The house was build around 1885 and is known as the Kendrick's house. Unfortunately little is known about the early years and who the builder was. Around 1932 it was purchased by the S.Bruce Jones family and remained in the family until January 2006. Mr. Jones was a very prominent Bristol attorney and the founder of well known law firm "Jones, Woodward and Flannagan". Mrs. Ruth Clay Jones, his wife, was a direct descendant of the family of Henry Clay (1777-1852) The Great Compromiser who ran unsuccessfully, several times for President. The Clay family genealogy goes back to King Henry, Eleanor of Aquitaine, and Charlemagne.
The Jones had two daughters, Ada Belle and Ruth clay.
After Ada Belle’s death in the early 60’s the property was owned by Ruth Clay (Jones Greiner) until her death in 2003.
The Jones's grand-daughters, Nancy Hopping and Jan Brewer, (daughters of Ada Belle Jones) inherited the property and sold it in 2006.
The house was known for its wonderful parties held by the Jones where all of Bristol's upper-class mingled until the war broke out.
The house underwent many changes over the years:
A dormer was never rebuilt after a fire destroyed part of the attic area in the 20's, the garage (originally the carriage house) and room over it were built in 1923 possibly by the Kendrick’s, the covered porch which originally extended across the whole front was cut down by the Jones in the mid 30's. The most drastic change was inside, after the great depression when the grand staircase was taken down and it was divided into apartments (2 upstairs and the main quarters downstairs) and remained that way until sold in 2006.
I purchased the house in January 2006 and I have dedicated these past years to the best of my abilities, into putting back the house to what I think would be its original grandeur.
The people in this pictures were neighbors at the time and it just happened that they caught part of the house in that shot. I was very fortunate to come across this piece of history. If you look closely top left, you can see the dormer with a small balcony at the top