Delaware View House

Time and materials. That's about all George Kately owes the US Government to lease the historic building that sits proudly on a bluff overlooking Flatbrookville, NJ and the Walpack Bend of the Delaware River. Actually he owes $1 for each of his 40 years of contract. Plus lots of time and materials.

From the wrap-around porch of the Delaware View House you can see clear across the valley just about to Bushkill, PA. The building is one of a few hundred still standing in the wake of the abandoned Tocks Island dam project of the mid 60s, the misadventure that resulted in condemnation and destruction of thousands of residences in the valley and, the silver lining, the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area. But the 70,000 acre park, Elysian Fields for millions of visitors each year, remains dotted with decaying, falling structures, all of which are listed or eligible for the National Register of Historic Places.

The Historic Leasing Program was invented in the 1980s to supplement the anemic funding availed to the Park Service by attracting private investors to occupy and rehabilitate endangered historic structures. Mr. Katley, an electrical contractor from Sparta, has agreed to renovate the building at his own expense, in return for his long-term lease. By creating the only general store in the park, Kately provides a service to park visitors, and no more tax dollars go towards propping up this old house. Funny thing is, so far, George Kately is the only one who has taken the Park up on their offer. Probably cause there's not enough money in it.

The original Greek Revival farmhouse- 2 rooms up, 2 rooms down- was built in 1837. In 1892 a 2 1/2 story addition was built around the house to become a lodge called the Flatbrook Hotel. Sometime in the early 1900s it became known as the Delaware View House until 1926 when the building became known as Salamovka, a resort for Russian emigres. Kately knows this history all too well, having explored the structure sills to rafters. He removed the battered sheetrock on one wall of the original house and revealed a spiral staircase tucked beside the original handpainted fireplace.

Kately started his negotiations in 1987 and got a final lease in Dec. 1991. It took him till last year to open the General Store. You can buy candy, soda, film, toilet paper if you're camping, but it's certainly not the kind of business that going to bring in big bucks. Kately says "A fair amount come through on the weekend. Weekdays are dead. I don't know why the park is dead during the week. It's beautiful up here." It's the beauty-- that view-- that brought him here. And what's going to keep him here. "There's lots more to do. The original rooms will be restored for visitor walk throughs. The park has certain requirements, like, I had to find real 2x4s for the porch railing." Anyway, there's plenty of time. "My lease ends in 2030; I'll be 88. I told them I'd be ready to renew."

People from all over the world have stopped in; from 25 countries (and 15 states). People come back to see how things are going. They get a soda or a hot dog and sit on the porch for a while. Then most of them follow George's directions up the hill to Skyline Drive from where you can see New York City on a clear day and on to Crater Lake for a swim.

To get to Delaware View House enter the DWGNRA from Rt. 80 at Exit 1 and continue on Old Mine Road. The house is about 1 1/2 miles past Millbrook Village on your right. Or from Route 94 in Blairstown via Route 602 to Millbrook Village, then right on Old MIne Road.