7 Union St Schenectady

Maria Teller House 
 
This house is located at the center of the Union Street frontage of the town lot allocated to Willem Teller in 1660, and remained in the family’s possession until 1852.  Jacobus (1738-1784), Willem’s Teller's grandson, was engaged in the fur trade with John and Henry Glen.  He married Maria (1740-1828), a daughter of Joseph R. Yates.  Their house was destroyed by the fire of 1819, and it is likely that Maria undertook the construction of a new house on the site following the fire.  A portion of the first and second floors of the western (left) side of the house appear to have been constructed in c.1820 after the Great Fire of 1819.  The third floor and the eastern wing were constructed after 1852 and the entire structure was remodeled in the then popular Italianate style of the 1850s and 60s.  
 
The first and second stories of the western part of the house are constructed of brick laid in a Flemish bond pattern, with American common bond at the third floor level and east wing.  Characteristic details of the Italianate style include the cornice with modillion blocks and dentil course, window and door trim, and the tall three-part parlor windows in the east wing.  The railings, balusters, and newel posts at the front entrance are painted cast iron, and the pedimented roof above the entrance is supported on scrolled brackets.  The paired two-panel entry doors are glazed above solid wood surrounded by heavy molding trim.  The first floor windows were once faced by shallow cast-iron balconies similar to that found at the second floor of No. 21 Front St.