In the 1920s, John Murphey, a young Tucson builder, began purchasing property north of River Road. Slowly accumulating land, Catalina Foothills Estates gradually took shape.

The development was for ten planned subdivisions, with large lots, often three acres or more. All lots were planned for maximum privacy, making utmost use of the existing desert vegetation and natural terrain and for the preservation of wildlife. In addition to other smaller purchases, in 1928 Murphey bought a 7,000-acre tract of land north of River Road between Oracle Road and Sabino Canyon in a federal land auction.

After the stock market crash the following year, Murphey sought to sell some of this land to an Arizona banker for $10 per acre. The banker refused the offer on the grounds that the land was “worthless.”

At the same time, Josias Joesler, a young Swiss architect, who had arrived in Tucson in 1928 and who in that first year alone had completed 56 commissions for Murphey in other areas of Tucson, was retained to implement John Murphey’s vision, in which the natural beauty, serenity, and views of the Catalina Mountains were to be preserved for all property owners. Development of Catalina Foothills Estates began in earnest in the 1930s, and Joesler designed a number of the development’s homes.

Joesler also designed the buildings occupied by Catalina Foothills School District near River Road and Campbell Avenue. The Foothills’ population was great enough in 1931 that community members launched an effort to create its own school district. Catalina Foothills School District 16 began with nine students, three of which were John and Helen Murphey’s children, and school was held in the Murphey’s garage. By 1939, the Catalina Foothills School District 16 had outgrown the garage and John Murphey sold the district 2.2 acres for $10 in 1939, and Joesler designed the district’s first school building, which today is occupied by district administration.

Joesler’s own studio, which he built himself, is a charming, small, adobe brick and tile building that has been preserved and restored and is now occupied by the Firestone Art Gallery.

In 1936, Joesler and Murphey completed the building of St. Philip’s in the Hills Episcopal Church across the street from Joesler’s studio at the corner of Campbell Avenue and River Road, which was then the main entrance to Catalina Foothills Estates. The church is widely regarded as a masterpiece of Spanish Colonial Mission architecture.  The land for the church was donated by Murphey, and Joesler donated his services for its design. The congregation paid only for construction.

When he died in 1956, Joesler had completed the design of the original St. Michael and All Angels Episcopal Church, which was then a parochial mission of St. Philip’s. Architect Gordon Luepke, an associate of Joesler, completed additions to the building after Joesler’s death. Later in the 1950s J. Thomas Via, Jr., a successful professional regional land planner, continued designing several Joesler type structures in areas five, six and seven.

Evolving from a “community get-acquainted club,” that met at the homes of the residents in 1952, the Catalina Foothills Association, Inc. (CFA) was officially born and was incorporated on February 18, 1959, as a “non-profit corporation under the laws of the State of Arizona.”

The Articles of Incorporation stated that the purpose of the Association was:

To improve, beautify and maintain the area described in the By-laws to be adopted, or any area to be included at any time hereafter as a desirable subdivision.

To arrange and/or provide for all services necessary to promote and advance the general welfare of the residents.

To develop and beautify for the mutual benefit of all residents and the neighborhood generally all park or other areas dedicated for such purposes.

To establish, maintain and enforce reasonable and equitable rules and regulations concerning the use of any such parks, which may be dedicated, or any other areas used jointly by the residents of such areas.

To act, if deemed necessary, on behalf of all of the residents of said area and particularly on behalf of the members of this corporation in relation to any and all matters which might or may affect the interests of such residents and/or members.

To inculcate civic consciousness by means of active participation in constructive projects, which may improve the use and enjoyment of the area to do any and all things in connection therewith, which any person might or could do.

The charter was signed by the following property owners, who became the first Board of Directors of the Association, with original terms varying from one to three years each:

• Mrs. Kathryn Boyd-Hunt, Route 5, Box 108, Tucson
• A.E. Butterfield, 1846 E. Broadway, Tucson
• Walter Fathauer, Route 5, Box 132, Tucson
• John H. Haugh, Route 5, Box 161, Tucson
• Chester L. Kingsbury, 5543 N. Espina Rd., Tucson
• Joseph N. Royal, Route 5, Box 118, Tucson
• Douglas J. McFarlane, Route 5, Box 223, Tucson
• Robert L. Hale, Route 5, Box 245, Tucson
• Harold O. Reif, Route 5, Box 670, Tucson

Rural route and box number listed most mailing addresses at the time of incorporation.

The Articles of Incorporation were revised in 1979 to conform to new state regulations. Philip Hawley Smith and Clinton E. Ring, President and Secretary respectively of the Association signed the revision on February 15, 1978.

By-laws were drawn up in 1959, consisting of ten separate items. The general format for the original by-laws has remained the same. Revisions of content were made in 1964, 1977, 1978, 1984, 1993, 1996 and 2004.

From inception until April 1974 the Board met at the homes of its nine members. In 1974 they held their meetings in the old Murphey Elementary School on River Road near Campbell Avenue. After that school was closed and sold they met at Orange Grove Middle School, then later changed to St. Philips in the Hills Church where they still meet every month.

As early as 1963, the Directors dealt with such problems as the widening of Campbell Avenue south of River Road (Campbell was then a narrow, two-lane road with a deep drainage ditch on one side); a bridge over the Rillito River on Campbell; the possible extension of the Covenants or Deed Restrictions after 1980 in areas already developed; rezoning; fire protection.

In 1963, President Sarah Hirsch reported in a newsletter to residents the lack of fire protection and the possible need for a fire district and foothills fire station. After looking at the problems of establishing such a district from scratch, and since Rural Metro (formerly Rural Fire Protection Company) already had a station on the east side of Tucson, and were interested in establishing a station on the west side, it was decided to let the residents contract directly with them for fire services.

Also in 1963, rezoning was emerging as an issue. Catalina Foothills Estates 1-4 had been developed west of Campbell and it looked like only a matter of time before land adjacent to and North of Campbell would follow.

Attempts to rezone parcels of land to assure greater density resulted in the formation of a zoning committee of the Association Board to monitor that activity. During the Annual Association Meeting in 1963, after a particularly difficult rezoning matter, the Zoning Committee Chairman, Herbert Ullman reported: “Constant vigilance will be necessary from now on.”

By 1964, a problem annoying property owners for sometime came to a boiling point. Foothill owners were likely to awaken in the morning to find cattle grazing contently upon the shrubs and flowers outside their windows, sometimes causing extensive property damage. Due to resident complaints letters were written to the Forest Service, who was the governmental agency responsible for grazing permits, to take action “prevent further trespassing.”

The Forest Service removed cattle from land adjacent to foothill homes, but stated that private land was classified as “open range” where “it is incumbent upon the property owners to fence against livestock.” The Association responded by circulating a petition to obtain a classification as a “no fence” area, so that property owners would not be requited to fence against livestock, which ultimately solved the problem.

Also in spring of 1964 the first known organizational meeting of a “Allied Neighborhood Association” was held. The CFA joined ten other neighborhood associations in the “sharing of research, legal representation, exchange of experience and information and support of common problems.”

Further cooperation among associations took place during 1967 with Archie Deutschman’s appearance in court to help Cobo Hills Association fight against development just north and west of CFA boundaries. The cooperation reached a high point in January 1975, when a large number of neighborhood associations joined the Tucson Mountain Association in a successful fight against Dow Chemical Company’s plans for a satellite city off of I-10.

Another concern in 1964-65 was the sewer flow into the Rillito River, because one of the Catalina Foothills Estates Water Company wells was “directly recharged by the Rillito stream flow.” At the time Catalina Foothills Estates, Inc. owned its own water company and wells, provided water to Catalina Foothills Estates property owners. This water company was purchased by Tucson Water in 1972, placing property owners permanently within the city’s water district.

By 1965, the membership of the Association was growing rapidly and an active Board of Directors kept the homeowners informed of potential difficulties. The major issue at that time was the proposal of the Pima County Planning and Zoning Commission to rezone the Catalina Foothills to allow “Planned unit Development.” Because of vigorous action of the Association and appearance of a large number of property owners at the hearings, the proposal was defeated, as were repeated requests for rezoning from CR-1 to greater density.

Rezoning has always been a serious problem in the area. In 1967 CFA President Gerald Hopkins with the support of the CFA membership was successful in preventing CR-5 zoning.

In 1969 rezoning again became an issue. This time it came under the guise of “Planned Residential Development.” As before, the Association with Gerald Hopkins as President again sprung into action. The Association Zoning Committee with an effective presentation, and petitions signed by property owners, appeared before the Pima County Planning and Zoning Commission objecting to heavier densities and fourplex units among single family residences.

At the 1971 Annual Meeting of the Membership the Board of Directors of the Association was enlarged from nine to fifteen members.

It was in the 1960s when the matter of enforcement of the Deed Restrictions, a.k.a. Covenants, came before the Board. Catalina Foothills Estates, Inc. were the owners or grantors of the Reversionary Rights of Enforcement and Re-entry and, therefore, responsible for their enforcement. By 197, after several attempts by the County to rezone sections of the foothills area and violations of the Covenants were being reported to the Association, the Board wrote John Murphey in April urging “that the value of these restrictions be protected through more vigorous enforcement.”

In December, 1972,Catalina Foothills Estates, Inc. rejected a request for the transfer of Reversionary Rights to the Association, but indicated that a Board representative would be permitted work with John Payson, the executive officer of the Estates, on architectural approval. However, discussion about a transfer continued with another request from the CFA Board to Foothills Estates on August 2, 1973. When these efforts appeared to be failing, the matter of possible incorporation came before the Board on December 13, 1973. Additional rezoning and the proposed Ranchos Sin Vacas development intensified this concern with additional density and cluster housing surrounding sections of Catalina Foothills Estates, Inc.

Another battle took place in 1973 concerning Cluster Zoning. The Board voted to oppose a proposal to allow cluster zoning and greater density for a proposed development north of Skyline Drive close to BigHorn Sheep range, in which acreage was to be divided into eight or nine small areas. The Board felt that on land with peaks and washes the so-called usable space not utilized for clusters of houses was actually not usable for future homeowners because the quality of the terrain was leftover land unwanted by the developer. The County Board of Supervisors was asked at that time to more strictly enforce cluster zoning because developers were not adhering to prior rezoning.

Incorporation was discussed by the CFA Board early in January, 1974, resulting in the CFA Committee studying the issue concluding that incorporation would be impossible at that time for a few reasons:

• Doubt that two-thirds of the qualified voters in the area could be obtained
• The opposition by the City of Tucson
• News of a controversy over Oro Valley’s attempts to incorporate

The Board’s inclination toward incorporation led to further negotiation with Catalina Foothills Estates, Inc. and by September, 1974, it again was stipulated that transfer of enforcement to the CFA would be accepted for architectural approval, but not the transfer of reversionary rights.

In 1978, it was recognized that existing covenants in areas 1-4 would expire in 1980 as indicated in the original 1930 documents for those areas; however, there was a supplement made in 1966 that indicated if 51% of the property owners in those subdivisions wished to continue their covenants indefinitely beyond 1980 they could do so. Subsequently the necessary approval was obtained in each of the areas and the documents were notarized and legally recorded.

In the meantime, negotiations toward the transfer of Reversionary Rights continued, and on December, 1978 it was agreed that the CFA would enforce Covenants for areas 1-6. Areas 7-9, developed later, were given their own associations by Catalina Foothills Estates, Inc. each with its own separate Covenants and the authority to enforce them.

The first of the two pertinent documents, signed by James McCray, President of the CFA, and John Payson, President of Catalina Foothills Estates, Inc. was notarized and recorded in the Pima County Recorders Office. The second agreement was a business arrangement and never recorded.

The recorded document transferred to CFA (assignee) the rights and titles of the Foothills Estates to any reversionary interest,

“including but not limited to the right of re-entry and owner of termination of subject properties,” quit claiming and assigning unto Assignee “all of its right, title and interest to any other rights currently reserved of record to the Assignor in relation to the establishment of enforcement of covenants, conditions, or restrictions on any of the subject properties.”

Additionally, the recorded document provided that

“Assignor hereby delegates to Assignee, and Assignee hereby accepts, all duties and responsibilities currently imposed upon Assignor in relation to enforcement of any of the covenants, conditions or restrictions applicable to the subject properties…”

“Although the parties agree that Assignor has not had any legal responsibility to maintain the street signs located in the public rights-of-way of the subject properties, it is recognized that from time to time the Assignor has assisted in the repair and maintenance of said signs. It is understood that Assignor’s practice of doing so will terminate upon the effective date of this Agreement and that maintenance of said signs will be undertaken by the Assignee.”

Moreover,

“should Assignor decide to develop any of the subject properties still owned by him, he shall do so in accordance with the applicable restrictions, covenants, and conditions, except those provisions requiring the approval of any person or entity shall not apply to Assignor.”

The unrecorded document provided temporary monthly payments by Catalina Foothills Estates, Inc. to the CFA to assist in meeting a portion of the “expenses associated with the enforcement of the Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions (and expenses and overhead related directly thereto) which were assigned in the first Agreement, and they must be used for that purpose.”

Catalina Foothills Estates, Inc. agreed to hold for period of five years, beginning January 1, 1979, the sum of Four Thousand Dollars to be use in the “defense of any lawsuit, subject to certain terms and conditions.”

Assignor also agreed to provide the CFA on a rent-free basis “a habitable office in Assignor’s office building at 4407 Campbell Avenue” (Assignee was to be responsible for all normal costs of maintenance and repair). The use of the office was to terminate on December 31, 1983, or “upon said building being condemned, destroyed, sold or conveyed, either voluntarily or involuntarily, whichever occurs first.”

Thc CFA since that time has continued to monitor and address the problems of its membership.