Cherry Hill
S. Pearl St. between 1st and McCarthy Aves., Albany, NYCherry Hill is a wood frame house, built by a Dutch master builder in Colonial style with a gambrel roof. Located on high ground in the southern part of Albany, the house once overlooked a large estate, with lawns and gardens extending down to the Hudson River.
The house was built in 1768 by Col. Philip Van Rensselaer as a home for his bride, Maria Sanders, who was the granddaughter of Peter Schuyler, first mayor of Albany. After Philip's death, Solomon Van Rensselaer purchased Cherry Hill for his wife.
During the half-century of Solomon's residence at Cherry Hill, he was Adjutant General of New York State, Postmaster of Albany, and a member of Congress. When the Marquis de Lafayette visited Albany in 1824, Solomon Van Rensselaer was his host and entertained him at Cherry Hill.
The house was occupied continuously for nearly two centuries by the same family. As a result, many of the original furnishings remain in the house, along with portraits, silver, china, and family documents. Some surplus furniture and family records are presently on loan to the Albany Institute of History and Art.
Throughout the years certain changes have been made to the house including the completion of the north wing and the removal of the balustrade surmounting the gambrel roof.
Listed in National Register of Historic Places in 1971.
The National Register of Historic Places is the official list of the Nation’s historic places worthy of preservation. Authorized by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, the National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places is part of a national program to coordinate and support public and private efforts to identify, evaluate, and protect America’s historic and archeological resources.