Bidwell Mansion State Historic Park, Victorian mansion in Chico, United States

Bidwell Mansion was a three-story, 26-room brick house on Rancho del Arroyo Chico, built 1865–1868 in an informal Romantic Italianate style with Italian Villa and Octagon house elements. Its exterior was finished in pink-tinted plaster. The December 2024 arson left the bulk of the brick and masonry frame standing.

John Bidwell, a California pioneer and congressman, built this residence between 1865 and 1868 during his courtship of Annie Ellicott Kennedy. The construction occurred during a period of significant growth and development in California following the Civil War.

After their 1868 marriage, John and Annie Bidwell made the three-story, 26-room house the social and cultural centre of the upper Sacramento Valley. From 1925 to 1935 it housed female students of Chico State Teachers College, who reportedly slept on the surrounding balconies; it was later called Bidwell Hall and held the art and home economics departments.

The mansion at 525 Esplanade is closed after the December 11, 2024 arson fire, and recovery begins with debris removal, a phase officials expect to take about a year. The ground floor was reached by an outdoor ramp, and an hour-long tour covered the rooms; a visitor-center video showed the upper floors to those who could not climb the 50 stairs.

The mansion was ahead of its time with advanced systems including modern plumbing, gas lighting, and water distribution networks that were uncommon in the 1860s. These features demonstrate how wealthy residents had access to technologies most people could not afford or obtain.