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Bloomfield Blossoms: p. 114-115

Smith, Kay, 1925-

Bloomfield Township Public Library

Bloomfield Township (Mich.) -- History

Bloomfield Village (Mich.) -- History

Bradway, Judson

GB01a059

part of 'Bloomfield Blossoms' by Kay Smith

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THE WINDS OF CHANGE: BLOOMFIELD VILLAGE IS CONCEIVED Judson Bradway is always acclaimed as a man of vision in Bloomfield, and rightly so. His was the 1924 dream that signaled the change of Bloomfield from a farming community to a residential community. "What's so great about that?" you might ask. The answer is that the change was going to come in any case, and Judson Bradway, having developed iron-clad rules about what was to be built and how, stuck to them and made a model for all the subdivisions which were to come. From the time in 1924 when he bought the Hupp Farm and other land on the north and south sides of Maple between Westwood and Lahser and generally from Quarton to Lincoln, he kept to the origins of his dream to build a beautiful little community of houses. Every house plan had to be approved by his office. Certain stipulations such as no garage doors opening on to the street were inviolate. His rigorous standards have paid off as the beauty of the subdivision--the village is not a governmental unit but a portion of Bloomfield Township--attests. Bradway hit on hard times in the Depression. Sixty homes were here in 1928 and 167 in 1929. By 1931 house building in the entire area had all but ceased. Bradway almost plaintively asked residents in a letter if they were glad they had invested their money in their homes or sorry because the lots would not sell for a long time at their former prices. Many sold against Bradway's pleas not to, and although he lost one section south of Maple Road, he hung on, and by 1939 things began to pick up. Several houses were built before World War II halted all building until its conclusion. From then on it was clear sailing until today the Village is almost at saturation with 965 houses. The Village has its own fire and police protection unit, a very active local organization which oversees the mainte- nance of standards, and a reputation for being one of the best places to live in the whole of Bloomfield. Judson Bradway, we salute you!