{"nrhp_refnum":"71000517","name":"Cherry Hill","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"S. Pearl St. between 1st and McCarthy Aves.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Albany","county":"Albany County","state":"NY","lat":42.63481356600005,"lon":-73.76347412399997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1971-02-18","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Politics/Government","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Historic Cherry Hill is a two-and-one-half-story wood frame house with a gambrel roof on South Pearl Street in Albany, New York. It was built in 1768 by a Dutch master builder for Col. Philip Van Rensselaer.","why_significant":"The nomination presents the house as a Colonial-style gambrel-roofed dwelling built in 1768 for Philip Van Rensselaer and his bride. It was later the home of Solomon Van Rensselaer, who was Adjutant General of New York State, Albany Postmaster and a congressman, and who hosted the Marquis de Lafayette there in 1824. The same family occupied it for nearly two centuries, so many original furnishings, portraits, silver, china and documents remain.","narrative":"Cherry Hill is a wood frame house on high ground in the southern part of Albany, built in 1768 by a Dutch master builder for Col. Philip Van Rensselaer and his bride, Maria Sanders, a granddaughter of Peter Schuyler, Albany's first mayor. The two-and-one-half-story building has a gambrel roof, a five-bay front, a central hall plan, clapboard walls, a stone foundation and wooden porches with turned balustrades. The house once overlooked a large estate with lawns and gardens running down to the Hudson River. Solomon Van Rensselaer later bought it and lived there for about fifty years while serving as Adjutant General of New York State, Albany Postmaster and a member of Congress. He hosted the Marquis de Lafayette at the house during his 1824 visit. One family occupied the house for nearly two centuries, so many original furnishings, portraits, silver, china and family papers survive. It now operates as a museum.","period_of_significance":"18th Century (1768)","architect_builder":"Dutch master builder (unnamed); built for Col. Philip Van Rensselaer","architectural_style":"Colonial, with gambrel roof","criteria":[],"status_note":"Operated as a museum, open to the public during specified hours; condition listed as good and unaltered in original site, though some changes were made, including completion of the north wing and removal of the roof balustrade.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:50:39.177848-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/71000517.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/71000517/d21545befb-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/71000517/d21545befb-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"This image or media was taken or created by Matt H. Wade. To see his entire portfolio, click here.@thatmattwade This image is protected by copyright! If you would like to use it, please read this first.","credit_html":"This image or media was taken or created by Matt H. Wade. To see his entire portfolio, click here.@thatmattwade This image is protected by copyright! If you would like to use it, please read this first., CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cherry_Hill_Albany.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75316191","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cherry_Hill_(Albany,_New_York)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5092375"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/albany-county/cherry-hill-71000517/"}