10 things you might not know about Loudonville, NY

Written by Team Teakwood on April 29, 2016

Teakwood Builders loves to work in the Capital Region community of Loudonville, New York. With housing stock dating back to the mid-19th century and a wealth of early 20th-century Georgian homes, there are ample opportunities for spectacular renovations and restorations.

Vintage wine casks collected during the owners’ travels were reclaimed and recycled in this one-of-a-kind wine cellar wall treatment in Teakwood Builders' renovation of a Loudonville, NY, basement into a Tuscan wine cellar.

Vintage wine casks collected during the owners’ travels were reclaimed and recycled in this one-of-a-kind wine cellar wall treatment in Teakwood Builders’ renovation of a Loudonville, NY, basement into a Tuscan wine cellar.

We’ve turned basements into Mediterranean wine cellars, completely restored mid-century homes, constructed additions that are respectful of each home’s original architecture and done kitchen and bathroom renovations that bring modern conveniences and design sensibilities to homes with historic gravitas. Along the way, we’ve discovered some interesting facts.

Like Brigadoon and Valhalla, no one knows exactly where Loudonville is. The federal government described boundaries for the hamlet in the 1970, 1980 and 1990 censuses, but stopped bothering in 2000. Generally speaking, Loudonville is north of Albany and south of Newtonville.

Other fun facts about Loudonville:

  • Loudonville’s borders may be vague, but its zoning regs are decidedly unfuzzy. Colonie exercises strict control over commercial development and tree clearing in the hamlet.
  • Loudonville was originally a 19th-century summer resort for some of Albany’s wealthiest residents.
  • Loudonville is named after John Campbell, 4th Earl of Loudoun. Although Campbell was not considered a stellar military leader, one of his aides, John Loudon McAdam, invented a new process called macadamizing for building roads that were more durable and less muddy than soil-based roads.
  •  In 1937, seven friars from St. Bonaventure College set up a satellite campus in a Loudonville house. So many students showed up the first day that classes had to be taught in the stairwell. The site is now Siena College, which has more than 60 buildings on 175 acres in Loudonville.
  • Roger McNamee, billionaire founder of Elevation Partner with U2’s Bono, grew up in Loudonville.
  • The highest in point in the Town of Colonie is on Locust Lane in Loudonville, at 413 feet above sea level.
  • Albany’s airport is the oldest municipal airport in the United States and originally started as an airstrip in Loudonville in 1908.

    Home after Florida Modern renovation by Teakwood Builders, kitchen and bath remodeler, custom home builder and general contractor Saratoga Springs and Capital Region

    NOW

  • Loudonville has nine spots on the National Register for Historic Places, including the Loudon Road Historic District, which includes 20 contributing buildings.
  • The 1927 clubhouse at Schuyler Meadows Club is modeled on the central portion of George Washington’s Mount Vernon home.
  • When grapevines, sumac and heather began to overwhelm a section of the Loudonville Reservoir, goats were sent in to clean it out, to discourage woodchucks and birds from sullying the reservoir’s 212 million gallons of drinking water. A ditch was dug to keep the goats’ own waste high and dry.