Richard Zampella, Proprietor
"Age appears best in four things
-old wood best to burn,
old wine to drink,
old friends to trust,
and old authors to read."
-Francis Bacon
The Historic Preservation Commission
of the Township of West Milford
declared Idylease its first locally
designated historic landmark
on October 5, 1988
Learn More about Richard Zampella at
Email me: info@idylease.org
Richard Zampella, Owner & Operator of Idylease
"On New Year’s day in 1903 when Idylease opened her doors there were 45 stars on the flag, Teddy Roosevelt was President and Orville Wright took to flight at Kitty Hawk".
For more than three decades, Richard Zampella has carried an idea—to find a way to preserve and share the history of the land where he was raised in the Highlands region of New Jersey.
He spent his childhood at Idylease, growing up on the property while his father, Dr. Arthur Zampella, owned and operated Idylease as a nursing home from 1954 through 1972. It was a place defined not only by its buildings, but by the people who passed through it and the quiet work that sustained it.
Over time, both father and son developed a deep connection to the history of the property. Each, in his own way, collected and preserved pieces of its past—photographs, documents, and objects that reflected the many lives the place had lived.
In April of 2016, Richard assumed stewardship of Idylease. The responsibility was not something formally passed, but something that had been present all along.
This website grew out of that collection—an effort to document and share the history of the property and the broader region in which it sits.
The Newfoundland section of West Milford has a layered history, shaped by early industry, agriculture, and a period of thriving tourism at the turn of the twentieth century. Of the many hotels that once stood in the area, only one remains. Idylease endures as a quiet reminder of that earlier time.
Much of this history is no longer widely known. Some residents have only a passing familiarity with it. Others may remember fragments.
This site exists to gather those fragments in one place.
Perhaps, in time, it will offer a clearer sense of what has been here—and what remains.
-Richard Zampella
Owner & Operator of Idylease
Summer 2026
© & ™ 2016-2026 • 200 Morgan Street, LLC • All Rights Reserved
Idylease is Owned and Operated by Richard Zampella
Located at 124 Union Valley Road Newfoundland, NJ 07435
Call Us at: 973-557-7572 • Email:info@idylease.org
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