Bard 27 Site and Maps Gallery

Robert Donaldson built the Sands House in 1841 for Robert Adam, a close nephew who managed the farm of the adjacent Blithewood estate.  The structure copied the style of Blithewood Gardener’s Lodge, the first Gothic Revival cottage in America, designed by architect A.J. Davis in 1836.  After the Donaldson family moved to nearby Barrytown in the mid-1850s, Charles E. Sands bought the house from St. Stephens (Bard) College. 

Charles Sands lived at the house until ca. 1885.  The 1870 census lists other occupants as his wife, Nellie, their children, George and Anna, and three domestic servants from Ireland, two of whom were sisters.  Charles was a notable in the community and served as Town Supervisor.  Many of the items discarded in the privy reflect entertaining at meals.  The privy appears to have been filled around the time of the Sands family’s departure.  The house was occupied through the 20th Century, first by staff of the Zabriskie estate at Blithewood, then by Bard employees, and finally by students.