Hawkwood Mansion

Hawkwood Mansion. The Early Years. , The foundation at which you are now standing was probably built in the 1790's as the basis for a mansion owned by Henry Walton. We have no pictures of the original building but can assume it looked somewhat like this picture from the late 1800's. Walton decided to build his mansion here in Ballston rather than in Saratoga where other mansions were then being built., The front steps to the house are still clearly visible here and one can imagine walking up the steps and then entering into the large receiving hall as an invited guest., The bricks scattered about in the foundation are probably the remains of the many fireplaces that heated the house., Notice the somewhat rounded section of windows to the right of the entry, and, by following the outline of the foundation there, you can see where the windows were located., If you walked into the park from the parking lot, you travelled the path on which residents and guests came into the house for many years, the carriage path, as shown in the picture. At the height of the mansion's life, Teddy Roosevelt, at the time the Governor of New York, came to visit the Guy Baker family who lived here. And before that. temperance leaders would probably have come to the Delavan home in the country to discuss their political motives.