PHOENIX - At the top of a hill overlooking the Arizona Biltmore Hotel sits another link between Phoenix and Chicago: The Wrigley Mansion.
Built in 1931 by chewing gum magnate William Wrigley, Jr., the Wrigley Mansion is rich in history.
Here are a few things you might not have known about the Wrigley Mansion:
It was built as a 50th anniversary gift to Wrigley’s wife
After Wrigley bought out the nearby Biltmore Hotel, he built a house on the hill overlooking it as an anniversary gift for his wife, Ada.
It’s only a winter cottage
The Wrigleys had five homes. The mansion in Phoenix was only a winter cottage – a place for them to stop over on their way to Catalina Island, in which Wrigley owned a controlling interest. The house has 24 rooms and 12 bathrooms, but even at almost 17,000 square feet, it’s the smallest of the Wrigleys’ homes.
PHOTOS: The Wrigley Mansion
Frank Lloyd Wright wasn’t a fan
The mansion’s architecture contrasts with the nearby Biltmore, where Frank Lloyd Wright was an on-site consultant for four months. Wright was a friend of the Wrigleys but wasn’t very impressed with the mansion, a Scottsdale architect told PBS. Apparently, Wright never believed on building on top of the hill and reportedly once told Wrigley’s son, Philip Wrigley, “Well, Phil, I see you stuck your whole wad on the top of the hill.”
Wrigley died in the house only a year after it was completed
William Wrigley Jr. died in 1932 at age 70 in his bedroom. Because of this, the mansion is purported by some to be haunted. Staff sometimes tell interested visitors the ghost stories associated with the house and their personal supernatural experiences.
Geordie Hormel, air to the Hormel meat-packing fortune, bought the house in 1992.
Before the mansion earned its place in the National Register of Historic Places and as a Phoenix Point of Pride, the city was planning on tearing it down to make room for condos. However, Geordie Hormel and his wife, Jamie, fell in love with the property and purchased it to restore it.
Now, the entire mansion is open to the public for tours, dining, drinking and special events.
