Riverdale House is a Victorian

mansion A mansion is a large dwelling house. The word itself derives through Old French from the Latin word ''mansio'' "dwelling", an abstract noun derived from the verb ''manere'' "to dwell". The English word '' manse'' originally defined a property l ...

located at 89 Graham Road in the

Ranmoor Ranmoor () is a suburb of the City of Sheffield, England. It is an affluent suburb in the Fulwood ward of the city. It mostly developed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and it features a number of large houses that were built for th ...

area of

Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...

, England. Formerly a private residence, the building, which is

Grade II Listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

has now been adopted for commercial use and accommodates several small businesses.

History

The house was built around 1860 for Charles Henry Firth (1837-1892) of the eminent Sheffield family of

steel Steel is an alloy made up of iron with added carbon to improve its strength and fracture resistance compared to other forms of iron. Many other elements may be present or added. Stainless steels that are corrosion- and oxidation-resistant ty ...

makers. Charles was the fifth son of Thomas Firth and the brother of

Mark Firth Mark Firth (25 April 1819 – 28 November 1880) was an English industrialist and philanthropist. Biography Firth was born in Sheffield, the son of Thomas Firth (1789–1850), of Pontefract, York, and Mary Loxley. He joined the crucible steel wo ...

. Firth Works
Gives details of Firth genealogy. The house was constructed in the

Victorian Gothic Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

style and faced south taking in views of the Porter valley and Whiteley Woods. Firth lived at Riverdale house after his marriage to his wife Adelaide in 1860, who died at a young age in 1875. Firth himself died in December 1892 in Bath after suffering from

gout Gout ( ) is a form of inflammatory arthritis characterized by recurrent attacks of a red, tender, hot and swollen joint, caused by deposition of monosodium urate monohydrate crystals. Pain typically comes on rapidly, reaching maximal intensit ...

for some time. Marianne Firth (Charles second wife) remained at Riverdale House for several years, along with her children and second husband. Riverdale House was put up for sale in June 1898 and was described as ''“a substantially stone built family mansion, having upwards of 13 acres of valuable freehold land (exclusive roads) surrounded by excellent boundary walls and belted with well grown plantations”''. Genes Reunited
Gives details of Firth history. The house eventually became the property of

John George Graves John George Graves (1866–1945) was a successful English entrepreneur and public benefactor. He became Sheffield's Lord Mayor and an Alderman in 1926 and he was given Freedom of the City in 1929. He was born in Lincolnshire in 1866 and died in ...

(1866-1945) who, in 1902, moved in. The 36-year-old Graves was a successful and wealthy businessman who had set up one of the first mail order catalogues selling furniture, electro-plated goods, tools, drapery and clothes, he also became known as a generous benefactor to the City of Sheffield. At its height Graves’ company employed 3,000 people and he and his wife Lucy held an annual tea party for staff in Riverdale House's large grounds
photograph on Picture Sheffield
. Despite his success as a businessman, Graves did have financial difficulties in 1908 and was forced to lease Riverdale to a tenant and live in a smaller house in Beauchief, however by 1915 he had returned to the house and lived there for the rest of his life. After J.G. Graves’ death in 1945 Riverdale House was lived in by his daughter Ruth and her husband Stanley Drummond-Jackson. Around 1955 it was taken over by

Brown Bayley Steels Brown Bayley Steels was a steel-making company established in Sheffield, England in 1871, as Brown, Bayley & Dixon. They occupied a site on Leeds Road which was later occupied by the Don Valley sports stadium. The firm was founded by George Brown ...

and used as offices. Ranmoor Society
Gives house and Graves history. Today the house is still used as offices but is divided up between a number of small businesses. The substantial grounds were built on in the mid 1970s to accommodate the Riverdale Park apartment complex and the house is now hemmed in by modern buildings.''"Sheffield‘s Remarkable Houses"'', Roger Redfern, The Cottage Press, , Page 26 Gives general history of house.

Architecture

The house has been described as “Sumptuous Gothic”"''Pevenser Architectural Guides - Sheffield''", Ruth Harman & John Minnis, Yale University Press, Gives this quote and describes lodge as “fine“. and is built from rock faced stone with

ashlar Ashlar () is finely dressed (cut, worked) stone, either an individual stone that has been worked until squared, or a structure built from such stones. Ashlar is the finest stone masonry unit, generally rectangular cuboid, mentioned by Vitruv ...

dressings and

gable A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system used, which reflects climate, material availability, and aesth ...

d and hipped slate roofs. There is extensive use of lancet and

sash A sash is a large and usually colorful ribbon or band of material worn around the body, either draping from one shoulder to the opposing hip and back up, or else running around the waist. The sash around the waist may be worn in daily attire, bu ...

windows with two storey bays at the front. Images of England
Gives details of house architecture. The house has a fine entrance lodge at the corner of Graham Road and Riverdale Road, it is built in the same style as the main house and includes a hipped

porch A porch (from Old French ''porche'', from Latin ''porticus'' "colonnade", from ''porta'' "passage") is a room or gallery located in front of an entrance of a building. A porch is placed in front of the facade of a building it commands, and form ...

. It is also Grade II listed and is now used as offices. Images of England
Gives details of lodge architecture.

References

{{SheffieldStructures Houses completed in 1860 Houses in Sheffield History of Sheffield Grade II listed buildings in Sheffield