Historic Cherry Hill.

Cherry Hill was built in 1787 for Philip Van Rensselaer (1747-1798), a successful merchant-farmer, and his wife Maria Sanders (1749-1830). Philip was a cousin of the Patroon, Stephen Van Rensselaer; Maria was the great granddaughter of Pieter Schuyler, first mayor of Albany, and the daughter of Robert Sanders, a merchant and Albany major (1750-1754). As with other Hudson River Valley patrician families, the responsibilities of the Cherry Hill Van Rensselaers were numerous. These included an active merchant trading business, the 900-acre Cherry Hill farm, a townhouse on North Pearl Street in Albany, and the concerns of a large family of 13 children, nine of whom survived to adulthood.

One of Philip and Maria's daughters, Arriet (1775-1840) , married her cousin, Solomon Van Rensselaer (1774-1850); and in 1833 they became the second generation to own Cherry Hill. Solomon was a noted political and military figure in New York State, while Arriet assumed management of two households: the Cherry Hill farm and a townhouse on Broadway in Albany. Solomon and Arriet had 12 children, eight of whom lived to adulthood. Because he died intestate, Solomon's property was divided among his five daughters and a granddaughter.

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