Mansion History A New Era

Changes Through the Years

As the Elks Lodge Between 1949 and 1979, the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks owned this magnificent structure. The Elks made few changes to the Red Room and selected the bedroom suites (the area known today as the Rotunda) as their corporate offices. The Elks largest contribution to the structure was the addition of almost twenty thousand square feet of ballroom and banquet halls.

The Manning House in the 1950s

Their additions closed in the Atrium and added two large rooms to the west of the original structure. What was once an open courtyard to the north of the Red Room was closed in and made into the Elks Grand Ballroom. The area just west of the Atrium (now the site of the Lavender Ballroom) was the original site of Tucson's first man-made swimming pool. Pictures of guests relaxing by the lavish pool are located in the mansion's Gallery.

As a Professional Office Complex

In the early 1980's, The Manning House was sold to a development company that eventually turned the entire structure into a commercial office complex. This remodel drastically changed the interior of the mansion, but its valuable contribution of a $3.5 million structural renovation resulted in preserving the deteriorating building. 

As a Special Event Setting

In 1997, the Concannon family of Tucson purchased the mansion with the intention of restoring the building to its original grace and beauty. This multi-million dollar restoration included the transformation of a twenty year-old office complex into elegant ballrooms and historically accurate living areas. In the early 1980's the Red Room had been divided into four separate rooms and was remodeled to take advantage of modern fluorescent lighting boxes. In the great rooms, acoustical dropped ceilings and many office partitions were added to accommodate its commercial office use. All of these remodel changes of the 1980's were removed from The Manning House during the 1997 restoration.