El Presidio Bed & Breakfast

Step back in time. Experience Southwestern charm in a desert oasis with the romance of a country inn. Garden courtyards with the Old Mexico ambience of lush floral displays, fountains, and cobblestone surround four richly appointed guesthouses and suites. Birds abound in the shelter of our mature trees of mesquite, magnolia, palm, Allepo pine, hackberry, lemon, fig and pomegranate.

A Victorian Adobe, El Presidio Bed & Breakfast is a splendid example of American Territorial, blending the rich cultural heritage of Mexican and American building traditions unique to Tucson, and is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. The award-winning restoration recreated its original Victorian elegance and has been beautifully chronicled in Bantam Publisher's American Design book, The Desert Southwest. El Presidio Bed & Breakfast is the oldest functioning B&B in Tucson.

Some of our amenities include complimentary, property-wide WiFi, televisions and DVD players in each guest room. Each room also has a complimentary land line telephone.

Awarded... "Best B&B in Southern Arizona" - 1997 & 1998 Arizona's Best 1999 Zagat's Best Survey

Built in 1886 amidst other mansions on Main Street, the Julius Kruttschnitt House reigned supreme in Snob Hollow, the premier residential area and center of higher society in this frontier village. Today it constitutes an architectural and social museum in downtown Tucson, known as El Presidio Historic District. Of particular interest to photographers, artists and historians is the diversity of building styles: Territorial, Spanish Colonial, Mission Revival, Prairie and Sonoran. (Click here for more history of the Inn)

El Presidio Bed & Breakfast features four guest rooms including two rooms in the main building and two rooms that you enter from the courtyard. Guest accommodations are filled with fine antique furnishings, original art, and fresh flowers with an emphasis on luxury and quality. All have private baths, kitchenettes, telephones, TV's, fluffy bathrobes, and private entrances.

El Presidio Inn Bed and Breakfast

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A full gourmet breakfast is served every morning on fine china and linens in the Veranda Room overlooking the courtyard or outside in shaded gardens. Complimentary beverages, fruit and treats are offered for afternoon and evening enjoyment. Whether you seek quiet elegance, sunshine, serenity, living history, or a central location, you'll enjoy our pampered service and the comforts of an intimate Inn!

The El Presidio offers complimentary Broadband Wireless Internet throughout the property and also has a computer with Internet access and printer available for you to use during your stay. We offer comfortable surroundings for small business meetings or conferences and will gladly make plans tailored to a group's needs. Our gardens are available for catered weddings and private parties.

In traditional adobe style, the Inn's main house is centered around a zaguan, or wide center hall, with soaring 17-foot ceilings. The hall aided circulation and effectively cooled the many rooms that emanated from it. This is now El Presidio's living room, an inviting mélange that reflects the cultural heritage of Territorial Tucson.

Innkeepers Patti and Jerry Toci have furnished the home with their extensive collection of Americana. Collecting antiques has been their hobby for the more than 20 years that they've lived in Arizona. Patti and Jerry have welcomed travelers from across the country and around the world who come to savor their gracious oasis in the desert and to explore every nook and cranny of their fascinating Victorian adobe home.

El Presidio Bed & Breakfast began in 1876 as a humble adobe with a square, flat roof built with handmade bricks of mud and straw. Its only distinction was its location on Main Street, a broad boulevard that stretched north from the presidio. When the Southern Pacific Railroad made its way to Tucson in 1880, the residents of Main Street began to embellish their humble adobes with all the accoutrements of Victorian architecture. As each of the homes evolved, they began to develop a distinctive new style that became known as American Territorial.

In 1912, Julius Kruttschnitt bought the house and jumped right into the hustle and bustle of a Main Street that had begun to take on airs. The Julius Kruttschnitt House soon reigned supreme in Snob Hollow, the premier residential area and center of higher society in this frontier village. As the century evolved, so did Tucson residents as they abandoned the downtown area in favor of the sprawling suburbs. The Kruttschnitt House was divided into small apartments, the courtyard was paved over, and the graceful veranda stripped away.

In 1967, Jerry Toci moved into one of the apartments and fell in love with the place. Years later, he and his wife Patti returned to claim the house for their own. The Tocis then guided El Presidio through a decade of painstaking restoration. Jerry combed Mexico in search of master craftsmen with the expertise to shore up the crumbling adobe walls. He found his craftsmen and also discovered the three-tiered stone fountain that is now in the courtyard. It took seven months to have it dismantled and carted north piece by piece. The gardens and courtyards received the same meticulous attention. The bricks for the courtyard were handpicked from a 130-year-old hospital wing. They laid cobblestone and brick walkways and planted flowers and shrubs that were popular in the 1880s. The Tocis furnished the interior with their extensive collection of Americana, and by 1985, the Inn was ready to open its door to the public.

The Presidio's courtyard is the unrivaled focal point of the inn and a frequent site for weddings. Its 20-foot walls and adobe outbuildings help define it as an outdoor living space rather than just a backyard or garden.

Within a four-block walk, you'll fine museums, galleries, regional craft shopping, and excellent restaurants ranging from Sonoran Mexican to Southwestern Nouvelle Cuisine, all housed in historic building. Close by are the Community Center, theatre, Arts District, University of Arizona, public golf courses, parks, and the best tourist's attractions, such as the Desert Museum, Old Tucson, and the Saguaro National Monument.

Area Attractions...

• The John C. Fremont House - Built in the 1850s as the residence of the fifth Territorial Governor, the Fremont House features 19th-century furnishings and exhibits.
• Tucson Museum of Art - Collections include pre-Columbian artifacts, Spanish Colonial furnishings and paintings, and contemporary artwork.
• Old Town Artisans - An artisan's marketplace set in a Sonoran-style townhouse with central courtyard built in the 1860s.
• Arizona Historical Society - Exhibits will take you from the Spanish conquistadors to the present.
• The Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum - Located in Tucson Mountain Park and acclaimed as the most distinctive zoo in the U.S. by the New York Times. This living museum has over 200 different kinds of animals and hundreds of varieties of plants native to the Sonoran desert.
• Old Tucson - A theme park with daily shoot-outs, stagecoach rides, and reenacted battles. Movies are still shot on location here.

Day Trips...

• Tombstone - "The town too tough to die."
• Bisbee - A tiny mining town perched precariously on the slopes of the Mule Mountains.
• Mount Lemmon - You can drive up to the pines in less than an hour.
• Nogales - Perfect for a south-of-the-border experience.

El Presidio Bed & Breakfast began in 1876 as a humble adobe with a square, flat roof built with handmade bricks of mud and straw. Its only distinction was its location on Main Street, a broad boulevard that stretched north from the presidio. When the Southern Pacific Railroad made its way to Tucson in 1880, the residents of Main Street began to embellish their humble adobes with all the accoutrements of Victorian architecture. As each of the homes evolved, they began to develop a distinctive new style that became known as American Territorial.

In 1912, Julius Kruttschnitt bought the house and jumped right into the hustle and bustle of a Main Street that had begun to take on airs. The Julius Kruttschnitt House soon reigned supreme in Snob Hollow, the premier residential area and center of higher society in this frontier village. As the century evolved, so did Tucson residents as they abandoned the downtown area in favor of the sprawling suburbs. The Kruttschnitt House was divided into small apartments, the courtyard was paved over, and the graceful veranda stripped away.

In 1967, Jerry Toci moved into one of the apartments and fell in love with the place. Years later, he and his wife Patti returned to claim the house for their own. The Tocis then guided El Presidio through a decade of painstaking restoration. Jerry combed Mexico in search of master craftsmen with the expertise to shore up the crumbling adobe walls. He found his craftsmen and also discovered the three-tiered stone fountain that is now in the courtyard. It took seven months to have it dismantled and carted north piece by piece. The gardens and courtyards received the same meticulous attention. The bricks for the courtyard were handpicked from a 130-year-old hospital wing. They laid cobblestone and brick walkways and planted flowers and shrubs that were popular in the 1880s. The Tocis furnished the interior with their extensive collection of Americana, and by 1985, the Inn was ready to open its door to the public.

"The Inn is small but luxurious, from its flowered courtyard to its charming rooms, and from the warm welcome awaiting the guest to the superb breakfasts..." - Gourmet

"The El Presidio Inn is one of the truly first-class lodgings within Tucson's downtown area..." - Travel & Leisure

"One of Arizona's more interesting and colorful bed & breakfast facilities..." - Arizona Highways