Greetings from Riordan Mansion!!

Well, we made our break from the Valley Christmas this week and were greeted with snow 20 miles outside of Flagstaff. This meant we have had to modify some of the things we had hoped to do, but we did get to tour the Riordan Mansion State Historic Park.

The Mansion was built in 1904 for two Riordan families. The two wings are basically mirror images of each other with a center common room adjoining them. It was built in the "arts and crafts" style and is filled with original furnishings. Both floors of the east wing can be toured and have some great furnishings. Nothing can be touched except for a Steinway grand piano, which I was invited to play as the only one in the group who could play the piano. I told Duane we could just pack that up and take it home with us.

The east wing is only open on the first floor and is filled with memorabilia and examples of what life was like for the lumber industry in Flagstaff in the early 1900s as well as what the family was like through the years. Family and education were two things that were very important to the Riordans and this is evident in their homes. The homes and the contents belonging to the families were donated to the state.

We all love historical stuff so it was very interesting to us.