Making merry, since 1903.
Over 120 years ago, this house hosted family dinners, community gatherings, and more than a few good stories. Every steward has added a little something along the way.
Today, Tharaldson House continues the tradition with beautiful spaces, thoughtful experiences, and people worth staying awhile with.
HistoryA House That Refuses to Be Forgotten
Built in 1903 for the Tharaldson family, the home stood at the edge of a young Phoenix, welcoming neighbors, celebrations, and community long before the city grew around it. Over the next century, it lived many lives.
It became a boarding house for multiple families, later Phoenix's first Sikh ashram and a free yoga school. After decades of neglect, vacancy, and fire, many assumed its story had ended.
It hadn't.
When Caroline Van Slyke first saw the property, she couldn't stop thinking about it. What others saw as a forgotten house, she saw as a place still waiting for its next chapter.
Lovingly restored with respect for its history and filled once again with gardens, music, shared tables, and open doors, Tharaldson House became exactly what it had always wanted to be: a home where people gather.
Our philosophy
Beautiful spaces matter. Not because they're impressive, but because they invite people to connect and linger a little longer, ask one more question, pour another glass, and leave knowing someone better than when they arrived.
We believe hospitality is an art. Meals are a medium. Traditions are built one gathering at a time. The house isn't the destination. What happens between the people inside it is.
Courtesy of the Library of Congress
Grace’s House
Long before Tharaldson House became what it is today, Grace Tharaldson gave it a soul.
She filled the home with gatherings, hosted community events and seasonal celebrations, organized war bond drives, led chorale performances, and devoted herself to civic life. Her belief in bringing people together extended beyond her front porch. As a leader in local women's organizations, she encouraged women to “stand together,” asking, “If women do not take up women, who will?”
Grace's life was remarkable. She had a daughter, survived the Congress boat fire of 1916, served with the Red Cross in Canada, and became one of Phoenix’s most active civic voices. She lived to be 93 years old.
Today, she lives on in our logo as a quiet reminder that this house has always belonged to people who gathered others around them. Grace brought the house to life. More than a century later, Caroline brought it back.
Meet Caroline
Caroline Van Slyke is the steward of Tharaldson House.
With a background in interior design and horticulture, she spent years restoring the property with extraordinary care, preserving its historic character while creating spaces that feel warm, joyful, and deeply lived in.
Her approach has never been about recreating the past.
It's about giving old places new purpose.
Through thoughtful hospitality, seasonal living, and an eye for beauty in everyday moments, Caroline continues the work that began here over a century ago.
Tharaldson House is the next chapter of what she’s already created in Boho Farm.
Looking ahead
Tharaldson House is about preserving connection while honoring the past.
As membership grows, so will the rituals, conversations, shared meals, and friendships that give this house its meaning.
More than 120 years after Grace first welcomed people through these doors, Tharaldson House continues to do what it has always done best: Bring people together, and give them a place to belong.