Lacy-Van Vleet House

Located at 49 West Main Street is the Lacy-Van Vleet House, which now serves as the Candlelight Inn Bed & Breakfast. The construction of this handsome residence, initiated in 1828 and completed in 1845, is a symbol of Dryden’s increasing prosperity during the first half of the nineteenth century. Daniel D. Page, the original owner, was one of two physicians in the village at the time. John C. Lacy, the property’s namesake, was the most significant individual to reside here. John was born to Benjamin Lacy, a Dryden pioneer, in 1808. His father established the Lacy name within the community with the opening of the Dryden Milling Works and his discovery of the Dryden Mineral Springs. John became wealthy in his own right by working the land on the Lacy homestead with his brothers. He was elected as village president in 1862. John and his wife Isa A. White purchased this property in 1863. Their daughter Ida Belle, who married prominent local lawyer D.F. Van Vleet, inherited the family home following the death of her parents. The house has a traditional Georgian plan and overall massing with Greek Revival-style elements such as broad entablatures, wide corner pilasters, pedimented gables, and Doric porticoes at the front and side entrances. Acroteria, or architectural ornaments, decorate each of the triangular pediments. Iron hitching posts can still be found in front of the house, and a small barn building is located at the rear. The land surrounding the home originally included an apple orchard. The property is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

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