Joseph Pell Lombardi is a New York City-based architect and real estate investor.
Born in New York City where he spent his childhood, Lombardi moved to Irvington, New York for his high-school years. He received his Bachelor of Architecture degree from Carnegie Mellon University and went on to obtain a Master's degree in Historic Preservation from Columbia University. Lombardi established his architectural firm in 1969 to specialize in restoration, preservation, adaptive reuse and contextual new buildings - an unconventional specialty in a period when modernist architecture and new construction were the norm.
In 1976, Lombardi purchased and restored the National Historic Landmark, the Armour-Stiner (Octagon) HouseUpstate House,"Victorian Splendor: How architect Joseph Lombardi restored this treasured Irvington home, bringing it back from the brink of decay to its exotic grandeur." article by Jacqueline Coleman-Fried, with photos by Linda Bell Hall and was given a Preservation Award for this work by the Metropolitan chapter of the Victorian Society in America in 1990.
Other examples of his work are the conservation of the Château du Sailhant, a 12th-century castle in Andelat, FranceArchitectural Digest, "Treading on Medieval Ground: Rediscovering a Forgotten Château in France’s Auvergne Region", Restoration Architecture and Interior Design by Joseph Pell Lombardi, Text by Joseph Giovannini, Photography by Jaime Ardiles-Arce, January 2010 and the conversion to residential use of Liberty Tower, an early 20th-century 33-story New York City Financial District Gothic skyscraper. In Manhattan, he has converted over 150 commercial buildings to residential use and restored more than 100 townhouses.
Lombardi is also the owner of many of his historically significant projects, and the New York Times has described him as "some people collect salt and pepper shakers, Joseph Pell Lombardi collects houses" and that "like an architectural Sherlock Holmes, Mr. Lombardi patiently unravels houses' secrets, then fervently restores them".The New York Times, "One Man, Three Homes, One Mission: Preserving Architectural Treasures", article by Patricia Leigh Brown 07/05/1990 Widely known as an expert in historic preservation and adaptive re-use, Lombardi has been sought out as a speaker on the subject by varied institutions, including Yale University and Brazil's Viva Centre.Viva Centre 2001 Events listing
References
Further reading
Auvernha (May-June 2025). "À la vie à l'amour"
External links " Where Juilliard's Benefactor Had His Store; Melding 5 Structures For a TriBeCa Condo", New York Times article, 01/30/2000 The Irvington Historical Society's page for the Armour-Stiner House The Office of Joseph Pell Lombardi, Architect