Sale of lifetime antique collection support programs for autistic adults
Don't call Nat Conti's antique and furniture sale a "garage sale'' - though it's being held in a garage.
And don't call it an estate sale, because Conti is very much alive.
Not only alive but, at 78, overflowing with the same energy he used to build a neighborhood basement waterproofing business into an multi-million dollar construction and energy company with international reach.
Overflowing is also a good word to describe what the old Audi dealership in downtown Bernardsville looked like after Conti filled it with his antiques and furniture this summer and put price tags on everything, with all the money going to a school for kids with autism. The sale, at 67 Morristown Road, concludes Sept. 15.
"This is the last weekend," Conti said. "Tell people to come in, make an offer. We got a lot of nice stuff here."
The showroom, service department and garage bays are filled with furnishings and art work Conti brought home from his world travels; mostly from France, Italy and England. Or pieces from his home in Bernardsville, the former Stevens Estate - one of the area's most historic mountain mansions - which he bought "lock, stock and barrel" 18 years ago. A lot has been sold, and Conti estimates they've raised "a few hundred thousand" for the school, but there is much more still there.
Conti isn't cleaning house. He only selling a portion of his stuff as part of his two-decade commitment to The Children's Institute in Essex and Morris Counties.
This story begins with a grandfather's love of his namesake grandson. Natale Conti came from Italy in 1905 and was a skilled mason and builder, known locally as Honest Tony Conti.
"I went to work with my grandfather every day since kindergarten," Nat Conti said.
"In school, the nuns at St. Joseph's (in Maplewood) put me in the back of the class. I was voted most likely to not succeed at Summit High," Conti said. "But what I learned from my grandfather you couldn't learn in school. Principles. Work ethic. Passion for work. These are the things that carried me through my life."
The grandfather died when Conti was a boy. When he started his waterproofing business after high school, he printed "Since 1906" on the truck.
Now it's on Conti's website.
"In my mind, he started the business," Conti said.
Conti carried on his grandfather's tradition of 18-hour work days, and seven-day work weeks.
He got his first big contract an $11,000 sewer job in New Providence in the early 1960s.
"I thought I hit the lottery," he said.
After that, he just got more work.
"There wasn't a big break-through job," he said. "I just kept working."
Those four words sum up Nat Conti's life better than any, except for maybe the company motto, which is "Done Once. Done Right."
The work kept coming: from the U.S. military, from the largest utility companies in the world, from government agencies and major private industries from across America and four continents.
Nat Conti, the kid in the back row at St. Joseph's, became a multi-millionaire, a world traveler and collector. But when he bought the 15-acre Stevens Estate 18 years ago, he did much of the restoration with his own two callused hands.
"It was ready to be bulldozed down," Conti said. "I put more than $25 million into the house and the grounds."
The 11,000-square-foot mansion, where he lives with his wife, Linda, has won all sorts of awards and is on the market for $8.9 million.
"A bargain," he said.
Any discussion of his overall worth leads Conti to this statement: "My family is my real wealth."
He has two sons, two daughters, two stepdaughters and 14 grandchildren.
And now comes the second part of the story about a grandfather's love of a grandson.
Nat Conti's grandson, Cameron Olson, now 19, was born with autism.
"I didn't even know what it was," he said. "But when Cammy was diagnosed, that's all I heard. Autism. Autism. I never realized what a big problem it was."
And when Cameron was enrolled in The Children's Institute, Conti put his energy, work ethic and passion into the school.
"He's helped us raise over $2 million over the years," said Bruce Ettinger, the executive director of the institute, which has a grammar school in Verona, a high school in Livingston and is opening a center for adults in Hanover.
"I could tell you a million stories about Nat," Ettinger said. "I don't know where to start. He is one of the most caring, remarkable people I ever met."
There is a story about the fundraiser Conti held at his mansion. He wanted Frankie Valli, but Frankie Valli didn't come cheap. So he got the Children's Institute Choir instead.
"He sat there with tears running down his face as they sang," Ettinger said.
There is the story about Conti sitting down with the contractor for the high school five years ago.
"He volunteered to be in on the negotiations, Ettinger said. "By the time he was done, he saved us $1 million and got us a new roof.
"When we were looking at properties for the school, he came out with us, a week after he had open heart surgery."
There is so much more. Conti built a greenhouse and athletic facilities at the school. He's in the picture at the ribbon cutting, but hiding behind a taller woman.
"I like it that way ... behind the scenes," he said.
Now he's turning his attention to the institute's Center for Independence, where Cameron will be enrolled. It's the natural step of a grandfather who sees something in a grandson others may not.
"There's a pure, innocence to him," Conti said. "He's a gift to us."
Mark Di Ionno may be reached at mdiionno@starledger.com. Follow The Star-Ledger on Twitter @StarLedger and find us on Facebook.