A slice of really cool New York history is up for grabs.
Glen Sanders Mansion, the riverfront estate in Scotia, NY, believed to be the third-oldest surviving dwelling in New York State, has hit the market for $8 million, The Post has learned.
The 75,000-square-foot property traces to 1658, when Scottish merchant Alexander Lindsay Glen built a stone dwelling on the Mohawk River and named the settlement Scotia, after his homeland.
That one-room structure still stands, folded into the mansion around it, and the family held the estate 266 years until it was sold in 1962.
“That room is still part of the house, which would make it the third oldest,” listing agent Angelo Michael Mazzone Jr, son of the mansion’s current owner, confirmed to The Post.
Glen Sanders Mansion, a riverfront estate in Scotia, NY believed to be the third-oldest surviving dwelling in New York State, has hit the market for $8 million.
The property traces back to 1658, when Scottish merchant Alexander Lindsay Glen built a stone dwelling on the Mohawk River and named the settlement Scotia after his homeland, and that original one-room structure still stands within the mansion today. Mazzone Hospitality
Restaurateur Angelo Mazzone Sr bought it in 1988 and opened it a year later as the flagship of what became Mazzone Hospitality, though that operating company was later sold to Compass International while Mazzone Sr retained ownership of the real estate itself. Mazzone Hospitality
Now 75, he says the decision to sell comes down to age, and his son, listing agent Angelo Michael Mazzone Jr, has chosen a career in opera and real estate rather than taking over the property. Angelo Mazzone
Restaurateur Angelo Mazzone Sr bought the estate in 1988, opening it a year later as the flagship of what became Mazzone Hospitality.
“We used to cater on their lawn. So when the house went up for sale, I said, well, we can make this a great restaurant and banquet hall,” Mazzone Sr said.
Now 75, he said the decision to sell comes down to age.
“I’ve worked 40, 50 years struggling, working really hard to keep everything up and running,” he said.
His son isn’t taking over: “I’m an opera singer and a real estate agent,” Mazzone Jr said. “I decided not to do this.”
Mazzone Hospitality, the operating company, was sold to Compass International five years ago, but Mazzone Sr remains sole owner of the real estate itself.
“It was my baby. I grew a company from this facility to a $70 million food and beverage company,” he said. “But there’s really no one in my family that wanted to do it.”
The mansion is steeped in lore, including reported visits from George Washington and a young Louis Philippe, the future King of the French, who is said to have stayed in what’s still called the Louis Philippe Bedroom. Getty Images
A portrait of Louis-Philippe d’Orleans, King of France as Louis-Philippe I. De Agostini via Getty Images
The mansion’s calling card is its list of storied visitors.
George Washington stopped there while surveying the region’s northern defenses in 1775, though historians have long noted he slept across the river at the John Glen House in Schenectady’s Stockade District.
“It’s been verified that he was there for a tea party. Possibly stayed, but there’s no written documentation that he slept there,” Mazzone Jr said.
A young Louis Philippe, the future King of the French, is said to have stayed at the mansion during his American exile in the late 1790s, decades before he took the French throne in 1830, in a room still known as the Louis Philippe Bedroom.
Family tradition holds that the mansion’s basement once sheltered freedom seekers as part of the Underground Railroad, with a passage said to connect the main house to a building across the street that later became the Scotia library.
A visible mark on the original staircase banister is attributed to an Indigenous visitor, according to Mazzone Jr.
The estate stayed in the same family for 266 years before it was sold in 1962. Mazzone Hospitality
“There’s actually a tomahawk mark in the banister from one of the Indians,” he said.
Family tradition also holds that the basement once sheltered freedom seekers as part of the Underground Railroad, with a passage said to connect to a building that later became the Scotia library, and a tomahawk mark is still visible on the original staircase banister. Mazzone Hospitality
Staff and family describe recurring paranormal activity, including sightings of a woman in a red dress associated with Deborah Glen, though they call the presences “friendly ghosts.” Mazzone Hospitality
Staff and family say the mansion has its share of unexplained activity, including a recurring sighting of a woman in a red dress some associate with Deborah Glen — the granddaughter of Alexander.
Mazzone Jr recalled an odd episode from when his father first bought the property.
“We pulled up, and every light was on in the house. So the three of us went in, turned off all the lights, and crossing the river, the whole house just lit up again.”
A painter who worked alone in the mansion reported similar moments, he said, seeing “drapes moving and things like that she couldn’t explain.”
John Lawrence of Douglas Elliman who is co-listing the property alongside Mazzone and Rick Rosa said the family doesn’t dwell on the stories out of respect.
“They’re friendly ghosts, and we don’t really like talking about them because they don’t want to be noticed.”
The listing includes roughly three acres, with the historic core measuring about 2,800 square feet inside the complex, which includes a 22-room inn. The mansion is not on the historical register, so there’s technically nothing stopping a buyer from tearing it down, though Mazzone Sr doubts the village would allow it, calling the house “really like the logo of the village.”
The roughly three-acre listing includes a 22-room inn and comes with entitlements for a previously approved 95-unit apartment complex, which Mazzone Sr had considered developing himself before deciding a month ago to sell instead. Dave Bigler
An aerial view of the entire three-acre property. Dave Bigler
The sale also comes with a sweetener: entitlements for a previously approved 95-unit apartment complex with a ground-floor restaurant.
Mazzone Sr had planned to develop it himself before changing course a month ago and deciding to sell instead.
“If somebody was to purchase this and keep the historical house, it has been granted that we have some very strong entitlements that we would sell if somebody does want to develop and keep the original house,” Lawrence said.
For Mazzone Sr, the hope is simple.
“I just hope they keep the old building. I just hope they preserve the old building the way we did.”
