The former Smith Tavern is located on Bedford Road (state highway NY 22), in the hamlet of Armonk, in the state of New York, in the United States of America. One of the few remaining structures in a region that has been increasingly suburbanized over the past century is a red frame structure going back to the late 18th century. Though not built by the Smith family after whom it is named, they were the owners for most of the nineteenth century.

Over the course of its existence, it has served a variety of functions, the majority of which were critical to the growth of the town of North Castle. While the Revolutionary War was raging, it was used as a headquarters for the militia in the area. A common overnight stop for stagecoaches traveling between New York City and Danbury, Connecticut, it was located here. Later on, it housed the post office as well as the offices of the town administrator.

It was briefly held by Yale University, and it also served as a parsonage for a nearby church. It was significantly remodeled by two owners, one of whom removed an expansion that had been added by the other. It was designated as the town’s historical museum in 1977, and it was added to the National Register of Historic Places six years later.

It is situated on a 2-acre (0.81 ha) parcel of land on the north side of Route 22, a north-south route that, at this point, is more east-west than north-south, and which parallels the Connecticut state boundary to the north. It is located in a residential neighborhood with big and primarily forested properties about a half-mile north along the highway from a commercial area between the junctions with Byram Lake Road and NY 433, about a half-mile north along the highway from a commercial area. A church can be found to the northeast.

The building is separated from the road by a small fieldstone wall. Built in three pieces on a stone base, it has clapboard siding and a stone foundation. The main one is five by two bays on the south (front) elevation and four in the rear, its two stories topped with a gabled roof shingled in asphalt and pierced by a single brick chimney. On the northeast, the wing that includes the original house is two by two bays and two stories high with a shallow pitched hipped roof. In order to make room for a garage, it has been extended to the northwest.

The building’s ornamentation is kept to a bare minimum. At the roofline, there is a modest cornice and returns to finish the look off. The sills and lintels of the windows are made of basic wood. At the center of the first story, the main entrance is a double door with glass transom. The rear entrance is off-center.

On the inside the largest rooms on each story are in the southwest section. The meeting room on the first floor has a fireplace, paneling and wide floorboards, both in pine and all original. Other rooms on the floor have their original flooring and late 19th century wallpaper. In the master bedroom above it, museum collection items like tools and toys are displayed. The other bedrooms also have similar decor to their downstairs counterparts.

Cranberry Lake Preserve

House Painter Today of Armonk