215 Union St Schenectady

 Edward Ellis House
 
Built in 1885 for Edward Ellis who served as the President of the Schenectady Locomotive Works from 1891 until his death in 1897.  Edward Ellis played an important role in attracting the attention of Thomas Edison to view Schenectady as a possible location for his machine works. The house was acquired in 1949 by the First Presbyterian Church and is used as for Sunday School classes and known as Turnbull Memorial Hall.
 
The house was designed in a light Queen Anne style popularized by English architect Norman Shaw in the 1860s.  The architecture of the Edward Ellis house is composed around a balanced massing with asymmetrical side pavilions:  one with a gable end facing the street and the other with a flattened tower that meets the roof with a conical roof.  Materials include salmon colored brickwork, with brownstone foundation walls, steps, beltcourses, window lintels and sills, corner quoins, and arched opening with engaged columns forming the entrance surround. Roof cornice, rakes, and ornamental panels are made of moulded brick or terra cotta, and feature floral motifs.  Originally the house was roofed with slate shingles, which were replaced with asphalt shingles; the original copper cresting was retained, as well as the decorative iron finial on the tower.