Riordan Mansion was home to two related families of timber barons in early 20th century, and remains a time capsule of the Arts and Crafts Style favored by their social class in that time. Flagstaff Convention & Visitors Bureau Furniture in a mansion office shows the sturdy and unpretentious style that was the Arts and Crafts Movement. Riordan Mansion State Historic Park A century ago, stained glass wasn't just for churches, but also for private homes. Riordan Mansion State Historic Park

In 1904, the 20th century was new and Teddy Roosevelt in the White House. Arizona muddled toward statehood, and in the gritty northern Arizona railroad town of Flagstaff, brothers Timothy and Michael Riordan built their mansion.

Married to sisters, Caroline and Elizabeth Metz, the brothers constructed two nearly identical, mirror-image homes connected by a large billiard room. The opulent 13,000 square-foot duplex is now the Riordan Mansion State Historic Park.

Flagstaff has more interesting attractions than normally expected in a relatively small city, including a world-class observatory and a fine museum, but visiting this time capsule of the founders' lives is a good way to learn about the people who made it possible.

Covered with rough log-slab siding (first cut of the logs) and local lava rock, topped with hand-split wood shingles, the building appears to be an oversized log home, but the interior combines opulence with a very livable family home.

The Riordan families donated the home and possessions to Arizona State Parks in the early 1980s and the house remains much as it did in the early 1900s when the two families lived there.

The kitchen with dishes in the cupboards looks so lived in I can almost smell bread baking in the oven. With such a comfortable ambiance, I'm afraid one of the Riordans might come around a corner at any moment and find me snooping through their house.

The three Riordan brothers, Tim, Michael and Denis Matthew, who was called Matt, were successful lumberman. Cultured, handsome and charming Irishmen, the staunchly Catholic Riordans were active not only in their church, but also in politics and society life. Tim and Michael were the town's most eligible bachelors until they fell to the charms of the Metz sisters of Cincinnati.

The brothers built Lake Mary for drinking water, a power plant, a Catholic church and helped establish and name Coconino County. Matt eventually sold his share of the family lumber mill to his younger brothers and moved to San Francisco. Tim and Michael continued to run the lumber mill, helping Flagstaff grow from a whistle-stop railroad town to an active trade center.

By 1904, the Riordans were firmly established and ready to construct their joint dream home. Built on a small knoll call Kinlichi (Navajo for "red hill") the house was on the outskirts of Flagstaff. Today, the town and Northern Arizona University surround the property. But tucked in the pines on five and a half acres, the Riordan Mansion still seems secluded.

The Riordans hired Charles Whittlesey, architect of the El Tovar Hotel at the Grand Canyon, to turn their own ideas into the double home that became one of the outstanding examples of the American Arts and Crafts Style. The home contained 40 rooms, eight fireplaces, and two coal furnaces. In an era when most families used outhouses, the Riordan's home included seven bathrooms, then called "indoor necessaries."

Tim, certain automobiles were the vehicles of the future, commissioned a six-car garage. The carpenters weren't so sure the contraption would catch on and equipped the garage with rein rings to tie horses, just in case their doubts proved well-founded.

It took nine months to build the house. One room, alternately called billiard room/ballroom/common area, with its large, volcanic stone fireplace, connects both living quarters. The large, elaborately carved billiard table sits at one end of the room, and during the holidays, a ceiling-high Christmas tree fills one corner. A ring of chairs faces the fireplace and I can easily imagine the stories told here, since important visitors to Flagstaff often stayed with the Riordans. Tim's Irish blarney is evident in the enormous pair of wooden baby shoes sitting by the fireplace. According to Tim, they were Paul Bunyan's baby shoes.

The fun-loving family obviously enjoyed their home. I'm especially interested in their Craftsman-style furniture manufactured by Gustav Stickley, who led the Arts and Crafts Movement that became the favorite of wealthy Westerners in the early 20th century. The Riordan Mansion showcases an impressive collection of Stickley furniture, which is typically made of quarter-sawn oak, and lacks ornamentation, relying on exposed structural details such as tenon-and-key joints and chamfered boards to add visual interest.

Although not made by Stickley, my favorite of the Riordans' furniture is a rocking chair made similarly with straight wooden slats on three sides. The great-grandchildren nicknamed it the "jail chair" and pretended they were incarcerated villains peering through hoosegow bars.

The two families added their individual styles to each wing. Tim kept large maps in pull-out drawers on his side of the house and Caroline's 1904 Steinway piano is prominently displayed. In the living room, a photo of Tim's daughter Mary catches my eye and it appears that I catch her eye, too. No matter where I stand in the room, her eyes seem to be looking directly at me.

Dresses on display show that Caroline and Elizabeth were both petite women and proudly maintained their tiny waists. But they weren't showcase wives. They raised their children to work hard, consider themselves extremely lucky and be involved in community affairs. All the children had at least some college education.

With Michael and Elizabeth's five children and Tim and Caroline's two, homelife was noisy and rambunctious, but generally happy. One trying time was in 1921, when Michael's side of the house caught fire. Men from the lumber mill rushed to help fight the fire. Fortunately, the wind was blowing away from the house and the firemen saved the home. Both families lived in Tim's side until Michael's half was rebuilt.

The saddest year for both families was 1927 when Arthur, Michael's oldest son, and Anna, Tim's youngest daughter, both contracted polio. Arthur was married and living in his own home in Flagstaff and Anna was engaged to be married. The usually energetic Anna became tired and went upstairs to rest and when her condition worsened, the doctor diagnosed polio. Within 48 hours, Anna was dead. Arthur had died just a few hours before.

Because the disease was so contagious, the Riordans had the joint funeral in the billiard room with only the family and priests attending. A memo in the Riordan Family Collection at the Cline Library at Northern Arizona University describes the simple funeral.

"... an altar had been built before the fire place and with the fire place itself decorated. Father Romeo came up ... and we had Mass in the billiard room with Robert Chambers (Tim's son-in-law) and Robert Riordan (Michael's son) serving and each member of the two families in the room. ... Then they (the caskets) were covered with blankets of flowers ... and taken to the cemetery where we alone were present at the end."

Most of the Riordan's activities were happy and today the home is open to the public. Riordan Mansion State Historic Park provides not only public tours, but hosts local children for Christmas and Halloween parties. Lecture series are presented throughout the year, and I think the Riordans would be proud that their home is still benefiting the community while providing a much different outlook on early Arizona lifestyles.