The baby's room is painted - a blend of orange and green he assures us looks better than it sounds - well away from the monster upstairs retreat, complete with deck designed by the man himself with a footy club function in mind.
It's his castle on the hill, the spoils of 13 years of top level football and a career that reaches another milestone on Sunday when he plays his 250th for the Cats.
Riccardi will become only the sixth player in the history of the club to reach the mark behind Ian Nankervis (325 games), John Newman (300), Garry Hocking (274), Paul Couch (259) and Bruce Nankervis (253).
Riccardi left Geelong West for the Cattery in 1989 to play under 19s and made his senior debut in 1992. In the first four years he figured in three grand finals and, by his own admission, thought it was all too easy.
Older, wiser and still without that premiership medal, he knows now just how difficult it is to win one.
The passage of time and a couple of personal upheavals have helped him appreciate what he's achieved on and off the field.
The first came in 2000 when his sister Michelle lost her battle with cancer.
Two years later he was with team-mates in Bali the night of the bombings. Had the players left to go out that night when they were supposed to, they could easily have been caught up in the blast. As it was they were in a hotel some 700 metres away and tended to some of the injured.
"Bali was just a freakish thing to see and with Michelle going with cancer, it just changes your mindset, you just have to live day-by-day and don't worry about tomorrow,'' he said.
"That is the way I approach my life now, day-by-day, if I wake up I know what I've got to do.''
Riccardi's here- and-now philosophy has meant few plans have been made for the day he hangs up his boots.
"I was always a long-term kind of guy until Michelle passed away,'' he said.
"With footy, you don't know when your time is up, might be this year, next year or two years. Whenever footy is over I just want to work outdoors, doing anything at all, just as long as it's outside.''
Riccardi, 31, won't be queuing up at Centrelink for a while yet the way he is playing. Being used off the interchange, he's had an impact in almost every game this season.
"The body is feeling great at the moment, the passion is there and I am still enjoying it, it's really just up to the club how long I play for,'' he said.
"If I have a bad game I still get s*** on myself but when I wake up the next day it is all about looking forward. Life's good, I wake up with a smile every day, everything's sweet and I wouldn't change it.''
