Standing on his newly purchased patch of bare Arizona desert in 1951, Grover Cleveland Thompson found the place to make his dreams come alive. Using abundant local resources of dirt, sand, rocks, broken crockery, Halloween masks, scrap metal and other artistic essentials, Grover spent the next several decades building a Gaudí-esque wonderland in Phoenix. He continued to work on the project right up until he passed away in 1977.
Later, Marion Blake lovingly preserved Thompsons rock garden not only from the ravages of time, but also from a project to gouge up its fragile wonders and relocate them to ASU. This quirky place was once a sparsely settled desert area 10 miles north of downtown Phoenix, just east of the now aging highway business district of Cave Creek Road.
On your way to and from the rock garden, keep your eyes open along Cave Creek Road for glimpses of architectural and natural features from a quieter time in the desert. Today, this gem is still owned by Blake. As of early 2025, she still occasionally conducts tours of the garden.
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