At the crest of the ridge and on a full city block is the architectural highlight of Brady. The two-story Shingle Style house has sweeping red-shingled roofs that fall sharply to the first story, where rough stone columns and a Richardsonian arch catch the eaves. Chalet-like gable ends are filled with shingles, and large shed-roofed dormers break up the expanses of roof. A round tower with a conical roof, shorter than the adjacent front gable, lurks to one side. William N. White was a rancher, founder of the First State Bank and Trust, and a community and church leader. The historical marker for the geographic center of Texas is located on White’s ranch north of Brady.
The house (1912) for Laura Thompson White, William White’s mother, at 900 S. Bridge is a two-story California Mission–styled house faced with cream-colored stucco and red tile roofs. Scalloped parapets, arched arcades, and a trellised porte-cochere form a romantic, picturesque composition comparable to the Whites’ house.
Other substantial houses in various eclectic styles indicate that this was the elite neighborhood in early-twentieth-century Brady, situated on high ground south of the flood-prone Brady Creek that runs north of the courthouse square. It has since become a major automobile route, and its residential character has been impacted by commercial structures.