29 Front St Schenectady

Abraham Fonda House
 

Abraham Fonda built this house in 1752, shortly before the death of the first of his three wives. To it he later brought his second wife Susanna Glen, whom he married in 1755. The land on which it stands was willed to him by his father, Jellis Fonda. It is a typical Dutch house, frame structure, brick- filled walls and steeply sloping roof, gable-end to the street. The brick front with the small Gothic window in the attic is believed to have been added dur­ing the 19th century. From Abraham Fonda, the property passed to his daughter, Rebecca, who married Nicho­las Yates.

The Abraham Fonda House is believed to have been constructed in c.1752 and is representative of traditional Dutch colonial “gable-end-to-the-street” style houses.  Standing on land willed to Abraham from his father Jellis Fonda, the wood timber frame house has wood weatherboards on the side and rear walls, and a steeply sloping roof.  American common bond pattern brick facade, entry door surround, and small pointed arch window in the attic gable end wall date to an alteration in the Gothic Revival style popular in the middle decades of the 19th century.