Reflections on Lake Garda
Harry Battistoni: The Man Behind Lake Garda’s ‘Paradise in the Pines’
By Olivia Zmarlicki-Germano
Long before Lake Garda became the neighborhood families know today, the land surrounding it was quiet and untouched. There was no lake, no homes along the shoreline, no roads winding through the pines, and no children running toward the water. There were only fields, forests, and open pastures where cattle grazed peacefully. Harry John Battistoni saw more than an empty piece of land. He saw a place where families could gather, children could spend summers swimming and boating, and memories would be created for generations.
He chose the name Lake Garda for the lake he envisioned as the centerpiece of his development, honoring the magnificent lake in northern Italy on whose shores he had been born and raised. The name reflected far more than nostalgia. It was a tribute to his homeland and an effort to recreate a small piece of the landscape that had shaped his earliest memories.
Born Enrico Giuseppe Battistone in the small Italian village of Magugnano, he arrived in America in 1906 at just sixteen years of age with little more than determination and a dream. Like so many young immigrants of his generation, he left behind his family and friends in search of a better life. He settled in New Britain, finding work in construction alongside many fellow immigrants, intent on mastering every aspect of the building trades.
He began using the name Harry John Battistoni and became an American citizen shortly before the United States entered the First World War. Through perseverance and a strong work ethic, he established his own company and earned a reputation as a respected builder in the community. In 1917, Harry married the love of his life, Adeline, and the following year they welcomed their first child, Alvin. Shortly afterward, he departed for military service, answering the call to serve his adopted country. After the war, Harry returned to construction with renewed ambition, confidence, and the vision of an entrepreneur. Four years later, their daughter, Elvera Louise, was born, completing a family built on devotion, sacrifice,and perseverance.
Most of the images are from old postcards. The author believes they are generally circa the early 1930s.
Harry had a natural talent for business and building. His construction company continued to grow - building many houses, stone walls, and commercial buildings. Among his most notable projects were the Arch Street Movie Theater and Holy Trinity Catholic Church in New Britain. Harry became an influential member of the community, serving as president of the Italian American Citizen Club and as a commissioner on the city’s Board of Public Works. Harry’s mind never seemed to rest. No sooner had one project been completed than he was already envisioning another, each one grander than the last. He sought to establish the Citizens Industrial Bank to provide financial opportunities for Italian businessmen and professionals, build a gas station at the corner of Garda Road and Plainville Avenue and a small private airfield nearby. Opposition and zoning concerns ultimately prevented these plans from becoming a reality.
Success, however, did not come without hardship. After building a considerable fortune, Harry lost much of it during the stock market crash of 1929. Yet giving up was never part of his nature. He rebuilt himself once again, relying upon the same determination that had brought him from Italy to America.
He envisioned creating a city within a city, centered around a lake and nestled among the pines—a place where families could escape the hustle and bustle of everyday life and enjoy everything they needed for recreation and community. In 1928, while living on George Washington Turnpike in the modest home he had built for his family, Harry discovered the land that would become Battistoni Park, later known as the Lake Garda neighborhood. Where others saw ordinary farmland, Harry saw the foundation of something extraordinary. Creating the lake itself was a remarkable undertaking. He diverted water from Monce Pond beneath the Burlington roadway and harnessed the property’s natural springs to fill the basin.
It was not the first lake he had created; years earlier, he had developed Lake Como near the Bristol town line, naming it after another famous Italian lake. Lake Garda, however, represented a much larger vision. Instead of a few homes with private waterfronts, Harry imagined an entire community where residents would share access to a common lake. Surrounded by pine trees and natural beauty, it would become what he proudly called a “paradise in the pines.” He designed homes inspired by the bungalow-style houses popular in California and Florida, bringing a touch of those warmer climates to the hills of Connecticut. Its residents would enjoy the waterfront, nature trails, baseball fields, fishing, swimming, sailing, diving, and countless adventures along the shores of Lake Garda.
No community would have been complete without a gathering place, and so Harry built the Lake Garda Clubhouse, where dances, talent shows, beauty contests, banquets, and grand celebrations brought residents together. Constructed of red brick and white concrete, with large windows, polished wooden floors, and a stage for music and dancing, the clubhouse became the social heart of the community. Located at the end of Garda Drive (Lake Garda Drive), between Lido Road and Old Litchfield Road (Litchfield Road), it overlooked the lake and sandy beach below. During the devastating Flood of 1955, the clubhouse served a greater purpose as the Red Cross operated from the building, assisting families displaced by the floodwaters and transforming a place of celebration into one of refuge and comfort. That same summer, the clubhouse became home to Robinson Day Camp for Boys. In 1965, the program expanded to include girls and eventually welcomed two to three hundred children each season, providing generations of children with unforgettable summers along the shores of Lake Garda. Newspaper advertisements confirm that the camp continued serving area children through at least the summer of 1978.
As the Lake Garda community continued to develop, the clubhouse eventually reached the end of its usefulness and was removed sometime after the camp’s final seasons, reportedly through a controlled burn. Although the site would later give way to additional homes, its loss marked the end of an era. The building that once echoed with music, laughter, and celebration was gone, but its memories endured.
Maintaining Harry’s dream was not always easy. As the community grew, disagreements developed between Harry and the Lake Garda Improvement Association. Harry believed strongly that, having created the community, he should retain sole control over its future, while residents wanted a greater voice in decisions affecting their homes and neighborhood. The disagreements continued for years and eventually evolved into legal battles. In July 1964, tensions reached a breaking point when Harry brought bulldozers to the beach in an attempt to block access. Trees were removed, stumps uprooted, and portions of the sandy shoreline disturbed. The association quickly responded, restoring the beach before the Fourth of July holiday. The situation became so heated that Connecticut State Police were called to maintain order.
It was a painful chapter in the history of a place Harry had worked so hard to create. He once said, “My heart is here, my life,” and those words rang true until the end. By the early 1970s, Harry was nearing ninety years of age. With the dam in need of repairs and his family ready to move on, Harry reluctantly came to accept that the time had arrived to sell his remaining interests in the property. It was a difficult decision, for he still dreamed of creating more, including additional development and even a medical complex, but Bristol, Burlington, and Farmington turned him down. Battistoni left his earthly worries behind on October 30, 1987, at the age of ninety-six. After his passing, taxes mounted and the dam continued to deteriorate. There was talk of permanently draining the lake, but in the end, the very association with which he had fought so bitterly saved his dream, purchasing the lake and dam and restoring them for future generations.
Those who knew Harry often remarked that he lived life on his own terms. He worked hard, provided for his family, and built. Not everyone agreed with his methods; some saw him as stubborn and difficult, while others viewed him as a visionary. Perhaps both were true. Harry was a man of determination, ambition, and imagination—an immigrant who arrived in America as a teenager and left behind a community that still bears his mark. Although the clubhouse is gone, the lake Battistoni created remains. The neighborhood continues to flourish, and every family gathered along its shores is part of the dream of a man who once looked across an empty field and envisioned a “paradise in the pines.” Through every winding road, every cottage nestled beneath the towering pines, and every child who splashes in the waters of Lake Garda, Harry’s vision lives on. Few may know the name of the man who imagined it all, but generations of residents continue to enjoy the world he created with such care, vision, and perseverance.
Olivia immigrated to the United States from Communist-controlled Poland at the age of fourteen, after a difficult journey to freedom. Now a mother of five, she lives with her husband in Connecticut. Writing and storytelling have been her passions since childhood. Through her writing,Olivia hopes to inspire readers to follow their dreams, overcome the obstacles along the way, and always believe that life is an art of the possible. See more about the author and her writings at https://linktr.ee/books.ozgThis article contains research from the following sources: Newspapers.com, Familysearch.org, Censuses, EllisIsland.org and Facebook.
