User:HillsideMansion

Hillside Mansion

Hillside Mansion, the 1889 Eastlake home of British industrialist J.T. Bradley, is located 8 miles outside of Harrisburg in the borough of Middletown, Pennsylvania at 277 West Main Street. The mansion was built during Mr. Bradley's reign as president of the American Iron and Tube Company of Middletown during the 1880's where he employed over 1500 workers. The Bradley's home is unsurprisingly British in every fashion. Upon entering the home's eight foot tall stained glass front doors, you enter a formal entry hall. To your right through a set of pocket doors you can see Mr. Bradley's gentlemen's parlor with a magnificent stained glass "Bradley" family crest window inset in a bay alcove. The alcove is adorned with wooden fretwork resembling doves in the corners and the entire room retains all of the original, pristine woodwork. Directly across from the gentlemen's parlor on the opposite side of the entry hall is the formal ladies parlor with shuttered windows, a large ornamental plaster ceiling medallion and polished brass French 1880's fixture. This parlor allows access through large pocket doors into the home's formal dining room on the northeast corner of the house. The dining room is equipped with wooden plate wracks that encircle the entire perimeter of the room and is decorated with a dark Turkish themed wallpaper of tea traders going to market. The rear portion of the home contains all of the original butler's pantry cabinets with the vintage wavy glass door panels. From the pantry you enter into the original area of the kitchen that has been modernized to accommodate food service industry standards. From the original front entryway, a sweeping staircase with intricate Eastlake newel post ascends to the second floor landing and the chamber rooms. On the second floor there are four bed chambers, two full bathrooms, a sewing room and the awe-inspiring cherub stainglass memorial window designed in 1899 in memory of the Bradley's daughter, Katie, who died at the age of 28 on August 20, 1899. The window's cherub is handpainted and is inscribed with the quote, "In Memory Of Our Beloved Katie". Numerous other colored and stained glass windows adorn the second floor bedrooms and sunroom and cast spectacular primary colors on the rooms during the course of a bright sunny day. The third floor contains the most asked about feature of the house: a third floor observatory balcony overlooking Middletown and the surrounding countryside. This being the highest peak in Middletown, on certain days from the balcony you are able to see over 20 miles from the lookout. Not often visited by guests is the cellar containing a caverned underground vault/wine cellar that extends 25 feet out under the parking area to the rear of the home. After the Bradley's gave up the property in 1909, the home was sold to a gentelman from Philadelphia by the name of Conklin. Then the property was passed to the Coble family in the early 1920's. During the years of the Cobles ownership, the house served as the first location for the Coble Funeral Home and then served as a touris lodging location for visitors and airforcemen to the Olmstead Airbase. After Mrs. Coble's death in 1973, the property went into great decline over the next 30 years. Mrs. Coble's daughter, Betty, remained living in the property but neglected continuous maintenance on the property. It was not until 2004 when the property was purchased by two Victorian enthusiasts that the home was upgraded and restored to it's present day condition. The Bradley Mansion or "Hillside" as it is known, is a spectacular example of Stick-Eastlake architecture for the south-central Pennsylvania area. Built in 1889 by Adam Baumbach, it remains to be a showcase reminder of the gilded age of the late 1900's.