Knickerbocker Mansion
Also known as: Knickerbocker,Johannes,House
Why it's listed
Knickerbocker Mansion is a brick country house on Knickerbocker Road in Schaghticoke, built by about 1770 by Johannes Knickerbocker II on or beside the site of an earlier family dwelling. It has a rectangular plan, two and a half stories, a hipped roof, five bays across the front, and brick walls on a coursed rubble foundation. A nineteenth-century wood wing stands on the west side, and nineteenth-century details include the porch, the bracketed cornice and the dormer pediments. Inside, the rooms are arranged around a transverse hall. The house is notable as a substantial example of a rural dwelling built by a landed family of some wealth. It is also tied to the Knickerbocker family, whose members served as commanders at Fort Schaghticoke, as militia colonels in the French and Indian War and the Revolution, and as state assemblymen. The family kept the house until 1946. The Knickerbocker Historical Society acquired it in 1964 and ran it as a museum until 1972.
Significance in brief: The nomination presents it as a notable example of its architectural type in Rensselaer County and the Upper Hudson Valley, with a substantial size for a rural dwelling of a landed family. It was also the rural seat of the Knickerbocker family, prominent locally for nearly two and a half centuries and involved in colonial and Revolutionary-era military and political life.
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 72000906, listed December 11, 1972. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | Knickerbocker Rd., Schaghticoke |
|---|---|
| County | Rensselaer County |
| Listed | December 11, 1972 |
| Reference number | 72000906 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Period of significance | 18th and 19th centuries |
| Architect / builder | Johannes Knickerbocker II (completed the dwelling) |
| Areas of significance | Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Owned by the Knickerbocker Historical Society and open as a museum until 1972, when it was closed for essential repairs; condition listed as fair and altered. |
| Acreage | 2.5 |
| Within district | Champlain Canal |
| Coordinates | 42.90507, -73.65179 (NPS GIS) |
What listing means for this property
National Register listing is honorary for a privately owned home: it does not by itself restrict what an owner may do with their own money, and it does not require public access. Restrictions come from local landmark or historic-district ordinances, which are separate (how they differ).
Owner-occupied houses are not eligible for the 20% federal rehabilitation tax credit, which applies to income-producing buildings, but many states offer credits for homeowners. Listing also opens the door to preservation easements and to buying a plaque. Start with what listing means for homeowners, renovating a listed house and selling one.
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 72000906.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q6422060
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.