The History of Chaffee’s Swimming Pools

 In the spring of 1966, Mary Chaffee embarked on a quest to find an inground swimming pool for her family's enjoyment. At the suggestion of her Aunt Mary, proprietor of one of the area's pioneering gas station convenience stores, Mary sought the expertise of a plumber in Washingtonville, NY. This plumber happened to host a "Pool School," an event Mary attended, ultimately leading to her purchase of a pool kit.  

Her husband, Harold, and father, Charles Nelson, were both handy and had some construction experience so they built the pool with the help of a local excavator, Charles Valkmer. When neighbors were impressed with the work they had done, the Chaffee’s were asked to build a pool for friend after friend and neighbor after neighbor. With the amount of requests they had received, Harold and Mary decided to go into the pool construction business full time. Many of the pools they had built in the 1960s are still in use today! 

The company continued to grow and expand over the next several decades, as did the services that the company could provide. In the late 1990's, the Chaffee's began attending classes in hardscape design and construction, and before long were able to offer a wide variety of different hardscape features for all of the pools they were building.  As spring approached in the year 2000, the Chaffee's Team was able to successfully deliver full-scale transformations to their customers' backyards.  

By 2010 the company had modernized quite a bit. The company started providing digital design to help customers visualize their dreams and plan their projects more accordingly. The company also started entering their pools in construction competitions both regionally and internationally, receiving recognition and awards for excellence in design and construction from the Association of Pool and Spa Professionals (now known as the Pool and Hot Tub Alliance) as well as the Northeast Spa and Pool Association. 

In 2015 the Chaffee's felt that they had outgrown their small construction storage and retail location, so Charlie and his wife Kelly decided to purchase a new parcel of land in Goshen with the hope of one day building a large headquarters for the company. After many years of planning, engineering, zoning, and construction, the building was completed in the spring of 2019. 

Over the last 50 plus years the Chaffee’s have perfected their craft and are on the cutting edge of the Swimming Pool Industry. Harold’s work ethic is still the backbone of the company, and it has become commonplace to hear customers say how impressive the speed and precision of the work is. No detail left out, no desire left unfulfilled, Chaffee’s Swimming Pool's proudly represents Orange and Ulster County, NY as their trusted International and Regional Award Winning family owned and operated Pool Company.