Update: I returned to the street in August of 2019 to photograph more houses.
The West Bluff Historic District, sitting high up on the bluffs above downtown Peoria and just off of Main Street, is one of the most spectacular and well-preserved late-Nineteenth Century neighborhoods I have seen. Below are the various houses I shot along High Street, the portion of the neighborhood we explored. Houses like this in St. Louis for the most part were demolished, and in towns like Peoria, they survive.
What is the dome-like structure on top of the house shown in the second and third photo? Is that a balcony of sorts a person could go out on?
I assume, before the trees grew taller across the street, the balcony provided stunning views of the Illinois River and Lake Peoria valley. They’re sometimes called “bellevues” after the French word or “belvederes” after the Italian word.