The Isaac Dyckman Vermilye House is a private residence located in the Bedford Road Historic District in the hamlet of Armonk, NY. The two and one-half story building was originally constructed ca.1850 to serve as a parsonage for St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, which is located on a neighboring parcel. Isaac Dyckman Vermilye, the second rector of St. Stephen’s, acquired the property, which was passed on to his widow, Josephine. It has remained in use as a private home and is considered the most imposing residence in the district. The house features a gable roof, two exterior brick chimneys, six-over-six windows, three-light casement windows, and a Greek Revival half-round main façade entrance porch. There is also a contributing outbuilding located on the property. The Bedford Road Historic District, including the Isaac Dyckman Vermilye House/Former St. Stephen’s Parsonage, was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985.

Within a decade after the 1842 St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church was built in the hamlet of Armonk, work began on the construction of a church parsonage. Also referred to as the rectory, the parsonage was erected on a neighboring parcel of about thirteen acres that had been purchased from the estate of Elisha Sutton in February of 1850 and then divided into multiple lots. The first rector of St. Stephen’s, Robert William Harris, lived in the parsonage for the first few years. Reverend Harris had also served at Grace Church in White Plains before his congregational oversight was expanded to include that of Armonk’s St. Stephen’s community. 

In April 1853, Reverend Harris resigned his duties as rector of St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church. Isaac Dyckman Vermilye, who had been serving as assistant rector, then assumed leadership of the congregation. Reverend Vermilye moved into the parsonage that same year, a building which he would own by the time of his death, in 1864. In 1865, ownership passed to Reverend Vermilye’s widow, Josephine, and she lived there for at least another twenty years. She also operated the seminary at St. Stephen’s. 

Since Josephine’s passing, the former parsonage at Number 40 Bedford Road in the Bedford Road Historic District has remained in use as a residence to this day. Two and one-half stories tall with a central entry and five-bay facade, the house embodies the characteristics of the Greek Revival period, especially in its distinctive entrance, which uses the popular post and lintel motif of Greek architecture to outline the doorway sidelights and transom. The two and one-half story scale is unusual in rural areas and is emphasized by stylish windows in the frieze. Overall, the building exhibits a restraint in scale and ornamentation typical of earlier Georgian architectural traditions.

The Bedford Road Historic District, including the, was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985.

Information and photos for this entry were contributed by the North Castle Historical Society. Special thanks to Sharon Tomback, North Castle Town Historian.

1. “Bedford Road Historic District #85002903.” National Register of Historic Places. United States Department of the Interior/National Park Service. 1985. https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75322951
2. North Castle Historical Society website. Accessed November 2022. https://www.northcastlehistoricalsociety.org/
3. Tomback, Sharon and the North Castle Historical Society. Images of America: North Castle. Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing. 2017.
4. Town of North Castle website. Accessed November 2022. https://www.northcastleny.com/planning/pages/historical-society-documents