McCullough-Price House Exhibit
This 1938 Pueblo Revival style home was donated to the City by the Price-Propstra family in 2001. The City of Chandler renovated and opened to the public in 2007. In 2009, the facility was closed to the public due to budget restraints, but in 2011 reopened as the Chandler Museum's archival research center and administrative offices. If you have questions about the facility, call the Chandler Museum staff at 480-782-2717.
The house was built in 1938 by William D. McCullough, a Detroit resident who wintered at the San Marcos Hotel in the mid 1930s. Designed by well-known architects Lescher and Mahoney, the home had four bedrooms, maid's quarters, a roof patio, and built-in barbecue in the back yard. The house sat in the middle of 350 acres of alfalfa and cotton fields, placed half a mile from Price Road. The home eventually was purchased by the Lockhead family, managers of the Pecos Valley Milling Company, located at Pecos Road and the railroad tracks east of Arizona Avenue. When the home was vacant for several years, the San Marcos Hotel rented the home to visitors.
In 1950, the Lockhead family sold the home to Arthur and Louise Price. Arthur had lived in Chandler since 1913, working closely with Dr. A.J. Chandler as a lawyer. By 1930 he had branched out into farming and land development. Arthur was instrumental in drafting Chandler's constitution and by-laws as the first City Attorney. He also became the first Justice of the Peace. Louise, another long-time resident, was the niece of A.J. Chandler, and her father, Harry, was a pioneer resident of Mesa.
The two lived in the home until the early 1970s. After the deaths of Mr. and Mrs. Price, the family rented the house out. The land surrounding the Price House remained agricultural until the 1980s, when the Valley-wide housing boom expanded into Chandler's once rural areas. Pulte Homes purchased a large amount of land just west of the Price House and constructed the Hearthstone Subdivision. Retail and subdivision development continued. The house, with its distinctive southwestern flair that contrasted with other traditional farmhouses scattered about Chandler, has remained almost unchanged over time.
The exhibit which follows was installed in the McCullough-Price House when it opened as an exhibit space and visitors center in 2007.