Lambert Castle

{{short description|Historic house in Paterson, New Jersey, United States}} {{redirect|Belle Vista|the town in Florida|St. Pete Beach, Florida}} {{Use American English|date=July 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=December 2020}} {{Infobox NRHP | name = Belle Vista | nrhp_type = | image = Lambert Castle, Paterson, NJ - looking northwest.jpg | caption = Lambert Castle in 2014 | location= Valley Road in Garret Mountain Reservation, Paterson, New Jersey | coordinates = {{coord|40|54|0|N|74|10|22|W|display=inline,title}} | locmapin = USA New Jersey Passaic County#New Jersey#USA | built = {{Start date|1892}} | architecture = | added = June 3, 1976 | area = less than one acre | refnum = 76001180<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|2009a|refnum=76001180}}</ref> | designated_other1_name = New Jersey Register of Historic Places | designated_other1_abbr = NJRHP | designated_other1_link = New Jersey Register of Historic Places | designated_other1_date = November 25, 1975 | designated_other1_number = 2385<ref name=NJRHP>{{cite web | title=New Jersey and National Registers of Historic Places - Passaic County | url=https://www.nj.gov/dep/hpo/1identify/nrsr_lists/Passaic.pdf#page=7 | publisher=New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection - Historic Preservation Office | page=7 | date=December 28, 2020 }}</ref> | designated_other1_num_position = bottom | designated_other1_color = #ffc94b }}

'''Lambert Castle''', originally called '''Belle Vista''', is located within the Garret Mountain Reservation in Paterson, Passaic County, New Jersey. The building was built in 1892 and was added to the National Register of Historic Places on June 3, 1976, for its significance in art, architecture, and industry.<ref name="nrhpdoc">{{cite web|url={{NRHP url|id=76001180}}|title=National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Belle Vista (Lambert Castle) |publisher=National Park Service|first1=D. Stanton |last1=Hammond |date=1974 }} With {{NRHP url|id=76001180|photos=y|title=accompanying 3 photos}}</ref>

==History== thumb|left|125px|Catholina Lambert (1834–1923)

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 architectural style, Lambert's dream was to build a home reminiscent of the castles in Great Britain that he remembered from his boyhood years. President William McKinley and Vice President Garret Hobart 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.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-08-01 |title=The Call to Arms (1910) Griffith, Pickford, Sennett, and Biograph |url=https://www.nitrateville.com/viewtopic.php?t=37606 |access-date=2026-01-23 |website=Nitrateville}}</ref> Film Preservation Society, Inc. is restoring the film as part of The Biograph Project.<ref>''When The Movies Were Young'', Linda Arvidson, January 1, 1925</ref>

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.<ref name="lambert">https://iwiki.net/Lambert_Castle {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120124025851/http://www.lambertcastle.com/lambert_castle_story.htm |date=January 24, 2012 }} Accessed April 29, 2010.</ref>

==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.<ref name="lambert"/> 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.<ref name="lambert"/>

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== <gallery heights=160px widths=240px mode="nolines"> 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 </gallery>

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== {{Commons category|Lambert Castle (Paterson, New Jersey)}} * [https://lambertcastle.org/museum/ Lambert Castle Museum] - official site

Category:Buildings and structures in Paterson, New Jersey Category:Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in New Jersey Category:Houses completed in 1892 Category:Houses in Passaic County, New Jersey Category:Historic house museums in New Jersey Category:Museums in Passaic County, New Jersey Category:Watchung Mountains Category:National Register of Historic Places in Passaic County, New Jersey Category:Stone houses in New Jersey Category:New Jersey Register of Historic Places Category:1892 establishments in New Jersey