Lambert Castle

Lambert Castle is a Paterson landmark on the slope of Garret Mountain

VIP Terry McKenna

 

Passaic County Historical Society

Catholina Lambert & His Castle

Catholina Lambert was born in 1834 in Yorkshire, England. At 10 years old, he apprenticed as an errand boy at Boar’s Head Mill. Over the course of seven years, Lambert saved five pounds sterling, which made it possible for him to leave England and arrive in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1851.

In Boston, Lambert worked for Benjamin Tilt and Walter Dexter at their silk factory. Several years later, Tilt left the business and Dexter offered Lambert a partnership. Dexter offered Lambert a $5,000 loan - over the course of three years, Lambert managed to pay back and buy Dexter’s share.

As the business grew in the 1860s, Lambert had a three-story factory built in Paterson, NJ known as the Dexter Mill. This mill had a large amount of government contracting during the Civil War.

In 1857, Lambert married Isabella Eldridge Shattuck. During their marriage, the couple had eight children who lived well accomplished lives. The Lamberts moved to Paterson, NJ in the 1860s when they purchased the Maplewood estate in south Paterson. Lambert was the president of the Silk Association of America and the Merchants Loan and Trust Co. of Paterson among other organizations.

 

Catholina Lambert had an extensive art collection, pictured here c. 1904

Paterson Museum

Lambert acquired an extensive antique and art collection over many years; by 1891, Maplewood was no longer large enough to house the vast collection. As such, he began work on “Belle Vista,” also known as “Lambert Castle.” The massive estate, eventually complimented by an observation tower added in 1896, was constructed in the Medievel Revival architectural style out of local sandstone and granite at the initial cost of half a million dollars. When President William McKinley and Vice President Garret Hobart visited the completed castle and gallery in 1898, McKinley described it as the "Louvre of America."

Belle Vista was named after Lambert’s beloved wife Isabella, who died in 1901, eight years after moving into the castle. Lambert continued to live in the Castle until his death on February 15th, 1923. The declining fortunes of the silk industry in Paterson and the aftershocks of the 1913 Silk Strike hit Dexter, Lambert, and Co. hard, and the firm liquidated in 1914. Lambert was forced to leverage his assests to cover the company's liabilities, and sold his art collection in an auction in February 1916. The collection sold for an estimated one-third of it's actual value.


Lambert Castle is now home to the Passaic County Historical Society. Its magnificent history still captivates the imagination of the visitors to the museum and library at “Belle Vista.”

Learn more:
Explore the Passaic County Historical Society's resources, located at Lambert Castle
Check out Passaic County's resources on their Lambert Castle webpage