Category: Paterno

“At 21 I had just been graduated as a doctor from Cornell Medical School, when my father died, leaving the support of my mother and several children to my brother and myself.

“Knowing that it would be a long time before I could make enough money out of medicine to support my family, I thought of getting a job. But before I did that my brother and I decided that we would try to finish a building my father had left half completed. So we tackled the job, and much to our surprise we discovered that we know more about building that we realized, and that determined us to make our living through building operations.” – Dr. Charles V. Paterno.

TODAY Dr. Paterno is the record apartment building of New York. He has built around 100 large and many luxurious apartment houses, and about 50,000 people in New York owe their homes to him.

The San Francisco Bulletin 21 August 1924

Click HERE or on the image below to access a 177 page online flip book featuring the Paterno family story and a look book of their 164 Manhattan buildings.

Use the controls at the bottom of the flip book to view at full screen, download for printing, and be sure to click on the embedded links (green or blue text) on the pages for more information.

This flip book will continue to be updated as new information and images become available.

I’m presenting an online webinar about my great grandfather Dr. Charles V. Paterno’s residential castle on Tuesday, December 26, 2023 from 5:30 to 7pm with Q&A to follow. Below are all the details from New York Adventure Club. I hope you’ll join me!

To reserve your spot, please register HERE for $10.

How did Dr. Charles V. Paterno, a 29-year-old living in Manhattan’s Upper West Side, get the sort of money to build a 4-story marble castle in 1907 overlooking the Hudson River? And what sort of lavish lifestyle did he and his family enjoy during its brief 30 year existence? Using rare documentation, historical maps, and extensive photographic evidence, it’s time to explore one of New York’s premier mansions of the Gilded Age like never before.

Join New York Adventure Club as we uncover the complete story behind the Paterno Castle of Washington Heights, from the initial inception, design, and function of the palatial residence to debunking many myths that have long-survived the structure since its demolition in 1938.

Led by Carla Golden, great-granddaughter of Dr. Charles V. Paterno, our virtual deep dive into the magnificent Paterno Castle will include:

• A brief overview of Dr. Paterno and how he made his fortune (hint: it wasn’t from being a practicing physician)
• A discussion of the inspiration behind Dr. Paterno’s luxurious residence in Washington Heights
• A look at features of the castle that reveal the family’s unique lifestyle, from hosting parties on the roof and growing culinary mushrooms in the basement
• The recent discovery and unveiling of never-before-seen blueprints of the massive castle addition
• What castle remnants still remain today after its demolition in 1938
• An evidentiary exploration of long-standing Paterno Castle myths including the number of indoor swimming pools, the report of an underground tunnel entrance from Riverside Drive, and the truth about ‘The Pumpkin House’

Afterward, we’ll have a Q&A with Carla — any and all questions about the Paterno Castle are welcomed and encouraged!

Can’t make it live? Don’t worry, you’ll have access to the full replay for a week!

To reserve your spot, please register HERE for $10.

• TESTIMONIALS FROM PREVIOUS CASTLE PRESENTATIONS •

“I loved the linear presentation of the history of how the castle came to be and its ultimate demise. Made everything so clear. Visuals were excellent.” -Kathryn

“Informative. Interesting. Eye opening” -Thomas

“Everything – the presentation was thorough, well researched and made all the more interesting by the family connection. I really enjoyed the lecture.” -Mary

“Interesting personal information about the Paterno Castle” -Mina

“Thoroughness of the research, solid knowledge base and enthusiasm of the speaker for/about the subject.” -Diane

“I live in the neighborhood and this presentation was very relevant to me.” -John

“Excellent information provided” -Melissa

“The thoroughness of the content and the presentation ,the clarity.” -Robert

“Extremely informative and fun.” -Margo

“What a fabulous journey through one of NYs gilded age treasures. Carla did a remarkable job reconstructing the history based on family memoirs and recollections as well as an impressive visual archive. Thank you so much for hosting this and her previous webinar! I hope there will be more to come.” -Liz

“Lots of research done. I liked that she was a family member.” -Doreen

“I live at Hudson View Gardens. I love learning about nyc. Adds up to much enjoyment this evening.” -Jane

“Historical detail combined with photographic support” -Jacqueline

“Learned something new.” -Donna

“Great presenter who did tremendous research.” -Karen

“Her research into her family and their building was so detailed. She found ways to deduce what she could not currently prove. I hope she finds the blueprints someday soon.” -Guest

“The clear visual presentation of the material. The flow and pace. Quality of research.” -Karen S.

“Lived in the Washington Heights/Inwood area and love learning what used to be and what some of the remnants are from.” -Cindy

“Presenter was very passionate & knowledgeable. Easy to listen to. She did not put me to sleep.” -Christine

“Interesting information about a long-gone building I never knew about, having grown up across the river in NJ.” -Catherine

“I especially liked Carla’s presentation. She is very articulate and shared so much information that she has been researching for some time. It was heartwarming that a great-granddaughter presented the historical information. I look forward to the 3-D look inside the castle.” -Lucy

“Loved that the presenter had a personal connection to the topic.” -Anna

“Her knowledge about the inside of the castle. Great how she was able to hold your interest with her drawings and pictures of the inside.” -Linda

“Very organized. Great photos.” -Renata

“Carla is great and so passionate about her family history. This house was amazing. So much dedication to her research.” -Noelle

La Basilicata nel Mondo (People from Basilicata in the World) was an illustrated monthly magazine produced by Giovanni Riviello in Naples, Italy. It was one of the mostly widely distributed Italian magazines abroad and regularly featured natives from the southern Italian region of Basilicata (also known by its ancient name Lucania) who were excelling in America.

It is exceptional that Jule Paterno was featured! A publication that featured Dr. Charles V. Paterno, Anthony Campagna (twice), Joseph Paterno, Charles/Joseph/Michael Paterno with Anthony Campagna for a banquet, and Michael/Joseph Paterno and Anthony Campagna with the Casa Italiana – all men – took the opportunity to feature a woman, who was born in Manhattan to an English father and Irish mother and married a Paterno. You can imagine my surprise when I discovered an image of the La Basilicata net Mondo cover in Professor Alberto Baldi’s book on my recent visit to Castelmezzano!

A gentle American poet

Mrs. Jule H. V. Paterno

As an exception, our first page, this time, bears a Lady’s portrait.

And the exception is all the greater and weightier because this Lady is not only foreign to Basilicata, but she is not even Italian-born, although the infinite and radiant lure historical and artistic Italy exercises on the mind of all cultured and high-bred human beings has fostered in her a particular cult for her husband’s great Mother-country, which she has travelled over, her whole soul enraptured by the divine wonders of our magnificent sky and of its incomparable beauty.

Of this Lady, so full of goodness and intellectuality that she forcibly remind us of those Florentine Women of whom Dante sang:

“Yon, who, understanding, the third heaven do move.”

Kind fate made the ideal companion of our fellow countryman Joseph Paterno of Castelmezzano, who, together with his brothers, has founded one of the most colossal building firms of New York, so that the sweet flower of poetry may bloom in the home of this audacious man, inflexible as steel in his temperament of a formidable fighter, and that it should fill for him with harmony the gaps of this great day battle, in the sanctuary of his domestic bliss.

This is one of the reasons why we hold Mrs. Jule Paterno in such high consideration. Another reason must be found in the radiance of her poetry.

Impassioned student of letters and philosophy, as Mrs. Jule Paterno is, her artistic dream might soar high, drawing inspiration from all the ideals of human progress, which she feels so exquisitely and unfolds so personally, through the wise selection of her vast and modern culture. She is not only a poet by inspiration, but a poet of concrete thought – a thing all the more worthy of admiration, because our other Women-poets – even the greatest of them – love better to dream than to think deeply, to compose rather than to create, contenting themselves with rendering their speech more melodious, and caring mostly for the brilliancy of imagery, with all the sweetest delicacy of form, and the finest charms of fantasy. This strength of thought comes to her from her love of study, which distinguishes her from the generality of the American gentlewomen, who love to spend their time amidst gaieties and worldly pleasure, while she prefers to delve down deep in books, finding there only her mind’s joy.

Mrs. Jule Paterno, as already stated, belong to that line of Women-poets who think deeply and lead their readers to do likewise. Hers is not poetry of form, it is creative poetry; and it is born – like a bubbling source of pure water – from the need which she feels in the deepest recesses of her instinctively artistic mind to express feelings which well up in her in an unforeseen and spontaneous way, from the direct sensation that strikes her imagination with Nature’s phenomena, or life’s happenings, a sensation which creates in her that lyrical fervor and that state of personal grace and easy emotion that are essential conditions for the creation of poetry.

“I am one who, when
Love prompts, listens: and thus
That which inwardly is said, I go explaining…”

The source of her inspiration is pure and self collected.

Her sweetness and feminine suavity interpret as an ever-new marvel, a flower’s, a star’s, a child’s dream. And when her Mother’s-love prompts her to bend over her children’s white cots, watching their innocent slumber, her art spreads its wings, her poetry is completed, and she then creates small poetical pictures of insuperable fineness and of latin purity.

The form is neat, clear, and fits completely and perfectly the idea that is thus imaged, little by little, under the watchful eyes of the poetess, who studies the birth of her thought in the light of art.

Her verses reveal to those who read them “with a loving mind” a talent and an inspiration truly remarkable. And though they call Keats to mind, on account of some ideal connections, which, however, are no derivations they impress one with an immediate sense of a beautiful effort for originality and show the trace of the hidden process of creation and working out of the poet’s mind who torments herself to reach that artistic perfectibility which is the hoped-for goal of all true artists. Above all Mrs. Jule Paterno has the merit of following a way of poetry all her own, revealing in it an exquisite and superior artistic personality.

We will add here some small samples of her poetry. Here is one: “Reflections.” And we call the attention of the reader on the keenness of its observations and on its philosophical intent:

Sometimes I write jingles
About those with whom I mingle
This time I think I’ll deviate
And try for pastures new –
A good thing to remember
As round about you go,
Do not think the quiet people
Are always so slow.
Then too, believe just half you see,
And nothing that you hear
Because when you have turned away
You can almost hear the others say
“Oh listen! I must tell you my dear
About Mr. So and So and Mrs. This and That…
How wonderful the world would be were it not for that fact.

And look how simple and fresh, how full of light this small picture of “Spring” is….

The birds are singing
The air is fresh and clear
My hearts is happy, dear,
And love is everywhere
Like the birth of a babe
In its pink and whiteness
God gives us spring
All filled with gladness.
After winter snows
Many ills and pills
Our heart rejoices
And the world is filled
With a desire to listen
For the voice of spring.

It seems to us that the poets of harsh rhetoric and of formal contortions have much to learn from this simplicity:

If thy lips
To my lips
Were tightly sealed
No pain too great
But could be healed
Nor sorrow too deep
When they arms enfold
It seems a pity
To barter for gold
A woman’s treasure
That keeps us going
From birth until we tire
Of life’s unending and many demands
There is always someone with outstretched hands
To bid us nestle our troubled head
On breast or shoulder
As the case may be.
I was meant for you, dear,
And you were meant for me.

As maternity is the feeling she most completely fathoms in her soul of Wife and Mother, so is it also the one she understand most perfectly in her poetry.

Mrs. Jule Paterno has two most lovely children: Joseph (Junior) – who in the family is lovingly and jokingly daubed June – and John (Jack).

On her children’s dreams, in her own dreams for their future, her poetry becomes animated with Woman’s loftiest passion, and is humanized in the sweetest and most touching way, crowning her Mother’s-love with a halo of sanctity, through which her own feeling interprets the feelings of the Mothers of the world, so that her poetry becomes universal.

Listen: “To June and Jack…

Two boys I know
Worth all the gold
In this great land of ours
How one can tell
Just at a glance
The love light in their eyes
When in I peep
Before they sleep
And take them by surprise.
“Oh! Mother dear…
I love to hear
As they both hold me close
I do not like braggadocio
But I can surely boast
Of happiness complete, divine
Even when it rains
It shines – I mean
The love light
In my boys’ brown eyes.

All absorbed in her mission of Wife and Mother, Mrs. Jule Paterno cultivates poetry only as a domestic virtue in the few moments she can spare for it – and, although she is very modest – as are all artists of real merit, and has not yet published a complete edition of her fine and beautiful string of precious poems, the attention of the best public of New York has been attracted toward this sweet and inspired Woman-Poet, by that part of her work which has been published in the American newspapers.

She loves to write most of her poems in that blessed green solitude of the enchanted Paradise called Palm Beach, on the shores of Florida, where she spends her winter “villeggiatura” (country holiday) every year. Only last year has she blossomed forth as a poet for New York’s public.

A true gentlewoman, proud and cultured like an Italian patrician Lady of the Renaissance, she surprised the guests she had invited to dinner, by placing at the cover of each of them a lovely card bearing a little poem she had written expressly and personally for each one, and dedicated to each of her guests. An act, this, that illustrates not only the marvelous quickness and flexibility of her mind and talent, that succeeded in finding adequate words, thought of beauty and newness for each friend, but also her innate good taste and the lordly delicacy of her hospitality.

We hope that she will collect all her verses in a book, which certainly must needs gather around Mrs. Jule Paterno the plaudits of all lovers of good and pure poetry. After having told, as best we could, of Mrs. Paterno’s poems and having sung her matchless virtues as Woman, Wife and Mother, we should also say something of her husband’s personality. But of Joseph Paterno, athlete of the building business of New York, we have had occasion of speaking ere this. Of him, who, more than anyone else succeeded in impersonating in a foreign land, the sturdy, constructive virtues of our Lucanian race, and has glorified them with his own elevation and with the nobility of his patriotism. We are proud to have already pointed him out to the admiration of our fellow countrymen and to all Italy.

He never ceases from the titanic battle of his life: Work, work, work, on an ever progressing scale – this is the reason of his very existence, and he spreads his energy in enterprises ever more genial and daring.

Among the new buildings which he intends erecting and is on the eve of starting, we point out to our readers an edifice of imposing size and noble architectural design which is to enrich the already magnificent Fifth Avenue, with an ultra-modern House-Hotel.

Here are the news which we are able to impart about this new marvel:

The edifice which is to rise at 825 Fifth Avenue shall be a new step towards the ever increasing growth of the residential life of New York City.

The growing popularity of the plan of House-Hotel and of the complete development – up to 100% of the cooperative ownership causes automatically another idea to blossom forth: i.e. the co-operative erection of a great hotel.

Every one knows that to successfully bring forth a new idea and persuade the world to accept it, needs the greatest perspicacity both in the forming of the project and in its execution.

Thus in thinking out the building at 825 Fifth Avenue, every smallest detail had to be deeply studied for months past by Joseph Paterno, and to day the project is ready to be launched forth and presented to the public, who cannot possibly but approve of it.

Its chosen situation if facing both the most beautiful street and Central Park as well, and is only a short distance from the very heart of the City. With its towers and its distinct architectural lines, this building will include every refinement that can be found only in the best houses. A tranquil atmosphere will surround it, making the place a most desirable residence.

Magnificent rooms and Offices-Help that will adequately attend to the needs of the resident, private halls, every thing will be there, and nothing, in fact, will be missing to render life comfortable from every standpoint. Next door to the dining-room, there will be a vast kitchen, splendidly appointed by expert hotel-men, and directly connected with a set of elevators, so that the most perfect service may be assured. The apartments are to be disposed differently one from the other and all will be richly fitted.

But the final success of every co-operative building depends on the expense. Will the price of every apartment be low enough, and yet offer all the conveniences?

Here is the answer: “Yes…Comparisons will show it. The builder, Paterno Brothers, who have a large experience, acquired in 20 years of building works ever new, intend to give a new measure of their capabilities in this enterprise. The architect is to be J.E.R. Carpenter who drafted many other edifices which have risen ton the East side of the Residential section. The agents entrusted with the direction and the sale are Messrs. Brown, Wheelock, Harris, Vought and Co, Inc..

The question of the service in the kitchen, of the preparation of the food and of the help for the dining rooms and the apartments, which is the base of the successful handling of all hotels, will, of course, require the greatest care from the directing group, who, naturally, intend employing an expert “Maitre d’Hotel” of indisputable ability and experience.

Other help, indispensable to the precise and orderly proceeding of the service, will also be selected with great care.

This house will offer the greatest advantages with an expenditure relatively much inferior to that of like abodes.

My family and I embarked on a two week trip to Southern Italy from September 1st through 15th. We flew into Naples, explored the area and historical sites for several days, then drove by car to Bari. Again we explored the city for several days before driving to the main reason for our trip: the village of Castelmezzano.

Since embarking on my genealogy path in the Spring of 2020, I knew that I would soon need to see the village of my Paterno family. It was every bit magical, meaningful, and educational as I had hoped. This was our first view of Castelmezzano when we arrived.

Pay no mind that we stopped too soon to park and walked a long unnecessary walk to reach our hotel, however it didn’t matter because we were mesmerized by the village streets and we were so happy to have finally arrived.

The blue route is the way we should have come in all the way in to the Hotel Dolomiti (the pink pin just past where the blue route ends). However we stopped near where the blue route enters the screen at Parcheggio 2 ‘Belvedere Giuseppe Padula’ (lavender pin) which is a parking lot for day visitors. We walked passed the Monserrat down to the Hotel Dolomiti.

Dolomiti Lucane is a mountain range in the region of Basilicata, southern Italy. Located in the Southern Apennines and dominating the Basento Valley, the range is at the heart of the Gallipoli Cognato Piccole Dolomiti Lucane Regional Park, which also include the Gallipoli-Cognato forest. The range is named “Dolomiti” because of similarities to peaks in the Dolomites in northern Italy. The range was formed 15 million years ago. (Wikipedia)

We stayed five nights (Saturday, September 9th – Thursday, September 13th) at the Hotel Dolomiti which was delightful, comfortable, beautiful, and very welcoming. It is small with just eight rooms on the second and third floors. On site is a restaurant/bar on the first floor with indoor and outdoor seating as well as a spa. We enjoyed breakfast downstairs every morning and had dinner here twice. The food, drink, service, and hospitality were fantastic!

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 10th

We devoted our Sunday to exploring Castelmezzano by foot. We marveled at the Paterno and Campagna family homes, the hundreds of homes built into and atop the rock, the steep streets the width of America alleys, and the forested mountainside around the village.

To the left of the Hotel Dolomiti is the Palazzo Paternò, the beautiful white house where brother Saverio Paterno lived when he was Podesta, or chief magistrate of Castelmezzano, appointed by Mussolini in 1922. 

Click on the photos below to enlarge, scroll through, and read captions.

Below is the original Paterno home where Giovanni and Carolina lived with their first four children: Celestina, Saverio, Canio (Charles), and Giuseppi (Joseph) before emigrating to Manhattan.

The plaque reads: “With a munificent act and with spontaneity of feeling, Comm. Giuseppe (Joseph) Paterno donated this house to this municipality for the venerated memory of his parents Giovanni and Carolina and for the sincere attachment to the land that gave him birth. The fellow citizens mindful of his generosity places this plaque as an everlasting memory.” This house is located at the Volo dell’Angelo Biglietteria (Flight of the Angels zipline ticket office) on the map above (turquoise pin on the upper right).

The house that Anthony Campagna, second cousin to the Paterno siblings and husband of Marie Paterno, purchased for his Castelmezzano family is on the main village square – Piazza Emilio Caizzo – and across from the main church, Chisea di Santa Maria dell’Olmo. The position of this home is exquisite as it can be seen from nearly any direction around the village.

Click on the photos below to enlarge, scroll through, and read captions.

We walked down to the cemetery to see the Paterno mausoleum which is flanked by two beautiful angel statues. Interred here are Saverio Paterno, his wife Minnie Rose Breden Paterno, their infant son Antonio, their 8 year old daughter Carolina, and their adult daughter Giulia.

Additionally father Giovanni (John), who was the first of the family to emigrate to Manhattan, may or may not still be interred here since 1899 when he return ill to Italy to die. His crypt is present. When his wife Carolina died in 1925 in Manhattan, it is told that Giovanni’s remains/ashes were transported to the USA to be interred with her. At this time it can not be confirmed if Giovanni’s remains are in Castelmezzano, at Woodlawn Cemetery in The Bronx, or both.

Click on the photos below to enlarge, scroll through, and read captions.

After lunch and rest, Chad and I took a hike up the mountain. At the edge of the village (see the white square on the aerial map above) there is a long rock staircase that goes up to the Via Paschiere. From that road many trails lead to the top where the “Volo dell’Angelo – Partenza da Castelmezzano” (Flight of the Angels Castelmezzano Departure) platform is located. We watched several people enjoy the thrill of this very popular zipline tourist attraction.

The video below was taken on the mountain trail as we headed back down to the village.

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 11th

After breakfast at Hotel Dolomiti, Chad and I went up to the municipal building for a very important meeting. The municipal building was donated to the village as a school house by Anthony Campagna.

The plaque inside (photographed in the slideshow below) reads: “To Count Antonio Campagna who, at his own expense, by building this school house, gave a new admirable example of generosity and love for his homeland and his native place, the municipality of Castelmezzano gratefully placed. 9 (April or August) 1931”

Click on the photos below to enlarge, scroll through, and read captions.

At the municipal building we had a very important meeting about the Paterno/Campagna Museum that is being created in Castelmezzano to honor Charles and Joseph Paterno and Anthony Campagna, sons of Castelmezzano, who found success in the USA as builders of fine apartment houses.

The meeting included Castelmezzano mayor Nicola Valluzzi, Professor Alberto Baldi, Carla, and Barbara Baldi, sister of Alberto and professional translator. Journalist and author Renato Cantore participated by Zoom.

Click on the photos below to enlarge, scroll through, and read captions.

In the afternoon it was our time to fly the famous Volo dell’Angelo zipline! We secured our tickets, took the shuttle as far as it would go, and then hiked to the departure platform. Bella and Michael went first. Chad and I followed.

The red circles on the map show the first line which took us from Castelmezzano to the neighboring village of Pietrapertosa. Once there, we were shuttled around to the Pietrapertosa departure platform. This second line, indicated by the green circles, took us back to Castelmezzano.. All together it took us about 3 hours from ticket office to hotel.

Click on the photos below to enlarge, scroll through, and read captions.

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 12th

Every year on the 12th and 13th of September, regardless of days of week, the village annual festival takes place.

“The Basilicata is a land rich in traditions and boasts unique rituals that, since the most remote times, celebrate the ancestral link between man and nature. Particularly, during the spring and summer period, the region becomes the stage for really unique ceremonies: “wedding of the trees”.

The unusual marriage takes place between a trunk and a top of two different trees, a symbolic union between “two spouses” that calls the archaic omen to fruitfulness and the renewal of life in the auspiciousness of abundance. Tree rituals, therefore, celebrate the union of two plants that are literally grafted together to form a single new tree and raised to the sky in a climate of celebration and solemnity.

In most cases “marriage” involves cutting down a tree from the forest being dragged into the village by pairs of oxen; the log is then joined together, in a mystical friendship between heaven and earth, at the top of another tree cut down in a forest different from the first. The cerro (Hawthorn) trunk represents male vigor, while the (holly) top represents the female part.

They are segments that lead the log and the top from the woods to the town square and, to alleviate the woes of transport, several stops are planned in the name of the local food traditions. The festival has as additional protagonists the traditional music and the cries of the bovars which, along with the roar of the oxen themselves, accompany and chant in a slow and cadence pace the execution of the ancient ritual.” (source)

We were standing just outside the Hotel Dolomiti to see the oxen arrive and all of the associated festivity!

The oxen brought the tree trunk further into the village and then were turned around to bring the trunk to where it would stand.

The holly top was carried into the village and up to the church on the main square to be blessed by the priest.

Click on the photos below to enlarge, scroll through, and read captions.

After the holly top was blessed it was returned to where the trunk was taken by the oxen.

Click on the photos below to enlarge, scroll through, and read captions.

After the procession, the village had a street party with food & drink vendors, goods, games, and music.

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 13th

The second day of the festival was comprised of band music all day, a procession of the saints, an afternoon auction at the base of the festival tree to raise money for the church, and another street party at night with vendors.

Click on the photos below to enlarge, scroll through, and read captions.

St. Antonio, St. Rocco, and St. Vito were carried in procession throughout all of Castelmezzano then returned to the church.

On Thursday we left to drive back to Naples to fly home Friday. We thoroughly enjoyed our time in the beautiful village of Castelmezzano, the precious mountain village from where my Paterno ancestors originated. The people were so friendly and welcoming, the food delicious, the architecture amazing, and the festival was a delight to witness. We learned much, made many new friends, collected happy memories, and we’re looking forward to returning when the Paterno/Campagna museum opens!

Should you visit, be sure to download the Visit Castelmezzano app for a village map and highlighted historical markers and points of interest. You can fly into either Naples or Bari and drive to Castelmezzano. Ciao!