Stanford Mansion on the move (with video)

The process of moving the historic Stanford Mansion began Wednesday morning, traveling at a delicate speed of 1 mph.

The operation was undertaken by Wolfe House and Building Movers and was scheduled to take four to five hours. Once the process was complete, the building was to be moved nearly 350 feet and turned to face Balltown Road, according to Highbridge Development President John Roth.

The building was carefully hoisted onto multiple steel dollies several days before the move.

The mansion will remain jacked up and sitting on its platform for days while construction begins on the building’s new basement foundation.

Roth said Wolfe was chosen for the project because the company “was one of only a few who could move the building safely.” According to Roth, his company searched the entire Northeast to find the right movers, adding that he would not attempt to move the home if he thought it would be destroyed in the process. He hopes to make the mansion the centerpiece of his new shopping plaza that will be built on the same site.

In July, Roth stated the mansion’s move would cost the development company around $250,000.

Project Manager David Franco said the shopping plaza’s aesthetics would be created to match that of the mansion.

Linda Champagne said she was sad to see the house moved because its historic value to the region could never be re-created.

“It was just a beautiful sight that inspired so many, as beauty often does,” she said.

Champagne was a member of the group Friends of Stanford Home, a collection of people that came together in an attempt to save the house and its property from development.

In 2007, approval was given by the Niskayuna Planning Board for the development, but it was stalled because of the economy and legal issues. In the spring of 2009 the property was cleared and an addition that was once part of the Ingersoll private nursing home was removed from the home.

While the building was being readied for the move this October, a state appeals court issued a temporary restraining order preventing the move. The ruling followed a lawsuit filed by the Friends of Stanford Home and the Mohawk-Hudson chapter of the Sierra Club. The group’s attorney, Alex Brownstein, said the restraining order was issued because he convinced the court the move would “irreparably” harm the building. The group claimed the development company changed its original site plan, which did not call for the mansion to be moved.

Several weeks ago a panel of the state Supreme Court Appellate Division ruled that the move could continue.

Champagne said the Friends of Stanford Home would not disband because the 200-year-old mansion has a rich history that needs to be collected and shared.

Built in the early 19th century, the mansion housed three town supervisors. It later became the home of both the Schuyler and Stanford families. Leland Stanford went on to found Stanford University in California in 1876.

Since 1927 the building was the Ingersoll residence for senior citizens. The home moved to a new facility on Consaul Road.

Champagne called the new development “irresponsible.”

“It’s like placing a child in charge of the family jewels,” she said.