Renovations Continue at North Salem's Delancey Hall

NORTH SALEM, N.Y. - What started out as a fairly routine exterior paint job at North Salem’s historic Delancey Hall in 2023 has now morphed into a substantial renovation project.

The circa-1760s Georgian-style building houses the town’s offices.

It has undergone restoration work numerous times over the last 200 years.

When re-painted in 2007, all of its siding was caulked shut.

That and the lack of a vapor barrier or sheathing in certain places caused humidity from the building’s interior to make its way to the cold exterior, where it accumulated and accelerated the siding’s deterioration.

(Sheathing is a protective layer of material installed over a house’s framing. It provides structural support, insulation, and weather protection.)

The damage wasn’t immediately evident from the outside because multiple layers of paint had “covered up a lot of sins,” Supervisor Warren Lucas explained.

As soon as the painting contractors started scraping, they discovered that there was a much bigger problem – many of the siding boards were rotted beyond repair.

On the recommendation of town historian Susan Thompson, the Town Board called in preservation architect Bob Gabalski of Lothrup Associates. (Also on the team was Billy Nikolaou of the Tundra Contracting Group.)

It came to the conclusion that it would be better in the long run -- and probably not that much more expensive -- to replace all the siding up to the bottom of the second-story windows on the front of the building instead of patching things up here and there. (It’s interesting to note that bricks had been used in certain places for insulation, which was a common practice in the 1800s, and that much of the siding was put on with hand-forged nails.)

Once that work got underway, it was discovered that one of the weight-bearing chestnut posts and the white oak building sill, which rests atop a granite foundation, were also in need of repair.

Lucas said the building’s upstairs had been remodeled into one big room for use as a library and court room in the 1930s.

During the process, interior posts were removed and the roof was trussed “shifting the weigh to the exterior walls making the health of those posts critical,” he said.

“Chestnut posts, a wood that isn’t available in the Americas anymore, were the ultimate wood for longevity,” Lucas noted, adding that the older, original part of the building had no sheathing or vapor barrier.

The town called in Andrew Angelilli, a structural stability expert from Plan B Engineering, to assess the situation.

The final cost of the project has yet to be determined.

Meanwhile, the renovations have forced the temporary relocation of the town clerk’s office from 266 Titicus Road (Route 116) to the Town Meeting Hall/Court at 66 June Road. (The office is open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekdays.)

If folks need to reach the town clerk, they can call (914) 669-5577 and leave a message.

“We will be checking our messages on a regular basis. Thank you for your patience was we await the renovation of Delancey Hall!” town clerk Maria Hlushko and deputy town clerk Andrea Ekizian said in a post on the town’s website, www.northsalemny.gov.

Once the posts are repaired and the building is shored up, sheathing that didn’t exist previously, and a special vapor barrier will be installed. New cedar siding will be primed, attached with stainless steel nails, and painted.

“Let’s hope this lasts another 100 years,” Lucas said wishfully.

Historical Significance 

British loyalist Stephen Delancey started building his manor home in Salem Center sometime in the late 1760s.
It had two rooms on either side of a central hall, and four bedrooms on the second floor, according to the Historic Preservation Commission’s book “Historic Landmarks of North Salem.”

Its Palladian window above the front entrance, carved keystone, and picturesque cornice with modillions were typical Georgian embellishments. The belfry houses a bell made by Ziba Blakeslee, a Newtown, Conn. clockmaker, silversmith, and bellfounder.

According to the HPC, Delancey wed Hannah Sackett, a staunch Patriot, in 1767.

In 1776, he was forced to flee behind British lines. A year later, he sold the home to a friend in order to protect it from confiscation. Two years after that, Hannah divorced him.

In the fall of 1782, French soldiers camped nearby and Gen. Rochambeau and his officers likely stayed in the nice-warm house, the HPC said.

In 1787, it was purchased by area residents and turned into Westchester County’s first academy and the state’s third.

Many notables were educated there.

According to historical sources, famous graduates included DeWitt Clinton, a U.S. senator and New York City mayor; Daniel D. Tompkins, a governor of New York and vice president under President James Monroe; and Ogden Darius Mills, a successful entrepreneur during the California Gold Rush.

Many additions were made in the 1800s, including seven dormers.

The academy lasted 90 plus years until declining enrollment and the building’s deterioration forced its closure.

In 1885, the building’s title was transferred to the town, which turned it into Town Hall.

The first governmental meeting there was held in 1904. Electricity wasn’t installed until the mid-1920s. A public library operated out of the building from the early 1930s to 1980.

The dormers, front porch, and outside stairs were removed in the 1950s, the HPC said.

Delancey Hall was fully restored in the 1980s through the generosity of the Ronald Stanton Foundation and furnished using funds from the North Salem Bicentennial Committee.

Roof replacements and repairs were made in 2002 and 2016, the HPC said.

Delancey Hall, recognized for the town’s place on the Washington-Rochambeau Revolutionary Route, made it onto The National Register of Historic Places in 1980.