Was Stanford White the Architect of Crystal Plaza in Livingston NJProvide detail and dates for construction of mansion.?

Answer 1

No. Architect for original house was Nicholas Norelli. Design, initial construction 1924-26. Meant to be family residence. Wife was sick with TB,"country" air meant to help her get better. She died at age 29 in Dec 1926,house not finished. Nicholas 34 at the time. He resumed construction several years later,but family (Norelli plus 4 boys; ages 4-9 at time of mother's death.) never moved in. Lender foreclosed in early 1930's. Very extensive research effort by NYC historian Jerry Silver presented to Livingston Historical Society on October 22, 2007 confirmed this as the true history as opposed to Stanford White myth. West Essex Tribune extensive article published on December 13, 2007 on page A-6 entitled "Historian Debunks Myth of Crystal Plaza As Stanford White-Designed 'Love Nest'". LHS and Livingston Public Library have full report and back-up documentation. The large crystal chandelier that is still in the Crystal Plaza today is original to the house. Was imported by Nicholas Norelli from Czechoslovakia during the original construction period 1924-1926. Jerry Silver consulted the book "The Houses of McKim, Mead & White" by Samuel G. White and found no listings for houses in Livingston, NJ. He then contacted the author. Mr. White is the great grandson of Stanford White and a prominent architect in his own right as well as a professor at New York University. He is also the co-author of "Stanford White, Architect" which was just published in October, 2008 and the co-author of "McKim, Mead and White: The Masterworks". First it had to be established that where the Crystal Plaza is located was part of Livingston, NJ during the relevant period in the 1800's and not part of another town. A map from 1859 clearly showed that this site was part of Livingston. Then Samuel G. White informed Mr. Silver that he could find no reference to any McKim, Mead & White buildings being built in Livingston. He also could not understand why the owner of the Crystal Plaza did not list who the client was for the house. After reviewing the Crystal Plaza website and being sent photos of the exterior of the building, Samuel White said: "Unless you can point out something that I have missed, I have to conclude that their [the Crystal Plaza's] attribution to Stanford White appears to be wishful thinking." Jerry Silver then contacted the Livingston, NJ reference librarians who provided data that they had received from the Livingston Historical Society which showed that Nicholas A. Norelli, a licensed architect and civil engineer constructed the house for his family in the 1920's. This included a written narrative from Nicholas Norelli's son and interviews conducted in the 1980's by a member of the Historical Society with elderly residents who remembered seeing the house being constructed in the 1920's. Mr. Silver contacted Justin Ferate, an urban, social and architectural historian who the New York Times described as "New York City's revered Tour Guide among Tour Guides" and who wrote the official NYC Professional Tour Guide Licensing Examination for the city of New York. Mr. Ferate said: "Please consider that, of all the living experts on the subject of Stanford White's architecture, Sam White is at the very top of the list. He has made it his business to meticulously research and document the impressive design history of his ancestor. He has carefully traced information about clients, circumstances, design issues and numerous other subjects regarding houses with which Stanford White was involved. This information Sam White has researched has provided the resources for several books on Stanford White designs... there is a common saying that ,'If Stanford White truly designed all of the buildings attributed to him, he would have had to have lived another 200 years!'" Jerry Silver then reviewed "The Architecture of McKim, Mead & White, 1870-1920, A Building List" by Leland Roth, a professor of Architectural History. He is also the author of "A Monograph of the Work of McKim, Mead & White, 1879-1915" and "McKim, Mead & White, Architects" along with many other books on the history of architecture. Professor Roth went to the firm's archives and reviewed the bill books. He found 945 commissions for the firm including 75 in New Jersey but none in Livingston, NJ. Mr. Silver then did a deed search for the property from 1882 to the present. The owner of the Crystal Plaza said the house was built in the 1890's. Mary Hartwick acquired the property in 1882, married John Martens and held the property until 1924 when they sold it to Norelli. Needless to say neither Mary Hartwick or Mary and John Martens are listed as clients of McKim, Mead & White. Dr. Roth's building list book shows all the clients for the 945 projects. This even includes projects that were not built but money was paid to the firm for the drawings and work. A 1906 real estate map of Essex County, which includes Livingston, shows buildings . The map was done by land surveyors and civil engineers in a town that only had about 1,500 people then. The map shows no structure on the Crystal Plaza site. The owner of the Crystal Plaza has claimed it was built in the 1890's and Stanford White died in 1906. Livingston was a rural community of diary farmers, along with shoe and lumber production. It would be hard to miss a Stanford White mansion located on what was a country road, not a dirt road. Jerry Silver then wrote a report for the Livingston Historical Society and a gave a power point lecture to the Society. Grandchildren of Nicholas Norelli came to the talk including Ronald A. Norelli who flew up from "Charlotte, North Carolina for the event. The West Essex Tribune received a copy of the report and wrote an article on December 13, 2007 where they printed the conclusion that Norelli was the architect of the Crystal Plaza and not White. The reporter was unable to find any evidence that White was the architect. Mr. Silver then sent a pdf of the newspaper article to Leland Roth. Mr Roth wrote back: "As I wrote earlier, your findings are much the same as I concluded. The various pieces of evidence do not support the claim of White's authorship. I'm glad you got corroboration from Sam White. Jerry Silver then sent the newspaper article to David Garrard Lowe, the author of "Stanford White's New York". Mr. Lowe is the president of the Beaux Arts Alliance in New York City and the author of numerous books and articles. Among his other books are: "Beaux Arts New York", "Chicago Interiors", "Lost Chicago" and "Art Deco New York". David Lowe informed Jerry Silver that "he may use [Lowe's] name as one who is certain that Stanford White did not design the building housing the Crystal Plaza caterers." The two reference librarians at the Livingston NJ library who did some research on their own and also at Jerry Silver's request, agree that Norelli was the architect of the building now known as the Crystal Plaza. The Livingston Historical Society, which provided crucial data to the library, has also concluded that Norelli was the architect. The New Jersey Historical Society in Newark does not concern itself with architectural reports but rather historical reports. However, they accepted Jerry Silver's report and the West Essex Tribune newspaper article because they consider Stanford White a significant historical figure. Terry Karschner of the New Jersey Historic Preservation Office in Trenton, NJ has placed Mr. Silver's report and the newspaper article on file. Terry Karschner then checked the Registered NJ Architect Directories from selected editions in their office and recorded the office addresses of Nicholas Norelli from 1914-1955 and sent it to Mr. Silver. When Alfed Norelli, the son of the architect, recorded his narrative, he remembered when the house became the Condor Restaurant from 1942-1964, The current owners took over the building about 1965-66 and named it the Crystal Plaza. Inorder to view online some of the documentation such as Alfred Norelli's narrative, the West Essex Tribune article, Jerry Silver's report, a listing of the addresses of Nicholas Norelli's architect offices, photo's of Nicholas and his wife Fannie Norelli and some of Norelli's architectural drawing go to www.norellimansion-crystalplazatrueorigin.net or go to google and type in the box- Norelli mansion and see the listing that says: Origin and History of the Norelli mansion in Livingston, New Jersey. Make sure you use google as the search engine. See home, history ( Norelli narrative), evidence( read and scroll to the hyperlinks including the West Essex Tribune article which is a good summary for those who would read just one shorter document). See portfolio for pictures, drawings and a listing of Norelli's architectural office locations.