About Our Location
Our Location
Still Well Med Spa & Pain Management is proudly located in the H.H. Richardson House located at 45 McClean Avenue, Staten Island, New York. Henry Hobson Richardson, considered by many to be the greatest nineteenth century American architect, built this house for himself and his family in Arrochar, on Staten Island in 1868. The Richardson family lived there from 1869 until 1874 when they moved to Brookline, Massachusetts so that Richardson could supervise the construction of Trinity Church in Boston. The H.H. Richardson House was converted to physicians’ offices in 1946. On February 24, 2004, the H.H. Richardson House was designated a LandmarkEditSign by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission to protect the structure from razing.
H.H. Richardson
Richardson (1838-1886) was a prominent 19th-century architect whose work left a significant impact on such American cities as Boston, Buffalo, Albany, Pittsburgh and Chicago. The style he popularized and which is named for himself “Richardsonian Romanesque.”
Although Richardson attended L’Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris where he studied classical architecture, this was not the style that interested him. He was far more interested in a more medieval-inspired style, influenced by William Morris, John Ruskin and others. Richardson began with this influence and developed a unique idiom by adapting the Romanesque style of southern France to his designs.
The H.H. Richardson House
The Staten Island house is a large, Stick Style residence with a high mansard roof, showing Richardson’s understanding both of the prevalent styles in American home building as well as the influence of his years studying and traveling in France. The house survives on what is now a busy thoroughfare, having been converted in 1946 to physicians’ offices. It is a striking reminder of a period in Staten Island history when the borough was a rural enclave, home to numerous prosperous and enlightened men who were looking for beauty and community near an urban environment.
Although the wall cladding has been changed and there have been some additions on the first story, the tall mansard with its numerous dormers and chimneys, the iron roof cresting, and the variety of exterior shapes and picturesque outline continue to suggest the vibrancy of the life that was once lived here. This building survives as one of only two in New York City attributable to Henry Hobson Richardson.
Reputation as Prominent Architect Solidified
The 1872 Trinity Church in Boston solidified Richardson’s national reputation and provided major commissions for the rest of his life. Evidence of Richardson’s contemporary recognition can be found in the fact that of 10 buildings named by American architects as the best in 1885, fully half were his: Trinity Church, the Albany City Hall, Sever Hall at Harvard University, the New York State Capital in Albany and Town Hall in North Easton, Massachusetts.
Dr. Stilwell’s Roots to Staten Island and the Community
Dr. Stilwell, a third-generation Staten Islander, whose grandparents were Matteo Scamardella and Sophia LaMura. It all began in May 1906, when Dr. Stilwell’s grandfather, Matteo Scamardella, left his home in Bacoli, Italy, at the age of 16 and traveled alone on the SS Madonna to Ellis Island. Matteo’s first job on Staten Island was at the Zinicola Bakery in Port Richmond. He then opened Scamardella Bakery in West Brighton, and married Sophie LaMura from the Bronx.
In 1927, Dr. Stilwell’s grandparents, Matteo and Sophie, opened Scamardella Funeral Home in Rosebank. They moved the funeral home to its current 332 Broadway location in West Brighton in the early 1930s and raised their family of seven children on the second floor of the funeral home.
Dr. Stilwell, recognizing the importance of history, family and establishing a business in her community, is pleased to practice interventional pain management and regenerative medicine in the H.H. Richardson House.
