Chateau de Navarre article
Chateau de Navarre
By Karen Cuccinello
I got started on this article when I found a 1960 article about a fire at The Chateau. I knew about the fire when it burned down in 1985 but not about a bad fire in 1960.
The Chateau, now where the Baptist Church is at 40 Lake St./Rte. 10, was built and occupied all in the same year, 1897, and was located in what was known as Granthurst Park. The Chateau de Navarre was so named because the owner, Dr. Bristol, was descended from the famous Navarre family. Dr. Elias Leroy Macomb Bristol, of NYC, bought 21 lots in Granthurst in 1897 and had about six other cottages built besides the Chateau, and named at least four of them: Maison De Albret (named after Jeanne d’ Albret, one of the richest women in France), Brevoort, Heinrich and Bergan. Following the fire that destroyed the Maison De Albret in 1907 he sold the lot and the other titled cottages.
Dr. Bristol (1851-1929) offered limited office hours for medical consultations only during his summertime stays in Stamford. He and his sister Mrs. Mary Frances (Bristol) Barr (1849-1929), who I believe was part owner, sometimes rented his Chateau out for the summer, which was a common practice.
The Chateau was for sale in 1910 but I do not know if anybody, outside of the family, bought it until William H. and Caroline LeMan, of L.I., bought it in 1921 and operated it as a hotel until 1946. In 1936 the Chateau offered rooms with running water or private bath. Steam heat. Home cooking. Special Fall rates $16.50-$22.50 weekly. Tel. 381. Wm. H. LeMan.
Arthur and Margaret Hadley, of Brooklyn, bought the Chateau in 1946 and sold it a couple of years later to Frank P. Montalti, also of Brooklyn. Montalti got a license to sell beer, liquor and wine at retail in a hotel under the Alcoholic Beverage Control Law from 1949-1953. In 1952 he was serving American and Italian dinners and luncheons and in 1954 it was advertised in a foreclosure sale.
I believe it sat empty until Anthony C. and Joan Locasto bought it in 1959. Then came the fire in 1960 and Attorney Elias H. Jacobs and his wife Minette D., of Stamford, purchased The Chateau in 1961.
At some point in the early/mid 1960’s Sydney and Mabel Budnick bought it and after the completion of extensive renovations opened up for business in the summer of 1967. Mrs. Katie Conro, of Stamford, was managing The Chateau in 1968 and then it was on the auction block again. James J. Winig of Schenectady bought it in 1969, I believe at the tax sale, and added on a large dining room and convention hall. Fred and Rosemary Halla list as owners in the mid 1970’s, but James Winig is listed as the owner when it went on the auction block again in 1977.
The Stamford Baptist Church purchased 40 Lake Street, the old Chateau de Navarre, in November 1981 and then it burned down in 1985. Now the new church, of course, is in its place.
After chatting with Skip Heath and Cliff, the owner of 36 and 38 Lake Street, I learned more about the Dr. Bristol cottages. He had 36, 38, 40, 47, 49 and 51 Lake Street homes built, that I know of. The house at 49 Lake, built in 1898, was named Brevoort Place; 36 Lake was Maison de Valois, built 1902, and later called Greystone Lodge, and 38 Lake was Maison de Marsac, built 1901, architect William S. Stewart. We think the Northern corner of Catskill and Lake Streets, next to 53 Lake, was the site of Maison De Albret where there is still a nice foundation. Maison means house and chateau means castle in French, Valois and Marsac are areas in France and Brevoort is Dr. Bristol’s mother’s maiden name. Strangely I could not find information on who built all his cottages within a span of about five years. Post card photos housed at the Stamford Village Library history room.