Dobbs Ferry, NY

Located in Dobbs Ferry’s village center, the studio of Stephen Tilly, Architect emerged as the adaptive re-use of a collection of 19th and early 20th century buildings. It was once the site of a farmhouse and three barns, one of which later housed a blacksmith’s shop.

In 1914, the buildings were transformed into the village’s first movie house, the Washington Theatre, where audiences flocked to enjoy silent films. That theater, with the addition of a concrete block stage, morphed into the Dobbs Ferry Playhouse, where Ethel Barrymore performed onstage before a packed house.

A moving company took over the space in the late 1950s and used it as their headquarters and warehouse. After thirty years, the interior had fallen into decay, but the shell was structurally sound. New owner Steve Tilly and his team embarked on a major restoration/renovation project that included the addition of a belvedere, offering views of the Hudson River over village rooftops. By 1988, the space had been reclaimed as the home of STA.