Arts & Crafts: Riordan Mansion!
The Riordan mansion was built in 1903, as a duplex for the families of Timothy and Michael Riordan, who owned a lumber company. At the time, the house had spectacular views of the San Francisco peaks, but it is now wholly surrounded by the campus of Northern Arizona State University.
It's a nice example of the arts & crafts style, which stressed integrating nature into the architectural design...as well as helpful things like lots of closets and built-ins!
Elements from nature are integrated throughout the home. One side of the duplex featured tulips in the stained glass, the other had poppies.
The window from the inside.
The 13,000 sq. ft home features two homes joined by a shared common room in the middle. The home is a frame-built structure, but they used log slabs like siding. They got the slabs from scrap pile at their lumber yard — handy!
View of one side of the Riordan mansion duplex. The building is a framed-structure, but was made with log slab siding to give it the look of a log cabin. The rocks at the foundation are made of local volcano rock.
Some unique elements draw from the Native culture of the area, including a Kachina tile on the front gate, and two totems carved into logs along the side of the house.
Kachina tile on the front gate - see top, right.
See totem faces on top logs at right and left.
Skylight from the first floor, in the West wing. The skylight in the East wing was simply an opening in the ceiling/floor.
Both houses in the duplex also harness natural light on every floor — skylights in the attic provided light to the floors below, through wide openings in the landing area.
The house was donated by the family, with all its contents, to the Arizona State Parks in the 1980s. The family must have had a eye for preservation, because most of the furnishings and decorations on display were owned and used by the family when they occupied the home in the earlier part of the 20th century.
One of the Riordan families had six kids, the other just two.
The kitchen in the West house.
The tour was tops, and they really do let you see every room in the house. Worth the $10, for sure. A self-guided walking tour is also available.