Paradise
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Elbridge Gerry Potter Farm (Paradise)
1842 and later. 4 miles west of Bellevue on route D57
Elbridge Gerry Potter was a wealthy atheist who made his original fortune through a distillery and flour mill in Illinois. His extensive establishment was more than just a large farm; it was really a small village unto itself. Before his death the complex consisted of a three-story main house plus seven other good-sized buildings laid out in a narrow valley on the 1,400-acre farm. The house, which is still standing, is a large rectangular three-story box surmounted by an eight-sided cupola. Along the front of the house was a two-story porch, covered at its second level by a shed roof. Also still standing are a two-story stone dormitory building and a structure designed to house wagons.
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