Separate but together: a design history of the Riordan Mansion, an American arts and crafts duplex, Flagstaff, Arizona, 1904

This thesis documents the design history of the Riordan Mansion, and Arts and Crafts style duplex built in Flagstaff, Arizona in 1904 by brothers Michael and Timothy Riordan. The study investigates factors that influenced the design including the Riordan family; the location in Flagstaff, Arizona; the architect, Charles Whittlesey; the Arts and Crafts Movement, and other cultural influences such as religion, naturalism, exoticism, art, and literature. Exterior facade and interior plan, construction materials, technological advances, and furnishings all demonstrate Arts and Crafts characteristics and key principles of the design reform movement. Design reform began in the 1860s with a rejection of the Industrial Revolution's use of machine produced goods, seeking to restore to daily life fundamental values and living standards based upon usefulness and beauty and to promote the importance of the craftsman. The Riordan Mansion (now an Arizona State Park) demonstrates Arts and Crafts principles through its setting and incorporation of local materials; its unified duplex plan, which is unique among grand American Arts and Crafts mansions; its sophisticated interior that utilizes such typical traits as the inglenook, built-in and custom designed furnishings; moldings that repeat from room to room; and collections of Native American and Asian artifacts, an extensive library, paintings and photographs. This home is an extension of its Flagstaff setting to which the Riordans were tied as community leaders.