15 Front St Schenectady

 Wallace S. Clark House
The Clark House is a two-story, wood frame, Colonial Revival style, gambrel roof dwelling that was constructed on the former side yard of the adjacent house at No. 11 Front Street.  Shingle style houses had became popular in the 1870s starting with resort housing and later in suburban developments of the last quarter of the 19th century.  Earlier shingle style houses were characterized by picturesque asymmetrical massings that rested on rugged stone foundations that seemed to grow out of the ground, and drew on a mix of details from New England farmhouses of the 17th and 18th centuries and half-timbered buildings from 16th and 17th century England.  Over time, designs became more academic and symmetrical.

The Clark House is set back from the street line, creating a small front yard.  The front façade is symmetrical around the centrally placed front entrance, and displays a dressed stone foundation, narrow wood board siding at the first floor level, and wood shingles at the second floor.  Windows are six-light over six-light painted wood double-hung sash, and the front door, in a reference to the Dutch heritage of the Stockade, is a Dutch style door with a glazed upper panel.  The wall is surmounted by a wood cornice with modillion blocks.  Three pedimented dormer windows are equally spaced across the front of the gambrel roof.  The front porch contains classical detailing, including the fluted columns and pilasters, triglyph and metopae fascia, and dentiled cornice.  The interior of the Clark House is organized around a center hall floor plan.

Around the corner at 15 Governor’s Lane is the Susan Lyle Clark House, constructed in c.1940 in a late shingled Colonial Revival style that complements the house at 15 Front St.