Renovated Zwaanendael Club holds open house

A grand reopening for the Zwaanendael Club was held Oct. 25, exactly 126 years to the day since the building first opened as a bank.

The historic building at 302 Savannah Road in Lewes is now the Sussex County headquarters for the Delaware Community Foundation.

DCF is a nonprofit with a mission to improve Delaware through community-based philanthropy.

It purchased the property from the Lewes Historical Society last year.

Mike DiPaolo, DCF vice president for Southern Delaware, said they restored the building to its former glory.

“We retained all the original windows along Third Street. We fixed the stained glass. We elevated the ceiling back to its original height,” DiPaolo said.

The club building is three rooms: a main room inside the door, a small kitchen and a restroom in the back.

The exterior of the building has not been changed.

DCF did win approval from the Lewes Historic Preservation Architectural Review Commission to renovate the 528-square-foot back patio, where DiPaolo said the foundation might hold outdoor events.

Lewes in Bloom tends to the flower beds surrounding the property.

Besides serving as the Sussex Trust Title and Safe Deposit Company, the club building has also been used as a store and a lending library.

LHS had been using the building as an antiques shop before moving that store to its Shipcarpenter campus in the spring.

DCF officials have said the space will be used as their living room in Lewes.

“We want it to be a warm, inviting place, a beautiful continuation on the streetscape,” DiPaolo said. “We’ll hold meetings with people who want to work with us and be part of this vibrant community.”