Thursday, October 16, 2008

Skywatch Friday: Picketpost House

Picketpost House at Boyce Thompson Arboretum State Park, Superior, AZ 10-15-08
Click on photos to enlarge for the best view.



Click to enlarge and read about Picketpost house.

Boyce Thompson Arboretum is one of my favorite places in Arizona. I spent the day there yesterday hiking the grounds with my oldest son, G and his wife, Trish, and their new baby (a.k.a. my grandson). I took the above photo from the upper hiking trail. With the Monsoon over the clouds are gone leaving us with brilliant azure Autumn skies. Come back this weekend to read more about A Hike Through Boyce Thompson Arboretum with additional photos of the hike and, of course, the birds.


To see additional amazing skies from around the globe visit Skywatch Friday hosted by Klaus, Sandy, Imac, Old Wom Tigley and the newest member, Ivar! Thanks for your hospitality and hard work!

20 comments:

Redzlan aka Tabib said...

Hi Kathies!
Great Autumn skies,
Like those house is embedded in the rock and love the fruiting palm trees too!

Happy SW Friday!

Enigma said...

That is a home with a view and-a-half!!! Incredible that that place was built there! Thanks for sharing!

Deborah Godin said...

Beautiful shot, suchan interesting porperty, and set off nicely by that enamel blue sky!

bobbie said...

I would be interested to see the rest of that park.

Bonnie Story said...

Hi! The swatch of brilliant blue sky and the chunkiness of the architecture reminds me of turquoise jewelry I have from that area! That is a really, really blue sky, I love it.

Pappy said...

Looks like a beautiful day to do some hiking. We want to do a Western swing trip before too long. Looks like this might be a good time of year to plan one. Pappy

Kathryn said...

What a beautiful place! I look forward to your hiking post.
K

Arija said...

Wonderful desert landscape. I know you had a lovely hike.

Hilda said...

I loved reading about the house and the arboretum! Thank you so much for posting the brochure scans too. A standing ovation to Colonel Thompson for such a great project!

The little note about the stone wall just floored me. And in your photo: how does one get from the house to that little gazebo down there?

Thanks again for this very informative post!

Happy Sky Watching!
I posted a photo of a canoe Among bigger cousins for my entry.

Doug Taron said...

Great photo and story. I'm looking forward to your hike pictures.

Dewdrop said...

Looks like a beautiful place. I love going to arboretums and shooting flowers.

Erin said...

You certainly get around! I have a soft spot in my heart for the Arboretum as I once worked there. As you probably know the Arboretum often ends up on the Rare Bird List since it has a small natural riparian area along with many man-made water features - smack in the middle of the desert.

A note about Picketpost House - it was recently acquired by the state and they have begun restoration plans though it will be years before it will be open to the public.

As for Hilda's comment about access to the gazebo down below, that is a viewing area built long after the house but - here's the cool part: in his final years Boyce Thompson was wheelchair bound so he had an elevator built that took him from his house to the floor of the canyon below so he could keep an eye on the work going on in the gardens. Unfortunately, the elevator house burned down years ago.

I look forward to reading more about your hike. Thank you for sharing your adventures and photos - I enjoy birding with you! I'd love it if you visited our site, fautrever dot com

Thanks Kathie!

Kyle said...

Looks like a beautiful place, Kathie. I can't wait to see and read more of your excursion!

~Kyle

kjpweb said...

When can I move in?
Great post and info!
Cheers, Klaus

Unknown said...

It is dark and dreary here in northern Illinois today...that picture makes me want to travel!

Happy Skywatching (and birding)!

:-)

Celeste said...

What a fascinating building and surrounded by such beautiful scenery. My goodness, you have blue sky there right now! Quite amazing.

Ces Adorio said...

I would love to have a house like that!

Anonymous said...

This is wonderful!

Jeannelle said...

Beautiful and intriguing! Nothing like that around here in Iowa! Happy SkyWatching!

ChrissyM said...

What a fantastic building and the surrondings are gorgeous. What a great capture!