205 Union St Schenectady

Sanders / Ellice / Duane House

Until the end of the French and Indian War in 1763, the land on Union Street east of Ferry Street had been largely undeveloped pasture land and wood lots.  With the signing of the Treaty of Paris, development commenced along both sides of the street.  The will of John Sanders, dated 27 January 1779, conveyed to his son John “my house and lot in Schenectady on the north side of the street that leads from the Dutch Church to Canistigajoene [Niskayuna] now in the possession of James Ellice…having on the east the Presbyterian Church, etc.”  While Sanders owned the house, it appears that Ellice rented the house from Sanders.  Following several title transfers in the late 18th and early 19th century, the house became the home of Dr. William North Duane, a prominent local physician, who was a son of Judge James C. Duane (whose home once stood across Union Street where houses at 224-238 now stand) and grandson of James Duane, former Mayor of New York City and patent holder of lands in what is now the Town of Duanesburg.  Dr. Duane maintained his office in a building that once stood on the site of No. 203 Union Street.

The Sanders/Ellice/Duane house appears to have been constructed in the period between 1763 and 1779 in a gambrel roofed, wood framed Georgian style.  The entry was framed by a pedimented entablature, and the upper level of the gambrel roof was edged with a balustrade and railing.  Originally a center hall plan of two stories with attic and dormers, with flanking one and one-half story wings, the house was extensively remodeled in the 1860s or 70s in the Second Empire style.  The gambrel roof was altered to form a mansard roof, earlier six-over-six windows were replaced with two-over-two double hung sash, the entry was replaced with paired entry doors with glazed upper panels, and the eastern wing was removed in the early 20th century.  

A rear wing of the main house appears to incorporate part of an earlier one and one-half story Dutch Colonial style wood post-and-beam house that may have preceded the present house and originally may have had back-to-back jambless fireplaces between the front and rear rooms.  The original roof of the wing was removed in the late 18th century to create a formal ballroom at the second floor which features a highly detailed mantle at the north endwall fireplace.  An interesting feature in one of the rooms is a cast-iron fireback ornamented with the royal coat-of-arms of Great Britain, a device that likely would not have been displayed after 1775.