Riordan Mansion State Historic Park

Riordan Mansion State Historic Park occupies 6 wooded acres around a 1904 Craftsman-style mansion filled with many original Craftsman and other hand-crafted furnishings from folks like Edison, Ellis, Stickley, and Steinway. The mansion was built by Tim and Mike, the Riordan brothers who developed the Arizona Lumber & Timber Company. They were very generous with their fortune and made large contributions to the social scene and to the economy of Flagstaff and northern Arizona.

Tim married Caroline Metz and they had two daughters. Mike married Caroline's sister Elizabeth and they had six children. The two families were very close-knit and built two separate, 6,000-square-foot homes connected to each other by a common billiard room. The designer was Charles Whittlesey, creator of the El Tovar Hotel at the Grand Canyon. The mansion includes more than 13,000 square feet spread among 40 rooms, plus the servant's quarters. The exterior is characterized by massive native volcanic stone arches cornering each of the porches, log-slab siding on the building and hand-split wooden shingles on the roof.

Riordan Mansion State Historic Park is located in Flagstaff next to Northern Arizona University. There is a visitor center with restrooms and picnic tables. The park is open 7 days a week with winter hours from 10:30 AM to 5:00 PM (November through April) and summer hours from 8:30 AM to 5:00 PM (May through October). Tours of the East Wing are given every hour on the hour. Tour size is limited and this is a very popular setting for weddings, so you'll want to make reservations. The tour also includes the first floor of the West Wing. The only self-guided tours allowed are of the grounds outside.