Lambert Castle, originally called Belle Vista, is located within the

Garret Mountain Reservation Garret Mountain Reservation (also spelled Garrett) is a park located on First Watchung Mountain (Garret Mountain) in Paterson and Woodland Park (formerly West Paterson) in southern Passaic County, New Jersey. In 1967, it was designated a Natio ...

in Paterson, Passaic County,

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

. The building was built in 1892 and was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

on June 3, 1976, for its significance in art, architecture, and industry. With

History

Lambert Castle was built in 1892 as the home of Catholina Lambert, the owner of a prominent silk mill in the City of Paterson. Constructed in the

Medieval Revival Medievalism is a system of belief and practice inspired by the Middle Ages of Europe, or by devotion to elements of that period, which have been expressed in areas such as architecture, literature, music, art, philosophy, scholarship, and variou ...

architectural style, Mr. Lambert's dream was to build a home reminiscent of the castles in

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It i ...

that he remembered from his boyhood years. President

William McKinley William McKinley (January 29, 1843September 14, 1901) was the 25th president of the United States, serving from 1897 until his assassination in 1901. As a politician he led a realignment that made his Republican Party largely dominant in ...

and Vice President

Garret Hobart Garret Augustus Hobart (June 3, 1844 – November 21, 1899) was the 24th Vice President of the United States, serving from 1897 until his death in 1899. He was the sixth American vice president to die in office. Prior to serving as vice pre ...

visited the castle in 1898. In June 1910, filmmaker D. W. Griffith shot ''The Call To Arms'' on the grounds. The film was released in July 1910. The cast included Mary Pickford (in her only male role) and Henry B. Walthall. Film Preservation Society, Inc. is currently restoring the film as part of The Biograph Project.''When The Movies Were Young'', Linda Arvidson, January 1, 1925 After Lambert's death in 1923, his family sold the building to the City of Paterson, which in turn sold it to Passaic County a few years later. Passaic County used the building for administrative offices, and in 1936, provided one room to the fledgling Passaic County Historical Society to serve as its historical museum. As time went by the museum grew, room by room, until the entire first floor became the historical museum. In the late 1990s, the Castle underwent a multimillion-dollar restoration and all four floors of the building were developed into a museum and library.http://www.lambertcastle.com/lambert_castle_story.htm Accessed April 29, 2010.

Construction

Construction began on the castle in 1891. The castle was built on the side of the First Watchung Mountain out of sandstone and granite. The sandstone was quarried from the surrounding hills. The initial construction cost was estimated at a half a million dollars. In 1896, an art gallery was added to the castle and a 70-foot observation tower was constructed on the crest of the cliff. The gallery wing fell into disrepair and was demolished in 1936. The observation tower was open to the public until the late 1960s when it was closed due to disrepair. In 2014 the Garret Rock Observation tower renovations were completed and the observation tower was reopened to the public. Admission to the tower is free with panoramic views available from the top.

Gallery

File:Lambert Castle, Paterson, NJ - entrance lions.jpg, Marble lion statues by the entrance File:Lambert Tower, Garret Mountain Reservation, NJ.jpg, Lambert Tower on the mountain crest

References

6.In the Beauty of the Lilies, page 1. John Updike, 1996.

External links

Lambert Castle Museum
- official site {{NRHP in Passaic County, New Jersey Buildings and structures in Paterson, New Jersey Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in New Jersey Houses completed in 1892 Houses in Passaic County, New Jersey Historic house museums in New Jersey Museums in Passaic County, New Jersey Watchung Mountains National Register of Historic Places in Passaic County, New Jersey Stone houses in New Jersey New Jersey Register of Historic Places 1892 establishments in New Jersey

History

Construction

Gallery

See also

References

External links