Century Estate on Century Road
Century Road wanders off to the left part way down Closter Road, leading to a cul-de-sac of nine contemporary houses set among tall trees. A few of the houses were originally the same, although later owners have made alterations; the rest are different from each other. The original development owes its creation to Joanne Bergman, who lived in Pomona with her husband Jules and children David, Beth and Karen, before moving to Palisades in 1966.
The story of Century Road begins in August 1965 when Jules and Joanne bought vacant land on Closter Road from the Stewarts, the Harveys, the Fiorellos and Dorothy Miller. Jules had a road built to access the property and then sold it to a local builder, Donald Mow. Mow created a corporation named Entec to build and sell houses on the property, which was named Century Estates. Julesʼs son, David, told me that the development got this name because there were so many delays that it seemed as though it would take a century to come into existence.
There were lots of problems with the builder. The Bergman house was too low and developed leaks, and some of the other houses also had deficiencies. Jules Bergman took Donald Mow to court and won the case; Mow, who had been living in a house on lot number three, moved away in 1968. Mow had also built Jerry Silvermanʼs house on Woods Road (the same exact house as that of Leslie and Dennis Hayes on Century Road).
In November 1966 lot number eight was sold to Frank and Harue Okazaki; the Bergmans had just moved into their house, on lot number six. A month later, Charles and Hiroko (Suzy) Felton bought lot number five. Their house had not yet been started, so they were able to consult with the architect and create their ideal home. Mow liked their house plan so much that he used it for the Okazakiʼs house. In April 1967, Ronald and Jane Anton bought lot number nine; in August 1968, Seymour and Lorraine Weissman bought lot number six; in October, Dale and Alfred Botwin bought lot number three; and in December, Zane and Joan Tankel bought lot number two. In March 1969, Fred and Sylvia Devan bought lot number one. The three houses closest to Closter Road, two on the left and one on the right, were not part of the original development. There was a wooded lot on the southeast corner of the intersection of Closter and Century Roads for a long time.
The original tenants were colorful people. Seymour Weissman was a movie director; one of his films was David and Lisa. His wife was a concert pianist and interior decorator. Zane Tankel had something to do with the printing of Hustler magazine. Someone named De Roddio, who was living in the house on lot number four, was part of the management teams of Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix; he gave splendid parties on a patio built especially for entertaining. Jules Bergman, who was named Science Editor at ABC News in 1961, became famous during the NASA Space Program, covering the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo, Skylab, Apollo-Soyuz programs for ABC News as well as the Space Shuttle flights.
Suzy Felton remembers what good friends they became. Everyone had children, and they all played together. There were block parties and lots of interaction among the families. But this golden age didnʼt last. By 1975, several of the couples had separated, including the Bergmans, and eventually all of them except the Feltons moved away.
The new purchasers were less flamboyant. At one point, there were seven doctors and Suzy told me that Century Road has been called a doctorsʼ ghetto: Kenny, a radiologist and Jane Schwartz; Suzy Felton, a gynecologist and her husband Chuck a pulmonologist; Maria DʼAngelo, who is a pediatrician practicing in Rockland County and Eric and Elyse Rose, both at NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia. Eric was chairman of the Department of Surgery and Elyse a pediatric anesthesiologist. Wendy and Steve Lichtenthal now live in their house.
Leslie and Dennis Hayes moved into the Weissmansʼ house in 1978. Leslie is an entertainer and Denny is a marine geophysicist at Lamont. Later, Martye and Julian Krainin bought the Okazaki house at 8 Century Road. Martye is a painter and ceramicist, and Julian is an Oscar-winning movie producer. Stanley and Roz Lampert bought the Tankel house, and one of their sons, Jon, is a professional standup comic. And, in Kenny and Jane Schwartzʼs house Yasmine and Cyrus Akhavan now live. Their son is a urologist at Mount Sinai and their daughter is a film director. The Palisadians of Century Road continue to provide an interesting and congenial professional and cultural mix.