The Bladen Home

625 W. 2nd Street

History

The original part of the home was built in 1837 for Thomas Vail. The front two rooms were added on in the 1860s by Uriah Stribling, who resided in the home until his death in 1902. He was one of the owners of Cobb, Stribling & Co. Iron Foundry and had patented many iron parts,

particularly for the rail system. The iron fence surrounding this house is his original patent. You can see several of these around Madison. The garage/carriage house is original with the horse stall and hayloft still intact.

Renovations

The back wings of the house were both added on in the 1880s and 90s according to the Sanborn fire maps. In the 1930s and 40s, the house was converted into 3 apartments. Previous owners had partially deconstructed it back to a single dwelling home, and Rusty and Andra Bladen

completed the project along with adding the outdoor patio area. In addition, the staircase was redone at some point, as it is believed to have come out into the dining room and was originally much steeper based on the outline in the cellar.

Special Features

• The 4 over 6 floor-to-ceiling windows slide into the wall, and pocket doors and tracks were discovered and restored during renovation in 2010.
• The upstairs bathroom had an original toilet (dating back to the 1920s) when the Bladen’s moved in in 2004; the lid now serves as a shelf in the bathroom.
• The fireplaces were coal burning and are original to the house.
• The baby grand piano dates back to 1920.
• A secret room was discovered during renovations and has since been opened back up.