someone putting a “for sale” sign in the front yard of a house.
“I ran home and I said: 'There’s a house for sale on Maple Avenue. I think we should go down and look at it!'"
They called the realtor and once on the property, they made an offer on the spot.
“I’m not even sure that we were looking for a house at that point," she said. "It was just one of those things that happened.”
At the time, the cost of the house, $130,000, was very high for a “couple of academics” like them.
Their home was originally built for a woman named Irene Wilkie in 1937 by Tempe contractor Leonard Carr. Carr is also known for building the Tempe Beach Complex and stadium in the 1930s.
In 2009, Gutierres and Braun applied for and obtained the historic designation from the Tempe City Council.
Their home was originally 1,222 square feet, but in the late 1940s, a small bedroom and bathroom were added as a second story, for a total of 1,500 square feet.
In the 1950s, a casita was built in the back yard.
After living in this house for 27 years, Braun and Gutierres embrace the unique character of their home and have adapted to the relatively small living space.
“I love living in this place," Braun said. "I like the kitchen now. You don’t have to walk anywhere to get anything. You just have to make sure you don’t keep buying stuff because there’s no room for it.
“It’s worked out wonderfully. Our kids like it. They love coming down here with their children."
Said Gutierres: “We are making a concerted effort to declutter and live a more minimalistic life, though we like to pick up stuff when we travel. But I think that we do live more simply than if you had a giant expanse of a house."
Braun, originally from Alaska, started collecting masks first. Gutierres, who used to teach social psychology at Arizona State, had a study abroad class that traveled to Costa Rica, and soon started bringing masks home from Latin America.
“Sara started bringing these masks back because I’d been collecting masks from Alaska and Canada for a long time… and so every time she’d go on a trip to Costa Rica she’d come back with some gorgeous masks," Braun said. "I love them all.”
A home without much character would have never been a space Gutierres and Braun would have considered living in.
According to Braun, “a place like this, you adapt to the place, you don’t adapt the place to you. Everything that’s unique about the place commands a certain kind of respect, so you live in it rather than conforming it to your needs.”
Gutierres had always thought about living in this neighborhood because of its unique charm and diversity.
“It is an interesting funky neighborhood, with all these interesting old houses," she said. "Every house is different, and it’s also a very friendly neighborhood,” referring to their Maple-Ash neighborhood association, a group of people interested in preserving the houses and the neighborhood’s historic value.
Since retiring about 10 years ago, they’ve had more free time to travel together, something they’ve always enjoyed.
“The last 12 years have been just incredible,” Braun said. “I’ve had the opportunity to go all over the place. We don’t buy a new car every year, but we sure have been to some incredible places, the memories of which are so much more valuable than a new car.”