visiting the sullivan-designed harold c. bradley house (1909) during a weekend trip to madison, wisc.

while on a brief weekend vacation to madison some time ago, i was determined to visit the harold c. bradley residence (1909), designed by notable architect louis h. sullivan and his chief draftsman, george grant elmslie. this would be elmslie's last commission with sullivan - shortly after, he would join william gray purcell. after we arrived at the house, i could not help but approach closer to fully take in the elaborate fret-sawn wood brackets, stemming from the cantilevered sleeping porches.

after i photographed the house's exterior, my family and i approached the front door, with my significant other leading the way. we were at the house. i badly wanted to see what remained of the interior, but the idea of being intrusive or an imposition to the occupants prevented me from knocking on the door. before i could feel defeated over my own insecurity, the door opened and a very nice young man greeted all of us. he was more than willing to show us around. i was floored. our tour guide, sigma phi fraternity member alec hill took us through the house, room by room. i tried my very best to listen to his highly informative "off the cuff" dialogue about this or that, but my mind's eye, and camera lens, was drawn to the finely detailed and heavily ornamented copper-plated cast iron and brass art glass sconces and ceiling fixtures likely executed by the winslow brothers of chicago, ills.

remarkably, the house was in great shape, especially considering a disastrous fire in 1972 destroyed the roof and the majority of the second floor. the sigma phi fraternity has done a good job of maintaining the historic integrity of the house since they purchased it in 1915 from harold and josephine bradley. from elmslie-designed oak wood chairs to the leaded art glass windows, i was very impressed with how these priceless architectural artifacts are handled. i was equally grateful to our "tour guide," who took his own time to show us around and let me take photographs. i strongly recommend visiting this house to see elmslie's work blossom under sullivan's guidance.