9 Washington Ave Schenectady

William C. Vrooman House. The land on which this house stands was also once part of the route of the Schenectady and Saratoga Railroad, with the right-of-way passing through back yards to come into Washington Avenue just north of No. 7 to cross the old Burr Bridge to Scotia.  This property was subdivided from a larger parcel that was once the south side yard of the former unified house at Nos. 3 and 5 Washington Avenue. The present house was constructed in c.1879 for William C. Vrooman whose father owned the house at 3-5, and the land to the south of the house that included this property.  The house was designed in a style first made popular in the 1850s by the Swiss Cottage style designs of Andrew Jackson Downing, and later by the New Jersey Building at the 1876 Philadelphia Centennial.  The facades of the William Vrooman House are characterized by discrete areas of vertical and horizontal board siding separated by trim boards that create a grid. Ornamental pierced panels are featured at the center of the façades between the first and second floor window bands, and are echoed in the ornamental pierced wood panels located between paired brackets of the cornice fascia.  The entry door and shutters are late-20th century replacements.