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".
Over time I have come to understand that most things are not understood when they happen; they are only understood later, if they are understood at all.
When I was a boy, Idylease was simply the place where I lived—the building on the hill, the long hallways, the sound of doors opening and closing, and my father moving from room to room in his white uniform.
It seemed permanent then, and I never considered that anything there could disappear. Only later did I understand that nothing there was permanent, and that what my father had accepted was responsibility for something that would take the rest of his life and would never truly be finished; at the time, I thought he was going to work.
It has taken me most of my life to understand that carrying something like that, year after year, without recognition and without any certainty that it will ever be complete, is a form of courage that few people ever speak about.
When I was a boy, I planted trees on the property, and at the time it meant very little to me, but over the years I have watched them grow, and some of them will remain long after I am gone.
I did not understand it then, but I understand it now—we were planting time.
For many years I left, believing I would build a different life somewhere else, but some places do not leave you; they remain somewhere inside you until the day you return.
In April of 2016, I returned and assumed stewardship of Idylease. It was not something formally passed; it had been there all along.
Over time, I came to understand that I was not only taking care of a place, but the memory of the people who had passed through it.
This site comes out of that understanding. It is not a complete record, only what can still be found, and in time it may 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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