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Property Location
Property Features
In a state with an unusually large collection of cobblestone buildings, the Buena Vista House is the biggest and one of the finest. Its builder was Samuel Bradley, a young mason who ran a hotel in Milwaukee with his wife before moving to East Troy. In 1846, he built the stone walls of his new inn and began the laborious task of veneering them with cobblestones. Because it took so long to select the small stones and lay them in uniform courses, most masons working with this material veneered only the principal facade, leaving the structural walls of rubble or quarried stone exposed at the sides and rear. But Bradley veneered all four sides, using colorful egg-shaped stones he had gathered from nearby lakes and running tooled V-shaped mortar joints between each horizontal course. The process took three years.
Like most cobblestone buildings, this one is a vernacular interpretation of the Greek Revival style, with a broad cornice, granite and limestone quoins, and flat-arched limestone lintels. Originally, a one-story porch ran along the west (front) and wrapped around to the north side, but all that remains today are two smaller, pedimented porch roofs, supported by large brackets, on the front. The paired windows on the second floor, over the main entrance, show where a doorway once opened onto a covered balcony. The ground level has always housed a restaurant, but the interior has been altered repeatedly.
National And State Register Of Historic Places Listings
HI10105
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Buena Vista House
1895
View from road of the Buena Vista House. There is a utility pole in front with many wires attached. This Greek revival inn was erected in 1843 by Samuel R. Bradley of Milwaukee, who is said to have...
Buena Vista House
1895
View of the Buena Vista House with electric power lines. This Greek revival inn was erected in 1843 by Samuel R. Bradley of Milwaukee, who is said to have gathered personally all of the cobblestone...
Buena Vista House
1909
View of the exterior of the Buena Vista House, a hotel located in East Troy. This Greek revival inn was erected in 1843 by Samuel R Bradley of Milwaukee, who is said to have gathered personally all...
MAPLE DR .6 M N OF COUNTY HIGHWAY D
10493
Located in Waterford, Racine County
N SIDE OF LITTLE PRAIRIE RD .25 M W OF COUNTY HIGHWAY J
9966
Located in Troy, Walworth County
Buena Vista House
1940
View across street towards the inn, with three cars parked in front. There is a "Chicken & Steak Dinner" sign, as well as a "Schlitz" beer sign. The cobblestone inn was built in 1843 by Samuel L. ...
