and extensively carved woodwork—colored in shades of blue,
pink, red and violet. The interiors are just as vivid, decorated
with painted and stenciled ceilings, gold, silver and bronze leaf,
etched-glass room dividers and a rooftop, octagonal, cupola
observatory with a view for miles. This is probably the only
surviving example of residential pavilion architecture in the
United States. This architecture was created to amuse and
delight viewers—and it succeeds wonderfully.
Subsequent owners were Aleko Lilius, a Finnish writer and ex-
plorer who lived there with Lai Choi San, the Pirate Queen; and
then Carl Carmer, a historian who wrote about the hauntings of
the house. When Carmer died in 1976, the house was deeded
to the National Trust for Historic Preservation with one huge
problem—the dome was collapsing. Years of deterioration left
gaping holes in the roof. The National Trust was unsure of how
to proceed. Along came Joseph Pell Lombardi, a preservationist
and an architect who had a solution. The National Trust sold
the property to Mr. Lombardi for $75,000 with his guarantee that
he would restore the structure. This was the first time the Na-
tional Trust sold a property to an individual. Fortunately, they
chose a perfectionist, as well as a preservationist. He jacked the
roof three feet up, enchaining the entire structure with airplane
cables till it settled into its original position. He next went about
the painstaking process of locating original furniture, restoring
the original paint scheme and even restoring original garden
plantings. With restoration close to completion, he continues to
reach out to various collectors to buy pieces of furniture origi-
nally in the house that were designed to complement its octago-
nal shape. He tracks down people who visited the house back in
the '20s and '30s and draws from their memories, in addition to
researching through old photographs.
Top: Lyndhurst Mansion art gallery. Photo by Maura Bekelja.
Bottom row left: Lyndhurst Mansion holiday decor. Photo by Clifford Pickett.
Bottom row right: Octagon House music room.
