Lakeside Village is a recently built townhouse complex at 165 Lakeside Road, Hewitt. The property previously held a motel and restaurant built in 1959. (Photo courtesy of Michael D’Agostino)
The original Bingler’s Motel and Restaurant at 165 Lakeside Road, Hewitt, was built, owned and operated by the late August “Gus” Bingler and his wife, Hattie (Boehmer).
They moved to West Milford in 1959. Bingler was born in Alsace-Lorraine, Germany, and came to this country in 1910. He settled in Perth Amboy for three years.
He moved to Haledon, then North Haledon and settled in West Milford five years before his death.
For 40 years, Bingler, founder of NJ Motor Bus Associates, operated Bingler Vacation Tours in Europe and the United States. He also owned North Haledon Bus Lines.
He was ready for a new business adventure when he moved to West Milford.
His motel had a popular restaurant and bar on the main floor. It was a go-to place for dinner meetings and local events.
The West Milford Chamber of Commerce, West Milford Rotary Club and West Milford Lions Club were among the groups that held meetings and celebrations there.
A swimming pool in front of the motel was removed by later owners.
There were two apartments (one on each end of the building) and 12 motel rooms on the second floor.
The Binglers made many friends, and they were happy living in and being a part of West Milford. He became a charter member of the Rotary Club, Chamber of Commerce, West Milford Tavern Owners Association and Greenwood Forest Volunteer Fire Company.
Bingler was dedicated to erecting a well-constructed building. For instance, he saw to it that the septic system was overbuilt with oversized tanks.
The back walls of the 17,000-square-foot building were solid poured concrete and the second-floor beams were made of steel that was worthy of skyscraper construction All bathrooms were tiled with concrete.
He believed that tourism was a perfect industry for West Milford and that his motel would be part of its economic development. But this wasn’t to be.
Bingler, a perfectionist, preferred doing things himself to be sure they were done as he thought they should be. Unfortunately, this admirable trait was his undoing.
He climbed a ladder to repair an electric sign in front of the motel and fell, suffering a broken pelvis, five fractured ribs and internal injuries.
Then 70, he died at Chilton Memorial Hospital because of this accident. He was buried at Laurel Grove Memorial Park, Totowa.
Bigger restaurant
Frank Pombo, known for founding the Bethwood Restaurant, bought the restaurant/motel business from Hattie Bingler after her husband died.
He made many changes, enlarging the restaurant by taking out garage space located under the motel units.
The restaurant was open daily for lunch from noon to 3 p.m. and dinner from 5 to 10 p.m. The dining vroom was open until 11 p.m. Saturdays and until 9 p.m. Sundays.
Bob Dransfield, the bartender, offered specialties, including the Greenwood Lake Splash and Bob’s Golden Glow.
Ena Fremgen was a lunch waitress and doubled as the bartender. Others on the waitress staff included Dransfield’s wife, Robbie; Geisela Schulze; Lillian Morris; and Anne Sandak.
The Masons bought the motel/restaurant in 1971 and the business continued to thrive with Carl Mason, a master chef, in the kitchen.
His Longhorn Café became known for the finest in steaks, lobster tails and salads.
Mason, a native of Europe with a much longer surname that he shortened, had lived in the United States for 21 years. His wife was Selma and they had two sons who attended Marshall Hill School.
He had attended hotel business school in Switzerland for three years and he did his apprenticeship in Germany. He was in the business of serving and preparing food since he was 14 years old. Before coming to the United States, he was a chef in Holland, Germany, Switzerland and France.
Family business
Mason’s father had also been a chef, and his mother worked in preparation of salads and other foods. Retired, the couple was living in the United States.
When Mason arrived in this country he spent the winters working in Florida; during the summers, he had restaurant work in upper New York state.
His first job in this country was as chef at the Old Heidelberg Restaurant in Hollandale, Fla. He gained experience as he traveled across the nation studying menus and foods.
He also worked at the Hollywood Beach Hotel, Palm Beach Towers and Everglade Towers in Florida. At those places, he got to know many celebrities. In one of his many autographed photos, he posed with Jimmy Durante. The photo collection was displayed at his Longhorn Café.
Mason also served for a time as the head person in restaurant kitchens in Massachusetts and North Carolina. He served for two years as a chef in the U.S. Army during the war in Korea.
Returning home, he then worked days and attended night classes at Rutgers University to earn a business administration degree. He was manager of the North Jersey Country Club in Wayne for seven years, chef for five years and manager for two. He also managed the Country Club at Colonia.
Selection of the former Bingler property was not a snap decision for Mason. He had searched about two years to find the right place where he felt he could best serve the public.
He knew Charles Pombo, who was retiring and moving to Florida, from the days when Pombo owned the Casino DeCharlz, a well-known Totowa restaurant that was destroyed by fire. The Pombo family also was known for creating the Bethwood Restaurant in Totowa.
Mountainside Inn
The success of the motel/restaurant renamed Mason’s Mountainside Inn continued until the couple divorced.
The building was purchased by John Aiello, a local businessman and coin dealer, in 2000. He closed it and began making renovations.
By 2012, Aiello had remodeled most of the upstairs bathrooms and kitchens in the motel units. Stone tile flooring was installed in the upstairs hallway and lobby, and a 57-foot meeting room was created.
He added solid doors to all the upstairs units and central air conditioning as well as a new roof. Other improvements included a new well and upgraded water filtration system. He also had the office remodeled and added a large outside patio.
In 2004, Hanaburgh Investments bought the building from Aiello. The new owner planned to again renovate the building to convert it into condominiums, but the project did not move forward.
The West Milford Planning Board in October 2004 addressed a site plan waiver application that would allow the investment company to reopen the inn, located in an R-2 zone, as a motel and restaurant.
The board postponed action with a decision needed on what factors constituted a motel. William Drew, the township’s planning director, said at the time that the property encompassed a pre-existing non-conforming use that predated the township zoning code. He said a site plan application was not needed. It was reported that Hanaburgh had planned to lease the restaurant.
The balance of the property at the time included 12 one-bedroom efficiency units. In addition, there were two one-bedroom apartments.
Attorney Don Matthews produced a zoning permit dated Aug. 28, 2004, that confirmed that the proposed use was permitted.
Councilman and Planning Board member Joseph Elcavage noted that the owner had said at a recent Township Council meeting that he had been trying to get Veterans Administration approval to reopen the motel for veterans housing.
He reportedly could not obtain necessary funding, and that plan did not materialize.
Despite assurances from West Milford professionals that the use was pre-existing and non-conforming, Planning Board members appeared confused about the difference between a rooming house, a boarding house, a motel and rentals, according to published reports.
The building was auctioned at a sheriff’s sale in Paterson in September 2013.
It took a long time to resolve issues, but the new owner, Joseph Fontana, finally got township approvals to go ahead with his project, now completed. He was represented by attorney Robert Moshman of West Milford.
To contact Ann Genader, send email to anngenader@gmail.com