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Stanley J. Shaftel
Stanley J. Shaftel
Born	March 14, 1924; Brooklyn, New York
Died	December 26, 2003 (aged 79); Las Vegas, Nevada
Nationality	American
Occupation	Architect
Years active	20th century
Spouse(s)	Betty; Corrine (m. 1956)
Children	3

Stanley Shaftel was an American architect, real estate developer, professor, and veteran of the United States Navy best known for his work throughout the New York metropolitan area.

Biography and career

Stanley Shaftel was born in Brooklyn, New York, on March 14, 1924.^[1]^[2] He attended Brooklyn Technical High School, and he joined the United States Navy after graduating, serving as a Naval pilot from 1942 to 1943.^[1] He began practicing architecture in New York City soon thereafter, having graduated from Oklahoma A&M College with a degree win architecture. He began his own architectural practice in 1952 and eventually moved his office to 310 Northern Boulevard, in the University Gardens section of Great Neck, New York.^[1]^[3]^[4]

As an architect, Shaftel mainly specialized in designing houses for large-scale suburban housing developments and in custom-built homes, working on projects in 16 states.^[1] Many of his works were noted for their modern design features, and a number of his higher-end homes were further included for their indoor swimming pools.^[5]^[6]^[7]^[8]^[9] A number of his earlier homes were collaborations between him and his first wife, Betty: he would design the house and she would decorate the interiors.^[7]

In the mid-1950s, shortly after opening his own practice, Shaftel undertook one of his first large-scale projects, designing 60 ranch and split-level homes in a 27-acre (11 ha) development in Roslyn Estates, New York.^[8] He would then design the houses in the 150-home Laurel Ridge development in Port Jefferson, New York, three years later, in 1957.^[10] In 1958, he would design the homes in the Suburban Greens development in Plainview, New York.^[5] In 1959, he designed houses in the 410-home Avalon Gardens development in Merrick, New York.^[9] That same year, he designed the houses in the 2,400-home North Point development in Huntington, New York – the largest housing development built on Long Island, at the time, since Levitt & Sons developed Levittown.^[11]

In the 1960s, Shaftel continued to design homes for countless large-scale suburban developments. He designed 60 homes for the Shaker Ridge development in Commack, New York, and 100 homes in 1963 for the Eastwood Knolls development in East Northport, New York.^[6]^[12] In the mid-1960s, Shaftel designed the homes for the Stratford Woods development in Flower Hill, New York; he also most homes in that village's Wildwood housing development – with some of the others being designed by others, such as A.H. Salkowitz.^[13]^[14]

Another architect, Alfred Akner, would eventually begin working with Shaftel, with the firm becoming Shaftel & Akner.^[15]

In the mid-1980s, Shaftel designed the houses in the 42-home Greentree at Whispering Fields development in Northport, New York.^[16]^[17] He designed three variants of homes for the development: a colonial variant (known as the "Red Maple"), a country ranch variant (known as the "White Birch"), and a contemporary variant (known as the Blue Spruce").^[16] One of these homes – the development's model home – would eventually be purchased and become a group home for people with autism and other developmental disabilities.^[18]

Shaftel also served as a professor of architecture at the New York Institute of Technology in Old Westbury, New York.^[1]

Death

Stanley Shaftel died on December 26, 2003, aged 79.^[1]^[2]

Personal life

Stanley Shaftel was married twice.^[1]^[7] He was married to his second wife, Corrine, for 47 years, until his death; they resided in Las Vegas at the time of his death, having previously lived in Kings Point, New York.^[1]^[15] They had three daughters and several grandchildren.^[1]