1950's - Dobbs Ferry

It was crowded enough in the fourth floor walk-up tenement apartment (bathtub in the kitchen, toilet down the hall) at 1189 First Avenue. But when baby Marjorie arrived in 1952, something had to be done. My parents went to see the new development at Levittown, on Long Island, but it did not feel right to two such creative souls. What my father lacked in education he made up for in creativity. He and my mother collaborated on many projects and it was now that they embarked on their largest...designing and building their own home.

With Jon Nielsen, in Dobbs Ferry.

Dobbs Ferry had come to their attention because an artist friend, Jon Nielsen was living there with his wife and two boys. My parents found a site, with a majestic oak, on a dirt road, that took their fancy. With the help of an architect friend, John Glenn, they made their ideas into a workable plan. Janice executed a perfect scale model of the modern house on its hillside lot. On weekends for several years, Joe, Janice and a group of friends came up to the lot on Secor Drive, to build their dream home. Among his friends there seemed to be someone with each skill that was needed, from woodworker, to plasterer, to stone mason.

Our house at 11 Secor Drive before landscaping.

The site provided room for my mother to have a rock garden that terraced down from the patio in the front yard to the back, and there was a sunny spot behind the garage for vegetables. The two car garage, connected to the house by a breezeway, gave my dad room to work on cars, and the basement accomodated a large workshop for him, too. The high windows in the northwest corner of the bouse provided ideal lighting for Janice's painting studio.

A view of the house and garage taken from the air in the 1970's.

Baby Marjorie Alice Candela

Prize winning painting of Pittsburgh, PA. I believe she saw a photograph of this image, taken in 1949 by the team of photographers, John E Fletcher and Anthony B. Stewart,  in National Geographic.

Janice accepting the award at the Dobbs Ferry Women's club in 1954. The painting of Pittsburgh won first prize, and a painting of me took second place!

"Cookie" took second prize.

The frame was made of tin by my father and faux wood finished by Janice.

View of the Hudson Valley from a favorite spot in the Juhring Estate.

We were lucky to live by the broad and beautiful Hudson river.

Baby number three arrived in 1954, Nancy Sherwood Candela.

Cookie, Marjorie and Nancy

Nancy in the classic 1950's basket chair. dining room table behind her and some forsythia blossoms in a vase.
Still Life watercolor - 1950's style

The three of us girls with Punchy, our yellow cat.

Janice designed this bed/dresser/vanity. Joe made three of them. one for each of us girls. We had moved into the former master bedroom which was hardly large enough for three, but these beds made it possible. The north facing studio became the master bedroom and the studio was moved to the basement

A pensive portrait of Marjorie.

A fantasy of the three of us tree climbing. I always loved the way my mother laid the paint on so thick that the blossoms were truly three dimensional.



This sketch suggests that sisterly relations were not always harmonious.

A gorilla caught in a quick gesture.

As I child I was always attempting to draw horses. I would ask my mother to draw one to show me how to do it. She, of course, understood the underlying anatomy, something that cannot be faked.

Coats hanging by the kitchen door.

In 1959, we were thrilled to welcome my brother, Philip to the family.