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R
obert Calderone wasn’t surprised in mid-September when he
found a note left on the porch of the home he shares with Dr.
Joseph Amorino, who heads the art education department at
Kean University. The card was from an art museum employee
who raved about the gothic style of the home’s exterior, and
dropped a heavy hint: “I can’t help but wonder what’s inside that house.”
“That kind of thing happens all the time,” says Calderone, not just when
his home is decked out as fully as it was last year, when the photo on
the preceding pages was taken. It’s no wonder, considering that since
moving in 13 years ago, Amorino has transformed the stripped-down,
white-washed 1924 dwelling into a happily haunted house, carving
medieval archways, ravens and shutters bearing eerie faces, sculpting
gargoyles from clay and keeping a skeleton that’s not content with
hiding in the closet. “I keep on thinking of ideas,” he says. “We added
the tombstone address marker a year ago.”
GOTHIC GREETING
Amorino created the wreath festooning the front door (opposite). The door has
a “speakeasy” window above the gargoyle knocker that opens independently.
(Above) Amorino fashioned all the woodwork seen in these photos, including the
wainscoting and moldings on the ceilings and walls, by hand. He also created the
concave medallion and the shadow box moldings on the ceiling. (Left) A vintage
Ouija board serving tray looks right at home. Amorino and Calderone say that after
they closed on the house and befriended the former owners, they learned that the
husband had family members who belonged to the French Parapsychology Society.
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MONTCLAIR MAGAZINE FALL 2018
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