Washington Heights & Inwood Online

Dr. Charles V. Paterno (1876-1946) was an innovative real estate developer who left his mark in Washington Heights by building the first cooperative houses in the area. These were Hudson View Gardens, opened in 1924, and Castle Village in 1939.

Dr. Paterno’s family immigrated from Castelmezzano, Italy, where his father, John, was in the real estate business. Dr. Paterno was born there, as was his brother Joseph. The family was forced to leave Italy in the 1880’s because an earthquake destroyed a construction project that John Paterno was involved with. Dr. Paterno’s older brother Savario remained in Italy when the family came to New York. In time they would move to Washington Heights and live in a row house at 557 West 187th Street. Dr. Paterno earned his diploma as a physician from Cornell University in 1899.

Dr. Paterno took over the family business at the death of his father, never to return to the medical field. With his brother Joseph, Dr. Paterno was instrumental in the development and construction of apartment houses on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The Paterno family was known for its conservative, luxurious apartment projects.

Overlooking the Hudson River on Northern Avenue (which was renamed Cabrini Boulevard in 1938 to honor Mother Francesca Cabrini), Paterno purchased land in 1905 and built a four-story castle on a seven and one-half acre site, which became his home. This was to become known as Paterno Castle and was constructed between 1907 and 1909 and was designed by John C. Watson at the cost of $500,000. By today’s standards, the cost would have been about $50,000,000. In the 1920s Paterno acquired more land for the property.

Paterno Castle was constructed with a white stone facing and had parapets and battlements topping off the building. Directly south of the main building was a glass-enclosed building that housed his gardens. The northern end of the building had a pergola.

On Cabrini Boulevard, the iron fence was enhanced with stone pillars of the same materials used on the house to look like chess pieces. The stone wall, which had been the western boundary, provided an overlook of the Hudson River and the Boulevard Lafayette, which is now the Henry Hudson Parkway.

In 1924, with the help of developer Frederick F. French and architect George Frederick Pelham, Dr. Paterno opened Hudson View Gardens as the first cooperative in Washington Heights. This was located between 183rd and 185th Streets and Pinehurst Avenue and Cabrini Boulevard.

The complex provided housing for 354 families in six four-storied and eight seven-storied structures. They are massed together like the cottages of a medieval English village in the style of Scarsdale Tudor, which consists of brick and simulated wood that once had been encrusted with Virginia Creepers.

Each building on the complex has a private entrance. The buildings on the inner side of the U-shaped drive are set higher than the outer side to allow for viewing the river. The land is also terraced to allow the property to look like a country lane in northern Manhattan.

Castle Village was a product of Paterno’s own desire and success with Hudson View Gardens. The new complex was built on Cabrini Boulevard between 181st and 186th Streets. Dr. Paterno razed his “castle” to make way for five 14-storied cruciform towers with nine apartments on each floor set on open lawns high above the Hudson River.

The towers themselves are attractive, with chamfered (or beveled) corners and 6-over-6 windows. There is also a mix of Georgian and castle-like detailing so as not to give it the institutional red-brick housing look. All of the apartments have parquet floors and sunken living rooms with an excellent view of the Hudson River.

The complex received the certification of excellence of design of the New York Chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA). Architectural historian Talbot Hamlin regarded Castle Village as the “most exciting” of a series of speculative housing projects to be constructed in the 1930s. Hamlin described it as Washington Heights Colonial and was quite impressed with the layout of the plans for the site.

At 180 Cabrini Boulevard there is a plaque honoring Dr. Paterno. The upper portion is a bronze circle of his likeness with his name, and below are the Roman numerals MCMXXIX (1939). Below this is another plaque which reads: “HE LOVED THE SPLENDOR OF THIS SITE WHERE HE MADE HIS HOME A CASTLE IN APARTMENTS HE BUILT. HE LIGHTENED THE BURDENS WITH LABOR SAVING CONVENIENCE AND LIFTED THE SPIRIT WITH THE BEAUTY OF THE GARDENS.”

Behind 180 and 200 Cabrini and overlooking the Henry Hudson Parkway is the garage, which can hold 300 cars and was constructed in recognition of the remoteness of the location. The garage was originally the swimming pool and still shows the original façade of the estate. There was a billiard room and a restaurant with a dance floor, which was transformed into the recreation room.

The grounds have an elaborately landscaped garden that offers peace and quiet for the residents with a view of the Hudson River; they have an elevation of 200 feet and one-fifth of a mile in length. In 1986 Castle Village became a cooperative.

Today the remains of Castle Paterno can still be seen. At the southern end of the complex were the garages and the servants’ quarters, which were converted to private housing. Two of the original pillars from the estate on Cabrini Boulevard can still be seen as a silent tribute to Dr. Paterno.

At the northern end of the complex was the former guest house of the Paterno estate. The house is perched over the Henry Hudson Parkway and has a small garden. It is located on 186th Street and Chittenden Lane. When viewed from the highway and the Hudson River at night, it resembles a Jack-O-Lantern and is known as the pumpkin house.

The Paternos were involved with many real estate projects. In 1907 the Broadway, a 10-story building located at 620 West 116th Street, was one of the apartment projects constructed by Joseph Paterno. The Colosseum at 435 Riverside Drive was built in 1910. It originally contained 8- and 12-room simplex apartments. Three of the 12-room duplexes were subdivided into smaller apartments. The Colosseum retains much of the original elegance, grace and fantastic views of Riverside Park. The Paterno is a 12-story structure at 440 Riverside Drive on 116th Street. The architects for most of the Paterno projects were Schwartz & Gross and Gaeton Ajello. Their names appear incised on the buildings that were planned by the Paternos.

A trivium was named to honor Dr. Paterno’s commitment to the community. Trivium is a Latin term for a place where three roads meet. In this case it is at the intersection of 187th Street, Pinehurst Avenue and Cabrini Boulevard. The 0.02 acre trivium was designed by Thomas Navin, who is an architect and garden designer. It was built in conjunction with the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation’s Greenstreets Program. It is now a pedestrian island with plants and seats, where there had once been a concrete slab. It was dedicated on August 4, 2001. One of the speakers at the ceremony was Carla Paterno Darlington, granddaughter of Dr. Paterno.

Castle Village and Hudson View Gardens are member buildings of the Hudson Heights Owners Coalition. Castle Village is managed by the J.H. Taylor Real Estate Company, located at 180 Cabrini Boulevard. The general telephone number is 212-923-2121 and its website is http://www.castlevillage.com/. Hudson View Gardens is located at 116 Pinehurst Avenue and can be reached at 212-923-7800. The website for Hudson Heights Owner’s Coalition is http://www.hhoc.org/. The Paterno Trivium has an e-mail address: tri187viumnyc@aol.com.