Greenwich, CT
– the highest spot along Long Island Sound between NYC and Boston; 550 feet above sea level
– 23 acres sold at $6,000 per acre
– construction overseen by CMP
– construction in 1939
– 30 John Street, Greenwich, CT • Lot No 2A John St S6 + 6A
aka Chateau Paterno aka Chateau Lafayette
Purchased land 1937
Charles asked Carlo to replicate an old French chateau (Kelley Paterno page 212)
A peaceful noble residence from the French countryside in the Pre-Renaissance period…a building made of stone and wood, with red brick sloping roofs and a simple tower no taller than fifty feet…the surrounding wall less than eight feet tall. (Renato Cantore)
18 rooms, large reception and banqueting halls, large library, fully equipped kitchens, comfortable bathroom, pianos, 18th Century canvases, electrical appliances, billiard hall…spiral wood staircase painted white led from the main entrance to the hall on the first floor; crimson velvet draperies (Renato Cantore)
“Since Charles had been advised that trees could not grow on Round Hill, he dug trenches and placed drains and water pipes in the trenches. As a result of his efforts, trees and flowers flourished.” Kelley Paterno page 212
Home Tour: A Look Inside Tommy and Dee Hilfiger’s “Round Hill”
How Tommy and Dee Hilfiger turned a Connecticut manor into a passion project
The fashion couple brought Greville Rickard’s Casa Paterno back to life to create the ultimate family retreat Metro Society Staff | Jan 27 2019
Tommy Hilfiger finds buyer for $47.5M mansion, moves to Palm Beach
The architect, Greville Rickard, created the stately property for real estate mogul Charles Paterno. It was later owned by Joseph Hirshhorn, of the Hirshhorn Museum in Washington, DC.
Album of historic B&W photos from PICRYL
Library of Congress Dr. Charles V. Paterno photos of Round Hill
A new residence had to be built because the castle had been torn down much to my mother’s [Minnie Minton Middaugh Paterno] grief. They rented two different residences in Greenwich while the chateau was being built. One was within walking distance of Edgewood School a boarding school that Ruthie Brown [Ruth Middaugh Brown] attended for 14 years and which enabled her to see her beloved Nana [Minnie] often. The chateau was built by Dad [Charles Vincent Paterno]. Mother was sick at the farm from 1939. She died there in 1943. (Notes on Carlo Paterno’s book My Family made by Ruth Marie Welsh Brown)
On the right wall in this room:
Is this portrait of Minnie Minton Middaugh Paterno:
The New Yorker, September 17, 1938 P. 15
Long talk story about Dr. Charles V. Paterno and his two latest projects; the removing of his Riverside Drive castle, and building himself a new home on what is supposed to be the highest point of land between New York and Boston, Round Hill, Greenwich, (official altitude 501ft.) He is planning to build a twenty-odd room house “an informally rambling chateau, Norman-French style. The hill top was not suitable for tree-planting and had to be transposed into top soil, 5,000 holes were dug these will be filled with trees. In excavating for drainage four feet were taken off the hill depriving it of its right of being called the highest point. Shangri-La on The New Yorker archives September 17, 1938
Transcribed from an old James Renner article about Dr. Charles Paterno: “I am Dr. Charles V. Paterno’s nephew. In the late 1920s, my mom used to take me to Paterno Castle and Uncle Charlie used to let me swim in the indoor pool at the Castle. It was really a big treat in those days. At Christmas time, Uncle Charlie used to dress up as Santa and make visits to all his nephews and nieces at their homes and deliver all kinds of wonderful gifts. I lived in the Riverdale section of the Bronx at that time. Later, Dr. Paterno and family moved to Round Hill, Connecticut where he had a very impressive “Castle-like” home. One Sunday we visited him and I saw my first Television movie on a set that used a mirror to show the screen which was flat on top of the set. This was in the later 1930s.” Posted by Michael A. Campagna, Jr. 14 March 2008
Business Insider: Tommy Hilfiger just sold his sprawling Greenwich estate for $45 million. Take a look at the historic 22-acre property.Jan 17, 2021
According to Renato Cantore in ‘The Castle on the Hudson’ page 114, the landscape architect for Round Hill was Frederick Thompson.
