Riordan Mansion Flagstaff Arizona a 13,000 sq ft Arts-And-Crafts 1904 Home

Riordan Mansion, located in Flagstaff Arizona is a most unusual 13,000 sq. ft. 40 room home built in 1904 in an Arts & Crafts style. While the home and grounds are now operated and maintained by the Arizona State Parks system, it was once the home of the prominent Riordan brothers who married the Metz sisters. The brothers, Tim Riordan and Michael Riordan operated the Arizona Lumber and Timber Company in Flagstaff and when the Metz sisters, Caroline and Elizabeth came to Flagstaff to visit their relatives the Babbitts (another prominent family that were merchants in Flagstaff) they met, and Tim married Caroline and Michael married Elizabeth.

The notable architect Charles Whittlesey was working on the El Tovar Hotel at the Grand Canyon, and became acquainted with the Riordans when he was purchasing materials for the construction of the hotel. The Riordans liked Whittlesey's rustic design of the El Tovar and suggested that he design a duplex style home that would have a large room that would join the two halves of the home and function as a gathering place for games and visiting. The resulting home is two perfect halves for two different brothers and their families that are joined by a room that very much resembles the Rendevous Room at the El Tovar.

The foundation of the home is made of native volcanic rock and most of the other construction material was local wood which was used in the split log siding and the hardwood floors. Because of their wealth, the Riordan Mansion had many innovative ideas for the time period. The home was equipped with a telephone, open floor plans, built in bookcases and storage, and an ingenious air flow/skylight system to make the most of the electric heating system. While some of the furniture was designed by the Riordan brothers, some of the furniture was ordered from Gustav Stickley. The home also contains a Steinway piano, that is occasionally played by one of the tour guides, and a swing which hangs from chains in the center of the living room in the west wing of the home could face the fireplace during the winter months and then be reversed to face the windows during the summer months. An alter pays homage to the family's strong Catholic faith, several fireplace nooks allowed for a cozy conversations, the billards table and other games in the joining room and an improvised golf course on the property gives visitors an insight into what the family enjoyed doing.

This brings me to a personal Riordan story which I treasure, and that is, one of the Riordan granddaughters (Mary) lives in Sedona, and I had the pleasure of meeting her at our historical society here. Someone had told me who she was and when I got a chance to speak to her about how much I enjoyed visited the Riordan Mansion, she gave me an ear full. She started with, "It's not a mansion, and never was a mansion, it's my grandparents home." She also told me that she hated the docent guided tours given there, because they never pointed out the "right" things. I asked her what she meant. She said that visitors made way too much over the Stickley furniture and the Steinway and the art glass. She reasoned that these were mail order things that had been sent out on the train. She gave me a rare glimpse of how much her grandparents had enjoyed visiting the Hopi Pueblos and how much they had valued collecting Native American art. I confessed that I had not noticed it in the home. On my next visit, sure enough, there are some wonderful Native American baskets and pottery.

There are way too many beautiful features and items in the home to describe them in this Hub, but one of the most surprising things about the home is that they are not period appropriate furnishings, they all belonged to the Riordans. When I view their hats, Caroline's wedding dress, their golf clubs and their kitchen utensils, I can almost expect the Riordans to return to their home at any moment.

The hours to tour the Riordan Mansion vary between winter and summer months, and tour reservations are recommended. The driving directions and admission fee can be found on the Arizona State Parks website as the Riordan Mansion is now managed by a partnership between the AZ State Parks system, and the Arizona Hisotical Society with financial help from the Riordan Action Network and the City of Flagstaff, Arizona..