Constructed in a bygone era when more than a dozen sheep companies were headquartered in Flagstaff, the dilapidated Tourist Home building on South San Francisco Street is about to undergo a major transformation.
In a collaborative effort to revitalize yet preserve the former Basque sheepherder boarding house, cousins Kevin and Scott Heinonen, owners of the Tinderbox Kitchen and Annex, have partnered with major Arizona housing developer Miramonte Homes with plans to create a market and café and social centerpiece for Flagstaff residents and visitors.
“The Tourist Home Urban Market will represent the retail arm of the Tinderbox Kitchen restaurant, offering the same quality food, drink and soft goods in an urban neighborhood market setting, which will also serve as the cultural and civic hub of downtown Flagstaff,” said Kevin Heinonen. He says the new enterprise will be open seven days a week serving hot breakfast items and pastries, gourmet packaged foods, chef-driven charcuterie including sausages, patés and terrines, house-butchered steaks and chops, packaged beer and wine, domestic cheeses, prepared-to-order sandwiches and other meals, plus an assortment of soups and salads.
Originally built in 1926 by Jesus Garcia, a sheepherder, and his mother, Isabelle, for decades the Tourist Home housed Basque sheepherder immigrants who came from the Pyrenees mountain range between France and Spain. This was at a time when the Flagstaff City Directory (1929), published by the then Coconino Sun, listed companies such as Obaca Sheep Company, Pete Espil Sheep Company, Conchos Sheep Company, Aso Sheep Company and Frisco Mountain Sheep Company, among others, as their flocks grazed in this area during the summer months and were moved to Central and Southern Arizona during the winter.
“Considering its rich historical significance to our city, the challenge is to preserve the building as best we can while making it financially lucrative,” Heinonen said.
This will undoubtedly be easier said than done; as the once robust sheepherding industry became less and less viable in the Flagstaff area, the Tourist Home closed its doors nearly 40 years ago and has fallen into a state of major disrepair. The roof has severely deteriorated with leaks that have damaged the wooden flooring, the plaster and siding are cracked, the windows are broken and boarded up, among other major problems that include electrical and plumbing systems that are obsolete and will need to be replaced to meet current codes.
With the City of Flagstaff’s involvement, the Heinonens intend to take the Tourist Home out of the category of “eyesore” and in to production mode as early as late summer or early fall.
Miramonte Homes owner Chris Kemmerly, who currently is involved with several major construction projects in the Flagstaff area at Pine Canyon, Forest Springs, the long-awaited continuation of the Presidio in the Pines development and the Switzer Canyon condominium development project scheduled to begin in June, also has a special interest in restoring distressed historic properties, having worked on similar projects in the Tucson area.
“We have made a major commitment to Flagstaff. To be involved in rehabilitating and improving this major commercial corridor between the Northern Arizona University campus and the downtown area is exciting,” Kemmerly said. “Speaking personally, my wife and I love Flagstaff – it’s been a wonderful community to us, and our oldest son is graduating from NAU in May.”
“Fortunately, Miramonte Homes, who has recently acquired the Tourist Home, and the City of Flagstaff have the same goal of historic preservation and revitalization to the extent that it is possible for this property,” said Heinonen, who together with Scott Heinonen has been analyzing and planning the Tourist Home restoration effort for the past two years. “While it would have been much easier to bring the building down, this is not what we wanted.”
“What we see happening with projects such as the Tourist Home right now is exactly what we hoped to see,” said Karl Eberhard, community design and redevelopment manager for the City of Flagstaff. Eberhard says that the city completed a major streetscaping effort along the South San Francisco Street corridor nearly two years ago. New sidewalks, curbs, parking spaces, streetlights and landscaping were installed, positively impacting right-of-way elements that fall within the public realm.
“The earlier municipal investment has helped to set the stage for private investment,” said Eberhard, who witnessed a similar restoration effort on State Street in Santa Barbara, Calif. “With aging infrastructures, these projects are occurring throughout the country,” he said.
“Already we have witnessed phenomenal growth in customer foot traffic to this area,” Heinonen said. “It has been a breath of fresh air and resurgence.”
The developer’s application for the Tourist Home rehabilitation effort has been submitted. A preliminary city hearing is scheduled for this month. FBN