Our Masonry Heritage & Family Legacy
Four generations of the Pennacchi family, serving New Jersey and Pennsylvania since 1947. The oldest masonry contracting company in Mercer County.
A. Pennacchi & Sons is a long-time family business. Established in 1947 by Anthony and John Pennacchi, the firm grew from a small Chambersburg masonry shop into the tri-state area's oldest family-owned masonry and restoration contractor. Anthony and John's father, Gaetano, immigrated from Italy in the early 1930s and began the craft in Trenton. Today the fourth generation leads that same practice from the same shop.
In seventy-nine years the name on the truck has never changed. Not once sold, franchised, or absorbed by an outside investor. Four generations of Pennacchi family ownership, still led today by Paul Sr. and his son Paul Jr. That continuity is the entire point of the name.
The Beginning
Gaetano Pennacchi arrived in Trenton from Italy in the early 1930s, bringing traditional lime-mortar stonework techniques honed in the old country. He settled in the Chambersburg section of Trenton, an Italian-immigrant neighborhood where craftsmen built reputations one house, one chimney, and one wall at a time.
For more than a decade, Gaetano worked quietly across the Italian-American community and beyond. Every job was a piece of permanent craftsmanship, the kind of work that outlasts the contractor who built it. That work ethic, installed house by house, became the foundation the next three generations would build on.
Since 1947
Gaetano's sons, Anthony and John, formally established A. Pennacchi & Sons in 1947. Post-war Trenton was rebuilding and expanding, and new housing, commercial construction, and public institutions all needed stonework. The first jobs were residential chimney and foundation repair across Mercer County.
Through the second generation the firm established its reputation for landmark-level craftsmanship on ordinary residential work. The rule was simple, and has not changed since: the same standard applies to a homeowner's front step as to a cathedral cornice. Clients began driving past closer options to hire the Pennacchis, and the trade community took notice.
Beyond Mercer County
By the 1980s the business had branched out well beyond Mercer County, especially into Princeton. The firm took on historic estate homes, institutional work at independent schools, and the university-adjacent architecture that gives Princeton its distinctive character.
"We have even worked as far north as Newport, Rhode Island, and as far south as Washington, D.C.," Paul Pennacchi notes. "We are the oldest masonry contracting company in Mercer County."
The 1980s marked the transition from local contractor to regional specialist. By the end of that decade, A. Pennacchi & Sons was a firm clients retained for multi-year envelope programs, not one-off repairs, and the team had begun specializing in lime-mortar historic restoration on landmark-protected buildings.
A Family Business in Every Way
Paul Pennacchi grew up in the business, working afterschool and on weekends from the time he was old enough to mix mortar. He became a full-time employee in 1985 and President of the company in 1995. "It is a family business in every way," he says.
Paul's brother Anthony Jr. runs the suburban Philadelphia division as a master stonemason who can design, build, and erect any form and pattern of stonework. Paul's wife Rose and daughter Adriana manage payroll and accounting from the Trenton office. Paul Jr., the fourth generation, joined the firm full-time after college and today serves as Vice President of Operations.
"We are what we are because of what came before," Paul adds. "The firm was built on people who took every job seriously, and every one of us today works to the same standard. That is the continuity we sell."
The Same Standard, Four Generations Later
A. Pennacchi & Sons is a full-service masonry, restoration, and waterproofing company working on residential, commercial, and institutional properties across New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and all five boroughs of New York City. A full-time staff of craftsmen works year-round, supplemented by long-term trade partners, all held to the OSHA and quality standards the firm has maintained since 1947.
The current scope covers brick, stone, and stucco work (pointing, rebuilding, and full restoration), chimney teardowns and rebuilds, concrete and masonry repair, above-grade and below-grade waterproofing, French drain and sump pump installation, and foundation restoration. The firm operates from the same Washington Street shop in Trenton it has occupied since 1947.
Three thousand completed projects later, the name on the truck is still the name of the craftsman doing the work.
Why Four Generations of the Same Family Matters to You.
The firm will be here to back its work.
A. Pennacchi & Sons has operated continuously since 1947 under the same family name, from the same Washington Street shop in Trenton. Masonry warranties and long-term envelope programs only mean something if the contractor is still around to honor them. Seventy-nine years in, we plan to be here for the next project too.
The crew was trained by the crew before it.
Every Pennacchi on the job today was trained by the generation before them, working alongside them on real projects. That kind of hands-on, father-to-son transfer is something you only get inside a family business.
Paul-led across four generations.
A. Pennacchi & Sons is family-owned and family-led. Paul Sr. runs the business as President. His son Paul Jr. is the fourth-generation VP of Operations. That direct family oversight is how the standard has stayed consistent for seventy-nine years.
“I believe that success is based on quality, honesty, and personal relations with our customers.”
Notable Historical Projects
St. Paul's
Princeton, NJ
Jasna Polana Country Club
Princeton, NJ · Former Johnson & Johnson Estate
St. Lawrence Rehabilitation Center
Mercer County, NJ
Institute for Advanced Study
Princeton · Where Einstein worked
Hamilton Township Municipal Building
Hamilton, NJ
The Trent House
Trenton, NJ · Circa 1719
Drumthwacket
New Jersey Governor's Mansion
Clark House
Princeton Battlefield · 1772
Countless Private Residences
Across Mercer, Bucks, Burlington, and Monmouth counties
Profiled In The Regional Press.
- Town Topics · October 1, 2025
“Quality & Customer Focus: Pennacchi & Sons Masonry”
- The Monitor · September 15, 2020
“Paul Pennacchi: Making a Difference”
- The Monitor · February 3, 2019
“Anthony Pennacchi & Sons Carries on Craftsmanship of Their Ancestors”
- Town Topics · July 25, 2012
“Pennacchi & Sons: Masonry Restoration Experts”
- Community News · October 1, 2010
“Family Business Gives Buildings Facelifts”
Become Part Of The Next Chapter.
A. Pennacchi & Sons is still taking on projects across New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and New York City. Call to discuss how we can serve your building.