 This hand-colored lithograph is titled: “Residence of the late T.S. Bradley, Moss Street, Peoria, Illinois.” It looks like a pale, watercolor drawing. The grand, two-story Bradley home is in the center of the picture. A sweeping front lawn leads to the sidewalk and street. A four or five-foot wrought iron fence surrounds the property. The driveway is wide, ample enough for large carriages to arrive through the gate and follow the circular drive to the front entrance. The variety of trees, which Mrs. Bradley had planted in her yard as well as the row of tall maple trees she had planted on the other side of Moss Avenue, obscure the view of the house. The house is square and symmetrical -- typical Georgian Colonel design. The front door is at the center. There are five large windows across the front. The roof has a medium pitch with minimal overhang and square, tooth-like cuts (known as dental molding) along the eaves. There are narrow, dark shutters at the windows and light colored curtains inside that are drawn back at mid-window to let light in the bottom half. On the left side, two smaller buildings are attached to the main house. Two men can be seen walking on the sidewalk. Two carriages – one from the left and the other from the right -- hurry along a street at the lower front edge of the drawing. The street is parallel to Moss Avenue. The one from the left is a single horse carriage driven by a man. The two-horse carriage approaching from the right carries two women. The blue sky with soft clouds behind the Bradley home, and the fact that the carriage tops are pulled back suggest that it is a warm, sunny day. | |
