Franklin · build cost

What it costs to build a house in Franklin, NY

A standard-finish house in Franklin runs about $191–250/sq ft all in, which on a 1,800 sq ft build works out to roughly $345k–450k with general-contractor margin already in it. The part people leave out is what you pay before that, because the smallest conforming residential lot in the Town of Franklin is 10 acres and vacant land here carries a median assessed value of $3,894 an acre, so the dirt alone is around $38,940 and the whole thing lands near $380k–490k. What the code will let you put on that lot is rarely the binding constraint, since even Public Water Supply District — THE MOST RESTRICTIVE DISTRICT IN THE TOWN, AND THE ONE MOST LIKELY TO BE MISSED because it is defined by a radius rather than by a mapped block: § 408A includes all lands WITHIN A 500-FOOT RADIUS OF THE PUBLIC WATER SUPPLY WELLS AND SPRINGS for the Village of Franklin and the hamlet of Treadwell. The stated rationale is the wellhead cone of depression — contamination entering groundwater within it is certain to reach the pumping well — so the restrictions are about water, not density. Everything, including a single-family dwelling, is a SPECIAL PERMIT use — one one- or two-family dwelling per lot, one mobile home per lot, agricultural practices, forest management, wildlife management practices, public utilities and facilities, public parks and recreation facilities, and the accessory uses listed for the Rural I district, all only by special permit from the Planning Board. Minimum lot size 10 ACRES, twice Rural V's; minimum frontage 300 ft; maximum height 35 ft; side and rear setbacks 30 ft; maximum lot coverage 10%, the tightest in the town; maximum lot depth-to-width ratio 4:1. NOTE THE FRONT SETBACK IS THE ONE DISTRICT MEASURED FROM THE RIGHT-OF-WAY RATHER THAN THE CENTRE LINE: § 408F(4) states 200 FEET FROM RIGHT-OF-WAY, so 200 is recorded directly with no conversion, and it is by far the deepest front setback in the town. READ THE COVERAGE BASIS: § 202 defines LOT COVERAGE as the proportion of lot area covered by IMPERVIOUS SURFACE INCLUDING BUILDINGS AND OFF-STREET PARKING AREAS, so this percentage is an impervious cap and not a building-footprint cap. On a rural lot the driveway and parking consume a real share of it. Franklin is the third Delaware town found with this definition, after Delhi and Sidney — in this county, assume impervious unless the code says otherwise., the tightest residential district here, allows a building footprint of roughly 43,560 sq ft on a conforming lot, which is more house than the budget above actually buys. The figures below come out of the same cost engine Aldo uses to price a real parcel, broken out by system and by what a harder site adds, so you can see where the money actually goes.

Land plus build: the real number in Franklin

Build cost is the half everyone quotes. The other half is the lot, and in the Town of Franklin the code will not let you build on less than 10 acres in its most permissive residential district, so that is the smallest ticket into the town.

Land is roughly 9% of that total in Franklin. The per-acre figure is the median assessed full market value of vacant residential land across 491 priced parcels here, which is a proxy for what dirt is worth and not an asking price - road-frontage lots that are ready to build on trade above it, and back land without access trades below.

Cost per square foot by finish level

All in, general-contractor margin included, for a slab-on-grade build on a flat and clear lot. The rate holds steady whether you build 1,200 or 2,500 sq ft, which is why the finish level moves a budget more than the size does.

Where the money goes

A standard-finish build at Delaware County pricing, broken out by trade as dollars per square foot. Foundation and site work here are the slab and flat-lot baseline, so a harder site stacks on top of them.

What moves the number

The baseline assumes the easy case. Each of these stacks on top, per square foot, at Delaware County pricing:

• Crawlspace instead of slab+$12–18/sq ft
• Full basement instead of slab+$29–46/sq ft
• Moderately sloped or wooded lot+$8.2–15/sq ft
• Steep or ledge-rock site+$20–41/sq ft
• Winter foundation & site work+$2.7–3.8/sq ft

Whole-project totals

Standard finish, slab on a flat lot, all in and before land. A harder site or a higher finish moves these up.

How much house Franklin actually lets you build

Every residential district caps how much of the lot the building can cover. Multiply that cap by the district's minimum lot size and you get the largest footprint the code permits on a conforming lot in the Town of Franklin, which runs from about 43,560 sq ft in Public Water Supply District — THE MOST RESTRICTIVE DISTRICT IN THE TOWN, AND THE ONE MOST LIKELY TO BE MISSED because it is defined by a radius rather than by a mapped block: § 408A includes all lands WITHIN A 500-FOOT RADIUS OF THE PUBLIC WATER SUPPLY WELLS AND SPRINGS for the Village of Franklin and the hamlet of Treadwell. The stated rationale is the wellhead cone of depression — contamination entering groundwater within it is certain to reach the pumping well — so the restrictions are about water, not density. Everything, including a single-family dwelling, is a SPECIAL PERMIT use — one one- or two-family dwelling per lot, one mobile home per lot, agricultural practices, forest management, wildlife management practices, public utilities and facilities, public parks and recreation facilities, and the accessory uses listed for the Rural I district, all only by special permit from the Planning Board. Minimum lot size 10 ACRES, twice Rural V's; minimum frontage 300 ft; maximum height 35 ft; side and rear setbacks 30 ft; maximum lot coverage 10%, the tightest in the town; maximum lot depth-to-width ratio 4:1. NOTE THE FRONT SETBACK IS THE ONE DISTRICT MEASURED FROM THE RIGHT-OF-WAY RATHER THAN THE CENTRE LINE: § 408F(4) states 200 FEET FROM RIGHT-OF-WAY, so 200 is recorded directly with no conversion, and it is by far the deepest front setback in the town. READ THE COVERAGE BASIS: § 202 defines LOT COVERAGE as the proportion of lot area covered by IMPERVIOUS SURFACE INCLUDING BUILDINGS AND OFF-STREET PARKING AREAS, so this percentage is an impervious cap and not a building-footprint cap. On a rural lot the driveway and parking consume a real share of it. Franklin is the third Delaware town found with this definition, after Delhi and Sidney — in this county, assume impervious unless the code says otherwise. to 43,560 sq ft in Public Water Supply District — THE MOST RESTRICTIVE DISTRICT IN THE TOWN, AND THE ONE MOST LIKELY TO BE MISSED because it is defined by a radius rather than by a mapped block: § 408A includes all lands WITHIN A 500-FOOT RADIUS OF THE PUBLIC WATER SUPPLY WELLS AND SPRINGS for the Village of Franklin and the hamlet of Treadwell. The stated rationale is the wellhead cone of depression — contamination entering groundwater within it is certain to reach the pumping well — so the restrictions are about water, not density. Everything, including a single-family dwelling, is a SPECIAL PERMIT use — one one- or two-family dwelling per lot, one mobile home per lot, agricultural practices, forest management, wildlife management practices, public utilities and facilities, public parks and recreation facilities, and the accessory uses listed for the Rural I district, all only by special permit from the Planning Board. Minimum lot size 10 ACRES, twice Rural V's; minimum frontage 300 ft; maximum height 35 ft; side and rear setbacks 30 ft; maximum lot coverage 10%, the tightest in the town; maximum lot depth-to-width ratio 4:1. NOTE THE FRONT SETBACK IS THE ONE DISTRICT MEASURED FROM THE RIGHT-OF-WAY RATHER THAN THE CENTRE LINE: § 408F(4) states 200 FEET FROM RIGHT-OF-WAY, so 200 is recorded directly with no conversion, and it is by far the deepest front setback in the town. READ THE COVERAGE BASIS: § 202 defines LOT COVERAGE as the proportion of lot area covered by IMPERVIOUS SURFACE INCLUDING BUILDINGS AND OFF-STREET PARKING AREAS, so this percentage is an impervious cap and not a building-footprint cap. On a rural lot the driveway and parking consume a real share of it. Franklin is the third Delaware town found with this definition, after Delhi and Sidney — in this county, assume impervious unless the code says otherwise.. Worth checking before you assume zoning is what is limiting the house, because in most districts it is the budget that runs out first.

Footprint is the ground-floor building area, so a second storey buys floor area this number does not constrain, subject to the height limit. Some municipalities write their coverage cap as impervious surface rather than building coverage, which counts the driveway, walks and patio against the same budget and leaves less of it for the house - check which one your district uses before you design to it.

Local rules that move a build budget in Franklin

• Short-term rentalsShort-term rentals allowed with local rules. Short-term rentals are REGULATED under a full permit regime — Local Law No. 3 of 2024, the "Transient and Short-Term Residential Rentals Local Law", which is a standalone instrument and NOT part of the zoning ordinance. It defines a short-term residential rental as a property used as a short-term transient rental UNDER 30 DAYS, whether unoccupied by the owner or occupied by both owner and a transient guest, so hosted stays are caught as well as whole-house rentals. THE PERMIT IS ANNUAL AND INSPECTION-GATED: the owner requests an inspection from the Office of Code Enforcement, and on passing it and paying the annual fee the Code Enforcement Officer issues the permit. The rental registry year runs 1 January to 31 December and the permit expires each 31 December. A SEPARATE APPLICATION, FEE AND PERMIT IS REQUIRED FOR EACH DWELLING UNIT. THE COUNTY TAX HOOK IS THE PART MOST LIKELY TO CATCH AN OUT-OF-AREA BUYER: no permit issues without proof of registration with DELAWARE COUNTY for collecting the occupancy tax, or proof on county letterhead that the property is exempt — and no RENEWAL issues without proof that all occupancy taxes owed to the county have been paid. OCCUPANCY IS CAPPED AT TWO PERSONS OVER THE AGE OF TWO PER BEDROOM for the entire premises, and the Code Enforcement Office may cut that further based on the number, size, configuration and furnishings of the sleeping rooms. THE 30-MILE RULE SHAPES REMOTE OWNERSHIP: a LOCAL MANAGER responsible for day-to-day operation must be contactable day or night and MUST RESIDE WITHIN 30 MILES of the unit; an owner whose primary residence is further than 30 miles away is a "non-resident owner" and must designate one. A local agent must be able to ARRIVE IN PERSON WITHIN 60 MINUTES of being notified of an emergency. For a non-resident owner the designation also confers criminal jurisdiction: service of an appearance ticket on the local manager as agent is good service on the owner as if served personally within Delaware County. OTHER OPERATING TERMS: on-site parking is mandatory and street parking is prohibited, with spaces at least 10 by 20 ft and no RV or camping-unit parking during the permit period; a 911 location sign must be posted clearly at the end of the driveway; proof of liability insurance and a bed tax identification number are required; house rules must be submitted and must carry emergency-service and local-manager contacts; the permit must be displayed inside the unit and an emergency contact card posted on the inside of the front or main door; records of rental dates and guest numbers must be kept and produced to the Code Enforcement Officer on request; property boundaries must be clearly delineated; and the permit may not be assigned, sold or transferred without prior written notice to the Code Enforcement Officer. Renewal requires either an affidavit that nothing about the unit has changed or an amendment setting out what did. A gap year resets you to initial-applicant status. THE FEE IS NOT IN THE LAW — it is set by Town Board resolution and changes from time to time, so ask the Town Clerk for the current figure before underwriting. 2 of 2024 "Vacation Campground", which is a separate instrument and likely governs a different transient-lodging form on the same land.
• Districts mapped6 zoning districts in the Town of Franklin.
• Zoning last reviewed2026-08-24

Building an accessory unit instead?

An 800 sq ft ADU in Franklin runs about $185k–245k, and the per-square-foot rate is higher than a full house because the kitchen, bath, panel and heating plant cost the same either way. See what it costs to build an ADU in Franklin, priced by size.

Cost to build in nearby towns

All Delaware County towns: Andes · Delhi · Middletown · Sidney · Walton · Delhi (Village) · Hancock (Village) · Sidney (Village) · Walton (Village)

More on Franklin: Zoning for new construction · ADU rules · Delaware County build cost

Cost to build in Franklin: common questions

Construction figures are modeled estimates from Offsite's cost engine in current 2026 dollars, general-contractor margin included, using the Delaware County regional index. They are planning numbers for decision-support only - not a bid, quote, or guarantee, and not architectural or engineering advice. Zoning figures for the Town of Franklin come from the municipal code (last reviewed 2026-08-24) and can carry district exceptions and overlays this page does not show. Actual cost depends on the specific parcel, design, site conditions and market at the time you build; verify with the municipality and get a real estimate before you commit. Sources: Offsite / Aldo cost engine (costEngine.js + constants.js); zoning dataset (municipalData.js) ; NYS statewide tax-parcel layer, vacant residential full market value per acre.