Menand Park Historic District
Why it's listed
Menand Park is a compact residential district on Tillinghast Avenue in Menands, part of the town of Colonie near Albany. It contains 22 contributing buildings, mostly Bungalows and Prairie Style houses from about 1913 to 1925. Typical features include low gable roofs with wide overhangs, exposed rafters, stained shingle siding, recessed porches on heavy brick or cobblestone piers, and cobblestone chimneys. Most houses keep their original garages. The development was created in the early twentieth century for a newly emerging Albany suburb by Charles S. Aldrich, a Troy lawyer, and Esther Stevens. Vanderhyden Corporation of Troy apparently built the houses, though the designer is uncertain. The designs reflect Frank Lloyd Wright's ideas and the California craftsman movement, and may derive from bungalow plans published by Gustav Stickley. The district was drawn narrowly around the eastern part of Tillinghast Avenue, where integrity is best, because alterations elsewhere reduced historic character.
Significance in brief: The houses show how West Coast craftsman and bungalow ideas and Frank Lloyd Wright's Prairie Style reached the East in an early suburb of Albany. They are physical evidence of the shift toward detached suburban houses and automobile-oriented living after the Victorian period. The Tillinghast Avenue houses retain the best integrity and show a good cross-section of early styles.
Machine-generated summary. This summary was generated by a language model from the official nomination document and has not been reviewed line by line by an editor. It may contain errors. Check the source document before relying on any detail. Source: nomination document (PDF) · National Archives catalog entry. NRHP reference 85002708, listed October 3, 1985. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | Roughly bounded by Menand Rd., Broadway, and Tillinghast Ave., Colonie |
|---|---|
| County | Albany County |
| Listed | October 3, 1985 |
| Reference number | 85002708 |
| Resource type | District |
| Architect / builder | Vanderhyden Corporation of Troy apparently built the houses; a designing architect is uncertain. Developed by Charles S. Aldrich and Esther Stevens. |
| Architectural style | Bungalow and Prairie Style (craftsman movement influence) |
| Areas of significance | Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Only a portion of the original Menand Park was included because of siding, porch enclosures and window replacement elsewhere; most houses in the district retain their original garages. |
| Acreage | 2.5 |
| Coordinates | 42.69409, -73.72384 (NPS GIS) |
What listing means for this property
This is a historic district. Buildings within its boundary are either contributing (they add to the district's significance) or non-contributing. Owners of contributing income-producing buildings can claim the 20% federal rehabilitation tax credit; homeowners should look at state credits. National Register districts impose no design review by themselves; a local historic district ordinance, if one exists, does (the difference explained).
General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change; confirm with your State Historic Preservation Office or a qualified adviser.
Sources and further reading
- National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places database (snapshot May 2026), reference 85002708.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q6816440
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.