Pole barns and barndominiums in Odessa, Delaware.
Building in Odessa.
Before it was Odessa, this was Cantwell’s Bridge, an agricultural port that shipped grain down the Appoquinimink Creek to the Delaware Bay through the 1700s and 1800s. Much of the small town is now a National Register historic district, listed in 1971, and its landmarks include the Corbit-Sharp House and the Appoquinimink Friends Meetinghouse. Only 366 people live here, and the Town takes the look of every new building seriously.
Post-frame construction still works in a town like this. The posts and trusses carry the structure, and the outside can take wood clapboard or cementitious siding under a standing-seam steel roof, finishes the Town’s design standards list. Our Dover office is about 24 miles away, roughly 32 minutes by car, so meeting on site to settle siding and roof pitch is easy.
- County
- New Castle County, Delaware
- Population
- 366 (2020 Census)
- ZIP code
- 19730
- From our office
- About 32 minutes (24 miles) by car
- Permits
- Town of Odessa Town Office
- Main roads
- DE 1, US 13, DE 299
Permits and rules in Odessa.
Start at the Town of Odessa Town Office, 315 Main Street, (302) 378-2510. It is open Monday, Tuesday and Thursday from 9 a.m. to noon and takes cash or check only. A Zoning Compliance Form ($65) goes to the Zoning Administrator for approval, then the Town submits the building permit to 1st State Inspection Agency, which handles all building, plumbing, electrical and HVAC inspections in town limits. Odessa follows the 2018 International Building, Residential and Mechanical Codes. Contractors need no Odessa business license, though the Town may ask for a copy of the state license.
Properties in the Historic District, and new construction on a vacant lot anywhere in town, go before the Historic Commission, which reviews new structures, additions, siding changes and any exterior change visible from the street. Accessory buildings belong in the rear yard, at least 5 feet from rear and side lot lines and 10 feet from the house or any other outbuilding. In the R-1 district, accessory buildings can be 25 feet tall, and lot coverage is capped at 35%.
Who issues the permit
Town of Odessa Town Office
- Address
- 315 Main Street, Odessa, DE 19730 (mail: P.O. Box 111, Odessa, DE 19730)
- Phone
- (302) 378-2510
- Website
- Permit information(opens in a new tab)
Where this comes from
- odessa.delaware.gov (opens in a new tab)
- odessa.delaware.gov (opens in a new tab)
- odessa.delaware.gov (opens in a new tab)
Permit details checked October 2026. Rules change, so we confirm the current requirements for your parcel before anything is drawn.
What people build around Odessa.
Odessa’s design standards treat garages, workshops and storage sheds as outbuildings that should match the house, with the same materials and similar detail, though one set back from a street frontage can be plainer. That rules out very little about the frame and a lot about the finish. A carriage-house garage with clapboard siding, a 10:12 standing-seam steel roof and a workshop inside is the kind of building that fits here.
Odessa questions.
Have a question about your property? Call 302-399-4420 and we’ll look it up.
Do I need a permit for a garage in Odessa?
Yes. File a Zoning Compliance Form ($65) for the Zoning Administrator, then the building permit, which the Town submits to 1st State Inspection Agency for inspections. Historic District lots and vacant-lot construction also go to the Historic Commission. The Town Office is at 315 Main Street, (302) 378-2510, and accepts cash or check.
Can a metal pole barn work in Odessa?
The frame can; the walls are the question. Odessa’s design standards list cedar shingle, wood clapboard or beaded siding, cementitious siding and brick for walls, and standing-seam steel, copper or cedar shakes for roofs, with gable or hip roofs pitched 9:12 to 14:12. Other materials need the Town’s approved list or Historic Commission approval.
How long is the drive from Dover to Odessa?
Plan on roughly 32 minutes for the 24 miles from our office, with DE 1, US 13 and DE 299 all serving the town. That is close enough for the extra design meetings a historic-district garage can take.
Let’s plan your building in Odessa.
Tell us what you’d like to build and where, and we’ll come back with drawings and a free quote.
- info@pbuincde.com
- Office
- 575 N Dupont Hwy, Dover, DE 19901 (opens Google Maps in a new tab)
- Hours
- Mon to Fri, 8:00 am to 4:30 pm
- We build in
- Odessa and all of New Castle County