What to See in Scottsdale - Top Sights and Attractions

Museum in Scottsdale. The Little Red Schoolhouse is a former school building located in Scottsdale, Arizona. It was originally known as the Scottsdale Grammar School and is now home to the Scottsdale Historical Museum.

The Little Red Schoolhouse was built in 1909 to replace an earlier one-room frame schoolhouse that was built in 1896. The new schoolhouse is a two-classroom structure built of red brick at a cost of $4,500. In addition to the two large classrooms, there is an entrance hall, two small rooms for storage, and a full-sized basement that was used as a church and a community center in the early years. The schoolhouse was later used as the Scottsdale City Hall and Justice Court, the Scottsdale Public Library and then the Scottsdale Chamber of Commerce.

The Scottsdale Historical Society was established in 1969 to save the Little Red Schoolhouse from being demolished for the development of the Scottsdale Mall. Over the next several years, the school was restored to its original condition and now includes a classroom exhibit meant to appear as it did in 1910. In November 1991, the Scottsdale Historical Society opened the building to the public as a local history museum and in 1994 it was added to the National Register of Historic Places.^[5]

Cosanti is the gallery and studio of Italian-American architect Paolo Soleri; it was his residence until his death in 2013. Located in Paradise Valley, Arizona, USA, it is now an Arizona Historic Site open to the public. Cosanti is marked by terraced landscaping, experimental earth-formed concrete structures, and sculptural wind-bells.

Soleri and his wife Colly established their residence there in 1956 on a five-acre site just a few miles from Taliesin West, where Soleri had studied under Frank Lloyd Wright ten years earlier. Built on the outskirts of Scottsdale, it is now surrounded by a wealthy suburban neighborhood. In Italian, the name Cosanti "is a combination of the words for 'object' and 'before,' and it means, 'There are things more important than objects.'"

In 1970, Soleri outgrew the site. He had coined "arcology" by combining architecture and ecology; then, combining "arcology" with "Cosanti", he founded Arcosanti, an "urban laboratory" in the desert seventy miles north, for which he became famous. As students and the frontier of development moved there, Cosanti became the headquarters and namesake of Soleri's foundation.

The structures at Cosanti include the original "Earth House", a student dormitory, outdoor studios, performance space, a swimming pool, gift shop, and Soleri's residence. All are set amidst courtyards, terraces and garden paths.

Many structures are partly underground and surrounded by mounds of earth for insulation, moderating their interior temperatures year-round. Soleri designed and built south-facing apses (partial domes) as passive energy collectors that collect light and heat in the lower winter sun, deflecting it and creating shade in the higher summer sun. The swimming pool and several other structures have southern exposures to maximize the warmth of the winter sun.

Cosanti predates the concept of arcology, but many principles of arcology were first implemented at Cosanti. Most of the structures were built with variations on earthcasting. Concrete was poured over mounds of densely packed earth; the earth was excavated after the concrete solidified. A modified earthcasting technique is also used to craft the bronze and ceramic wind-bells produced at Cosanti and Arcosanti on weekday mornings.^[6]

Town in Arizona. Paradise Valley is a town in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States, and a suburb of Phoenix. It is Arizona's wealthiest municipality. The town is known for its luxury golf courses, shopping, real estate, and restaurant scene. According to the 2010 census, the population of the town was 12,820. Despite its relatively small area and population compared to other municipalities in the Phoenix metropolitan area, Paradise Valley is home to eight full-service resorts, making it one of Arizona's premier tourist destinations. It is also known for expensive real estate.

The town's name comes from the expansive area known as Paradise Valley that spreads from north of the Phoenix Mountains to Cave Creek and Carefree on the north and the McDowell Mountains to the east. The town is not to be confused with Paradise Valley Village, an official municipal designation, in northeast Phoenix. For instance, Paradise Valley Community College, Paradise Valley High School, Paradise Valley Hospital, Paradise Valley Mall, and Paradise Valley Golf Course are all several miles north of the town, in Phoenix. The Paradise Valley Unified School District does not serve the town; its boundaries end a few miles north of the border.

Residents attend schools in the Scottsdale Unified School District.^[9]