Tour Stop #2:
Grandma’s Rental Cottages, c. 1932

493 South Main Street, Camp Verde, AZ 86322

Josephine Frederick was one-of-a-kind, a California girl who immigrated to Beaver Creek in 1899 and ranched with her husband. After his death in 1902, the mother of seven moved to Camp Verde and began ministering to the area’s sick, needy, and unfortunate. She purchased the Valley Hotel from J.R. Boyers circa 1916 and ran the business for fifteen years. Known as “Grandma” to her boarders, Frederick managed the hotel until 1930 when she turned its operation over to a Mrs. Keese.

The hotel burned down in 1932–the largest fire in Camp Verde’s history. Frederick used the $2,000 insurance payment to hire a carpenter to build two small wood frame cottages on the site, renting them until her death in 1937. The cottages were originally front-gabled, and the two separate buildings can still be seen on the north and south facades of the present building. Circa 1979, workers connected the two cottages under one roof, adding the front porch, a tall parapet, board-and-batten siding, and a continuous storefront to the remodeled structure.

None of the cottages’ original decorative features are visible under the present exterior.