Stately Home Drawing

home-drawing-sa7How lovely this home must have been in real life. This stately home drawing shows a residence that was built in the 1880s in the New Jersey town of Glen Ridge. It must have been an exciting time to live there. There was a new train depot for residents traveling to nearby New York City and in a few years, they would be incorporated. A new hospital and country club would come a few years later.

What may be even more extraordinary is this small northern New Jersey town has retained many of these original homes – 72.8% of the homes in the community were built prior to 1939. History buffs might also know that one of the original top guns, astronaut Buzz Aldrin was born in that hospital. And, movie buffs might know that another famous top gun went to high school there – Tom Cruise.

This stately home drawing shows a two-story house with a cellar and an attic – though, I suspect the attic floor could easily be considered a third floor of livable space. The front of the home has a welcoming verandah and a nice-sized back porch as well. The stone foundation and the cedar shake shingles remind me of homes from this region. Lucky was the family that got to live in such a stately home. Drawing shown is smaller than the original; click on it to see the full-sized version.

This image is copyright free and in the public domain anywhere that extends copyrights 70 years after death or at least 120 years after publication when the original illustrator is unknown.