The Louis Menand House (40 Cemetery Ave.) was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985. Portions of the content on this web page were adapted from a copy of the original nomination document. [1]
The Louis Menand House is located near the entrance to the Albany Rural Cemetery. The house is set back from Cemetery Avenue, a nineteenth century road that is lined with wrought iron fences. Many exotic plantings, including male and female gingko trees, survive on the property.
The parcel consists of 3.92 acres which is the surviving property associated with the house and with the Menand nursery which originally occupied additional property south of the parcel adjacent to the railroad tracks. The balance of the property is presently occupied by an industrial complex and a village park. The surviving acreage also contains the only structures once associated with the nursery.
This two-story Queen Anne style farmhouse has a cross-gable roof and a central chimney. The majority of the front section is covered with clapboards. Fishscale shingles cover the gable ends and form a band around the middle of the building. A band of vertical siding runs along the top of the second story on three sides of the building.
Paired windows appear in the gable ends. A one-story porch with a shed roof and bracketed piers wraps around the north and south sides of the building. Brackets appear at the corners of the building. A small shingled gable is built over the porch, near the entrance, to form a small portico. A small one-story projecting bay is positioned on the west side. The interior retains its original details, such as the woodwork, fireplace, doors, and hardware.
The rear section is two stories with a gable roof. A one-story addition with a shed roof is built on the rear. Outbuildings, three sheds and a garage, as well as foundations of greenhouses survive on the property which relate to its nursery function and which contribute to the significance of the resource.
Historical and Architectural Importance
The Louis Menand House is historically significant as the only surviving structure associated with the locally prominent Menand family. In the late nineteenth century, Louis Menand, a world-renowned horticulturist, established a variety of nurseries and green houses on the property. Here, the Menands completed extensive horticultural experiments and developed new hybrids of flowers. The Queen Anne/Stick style structure was occupied by Louis Menand, Jr., who was actually involved in the family business. The suburban community which eventually grew around the family's gardens became known as "Menands."
The son of a French gardener, Louis Menand studied horticulture and became the curator of the Botanical Gardens in Paris. In 1837, Menand came to the United States and eventually established himself as a nurseryman and florist on a property nearby. (His home is no longer extant). In 1870, Menand purchased the property. This residence was constructed in 1881 incorporating an earlier house, and was occupied by Louis Menand, Jr. The family had numerous nurseries and greenhouses on the property where they performed horticultural experiments and developed new hybrid flowers. Several buildings and foundations survive which indicate the pattern of use of the property as a residence and commercial garden. The lawns surrounding the house are distinguished by specimen, trees and plantings reflecting the Menands' taste and occupation.
Due to the location of a railroad stop serving the nearby Albany Rural Cemetery, the area surrounding the Menand family nurseries soon developed as an important suburb for the city of Albany (see Menand Park Historic District). The area, was known for both the Menands' nurseries and for the train stop, and it was named "Menands" when later established as a village.
Sources
Albany County Clerk's Office and Assessor's Office
Parker, Amasa J. (ed.) Landmarks of Albany County, New York Syracuse: D. Mason & C., 1897.
Menand, Louis, Autobiography and Recollections of Incidents Connected with Horticultural Affairs Albany: Weed, Parson & Co., 1892.
Menand, Howard Village of Menands: 50th Anniversary, 1924-1974
Interview with property owner.
Nearby Neighborhoods
Street Names
Cemetery Avenue