Located in Flagstaff lies the impressive Riordan Mansion State Historic Park, which was once home to two of the community’s most prominent businessmen while Arizona was still considered a territory.

The mansion was built to house two Riordan families and was made in 1904, when the town of Flagstaff was just starting to blossom.

Riordan Mansion is composed of 40 rooms with over 13,000 square feet of living area, including servant’s quarters. The beautiful arts-and-crafts style architecture features volcanic stone arches, hand-split wooden shingles and a rustic exterior of log-slab siding.

The house was designed by Charles Whittlesey, the creator of Grand Canyon’s El Tovar Hotel.

Timothy and Michael Riordan were part of Flagstaff’s leading pioneer businessmen and successfully developed Arizona Lumber and Timber Company, a logging business.

The two brothers married the Metz sisters, Caroline and Elizabeth, who were cousins of the Babbitt brothers, another influential Flagstaff family. The two families decided to build a house that they could share together. The Riordan Mansion resulted, comprised of two separate homes connected by one large common area that joined them together.

The second generation of the Riordan family decided to donate the mansion to Arizona State Parks, and today it is used as a way to educate people about early Flagstaff, how the Riordan family helped shape the community of the town, and show the architecture and style of that time period.

For more information on the Riordan Mansion State Historic Park, visit www.azstateparks.com.