62 Brookes Avenue

In 1875, when the city appropriated land from Pearl Street north for the  creation of North Willard Street they were also making it  possible for the creation of streets like Adsit Court and Brookes Avenue. In 1902 William J. Van Patten, a partner in  the Wells Richardson drug company, a one-time mayor of Burlington, a philanthropist who donated Ethan Allen Park to the city, and who formulated the plans for North Beach, laid out plans for a development which included upper Brookes Avenue (see map). 62 Brookes Avenue is on lot#7

Lot #7 was first purchased from P.H.  and Helen M. Corley by Chrissie M. Bradley in September of 1914. Chrissie had married  Frank M. Bradley in Brimfield, MA the previous February. Both had Vermont roots, but Chrissie’s sister lived in Brimfield, so it’s likely she was living with her sister’s family at the time. Frank had sued for his share of his father’s estate in 1912. (Not sure how that worked out.) At any rate, the Bradleys were listed in the 1916 city directory as living at 41 North Willard Street. He was a cashier at the Merchants National Bank.  

 On August 4, 1915, a quitclaim deed from Arthur W. Hill gave both spouses the right to the property. Construction seems to have started after this. David Collette, a former owner, reported finding a  chalk marking on an attic wall “ Nov. 1916”. This seems a likely date for the completion of the house. The first listing of the Bradleys  in their Brookes Avenue house is in the 1917 city directory, where the number is listed as 72. It’s 62 on the 1919 Sanbon Fire Insurance map.

Image credit: Hickok & Boardman