From 1892 To 2007

The most expensive home on the market in Montclair gets a write up in The Record...

The black, white and gray walls and furniture, sheer curtains and white shades set off period details like curved cove ceilings and ornate wainscoting. "It dances to its own tune," said Linda Grotenstein, of Coldwell Banker, Upper Montclair, who is listing the property on 1.83 acres for $3.6 million. Another adjacent acre is for sale at $800,000. Outside, traditional elements abound, such as the porte-cochere -- stone arches that cover the driveway where horse-drawn carriages would stop to let off guests.

The Tudor estate home above is located at 159 Gates Ave; more photos here. Coming in as the second most expensive home on the market, at $3,465,000, is 115 Stonebridge Road., located just a stone's throw from West Orange.

Continue reading "Gargoyles And More" »

Driving down Ridgewood Ave, around 1:15, enjoying the fall scene, we heard a shrieking alarm that sounded like an ambulance or police car and promptly pulled over. Seeing nothing in the rearviews, we heard a voice repeatedly barking over a loud speaker: BURGLARY! BURGLARY!  LEAVE THIS LOCATION RIGHT NOW!  The house had a for sale sign (it's a Rhodes Van Note 6 BR just reduced to 899k).  A minute later, one of Glen Ridge's finest pulled up and cautiously walked up to the front door. Didn't hang around for the outcome but the alarm could still be heard 10 minutes later and five blocks away in Bloomfield. We've heard that talking houses can be a good marketing tool but this takes it to a new level! From EcoRealty

Check out this cool new mapping tool that allows you to check the sales in your 'hood,  even your street.

Pictured is Montclair's sales map.

We've waved to the throngs of folks gathered at this house from the Baristanet float; now 241 Midland Ave. in Montclair is on the market. If you love a Fourth of July parade and a Victorian, this 5-bedroom home on almost a half acre is for sale for $1,250,000 (taxes are $20,142). Here's a look inside (get a load of the woodwork...)

Continue reading "Ultimate Parade View Included" »

What new luxury digs are priced a lot cheaper than Crisco ever was? These homes.

Meanwhile, someone has taken on the moniker of Crisco to talk about Montclair here. Do you agree with the assessment?

This week, 60 Parkway Drive, celebrated its official ribbon-cutting, with East Orange Mayor Robert Bowser heaping praise on GLC Group principals Mark Caller and Pinny Loketch. Irvington-based GLC Group has bought and rehabbed developments in Newark and East Flatbush, Brooklyn.

It's quite a transformation when you read about the building's past, here...

“We understand the growth potential of East Orange and, therefore, feel that “60” is part of an amazing future for this trendy new city,” says Caller. Intro pricing for units range from $99,000 to $399,000. You'll recall we told you about Empire View, another condo development in East Orange, here.

And with it comes a bunch of new homes on the market. Expect lots of excitement over these new listings, including this one at 21 Erwin Park Road, for $1,049,000, close enough to walk down the street and borrow a cup of sugar a pot of lip gloss from neighbor Bobbi Brown...

Continue reading "Spring Arrives In Montclair" »

Lovingly and meticulously restored by its current owners, this superb 1860 residence is the only known extant house of a series built along the hillside by renowned architect Henry Nason.  The exterior is characterized by symmetry, good proportions and a simplicity of design with peaked gables, bracketed eaves, the repeated use of narrow arched windows and a handsome slate roof that bestow a sense of dignity and purity to this fine home. Taxes: $37,402.08     Approx. 1.30 Acres

For more pictures and info on the auction, click here.
 

We showed you 80 South Mountain here, which almost seems like a steal when compared to the similarly-priced model home at Crisco. Frank Gerard Godlewski showed us what it used to look like, before it went Tudor in the late 1920s...

Continue reading "(Way) Before and After" »

The Charles Bierman House, which had a cameo in the infamous Johnny Cakes episode of the Sopranos, is up for sale for the right investor. According to listing agent Jim Walters of Remax, the former residence for Jewish seniors, which sits on 2.11 acres in a R-1 zone, can be replaced with 6-8 single family residences or, with a variance, 10-12 townhomes. Since the home closed, folks wondered how long before the property would be developed. It's listed at $1,600,000; the property is located here.

The other large, developer-friendly property for sale is Bay Street Commons...

Fully approved 11 unit town house development. Simply obtain permits and break ground.

34 Plymouth Ave, 83x250, $1,250,000

120 North Mountain, .42 acre, $699,000, reval here

1 Orchard Court, $799,000, reval here

Continue reading "Montclair's Spring Arrivals" »

81, South Mountain, Montclair: .69 acre, taxes $28,697, $1,775,000

Continue reading "On The Market This Week" »

A commenter writes...

Can someone explain this real estate anomaly to me?

How can ASI value this property at FMV (fair market value) for $1,499,000 a/o 10/1/06 and it lists for $2,150,000 five months later in a softer market!

Either ASI and town assessor are leaving "a lot on the table" in terms of fair taxes or the property is grossly overpriced for the market. I'd like to see a discussion from local realtors and the town assessor/ASI on how this type of discrepany happens

We're talking the real deal here...a circa 1930, 23 room English Manor.  You'll recognize the Stonebridge Road estate as last spring's Decorator Showhouse.  Now, it can be yours, for a mere $4.250 million. The two and a half acre property has been spiffed up, inside and out. When we visited, we loved the huge iron fountain, towering oaks and flowering perennials in the resort-like back yard.  Bonus showhouse left-overs you'll get: a new bathroom (there are 5 more), new kitchen, a craft room, large media room, fantastic wall finishes, and the comfort of knowing you can entertain 500+ guests comfortably in your own home.  With nine bedrooms and a two bedroom apartment with kitchen, dining and living room over the four car garage, you won't be making reservations at Hotel Caliplofker. For more information, click here.

You think it's nice, but not your dream house?  Tell us, if money were no object, which house on what street of Baristaville would be yours? 

Continue reading "Not A McMansion" »

This Montclair house, 7 Warren Place, (left) is on the market for $769,000. For its reval worth, you can find it here, on the Appraisal Systems site, in Neighborhood 7, for $740,000. Or you could take Zillow's zestimate above, which predicts a sale price of about $639,014.

So who do you believe? Realtor, appraiser or Zillow. Let's watch this one and see what it ultimately sells for. Tell us how your home stacks up.

Meanwhile, here's a much larger price discrepancy...

Continue reading "Your House's Worth, Three Ways" »

We haven't seen the inside, but the exterior transformation of 4 Duryea Road, the Huestis House, is certainly dramatic. The fact that it went from almost being demolished to becoming a historic landmark estate that should stand another 100 years is pretty exciting. Kudos to Jim Van Note and Oasis Architecture for giving the beautiful Queen Anne Victorian back her crown. More photos after the jump...

Continue reading "Dazzling Duryea Road" »

A reader writes...

After living in Montclair for 25 years from 1972-1997, it is part of my heart and soul. I was pleased to be in town again for five days over the New year's holiday, seeing-some dear-to-our-hearts old friends, very few of which still remain in town. Upper Montclair seemed bustling and sparkling, even after the holidays -- people slipping in and out of Starbuck's, The Gap, Williams Sonoma, the upscale jewelry stores and childrens' clothing shops.  The bakeries, 5 & 10, and so many other of the old stores I remember are long gone, and recently my favorite store of all, Vitti's, closed.

I was sad to see the last of the Olympic stores had closed, as well as the funky Orion book store. I stopped in Barbara Eclectic, a clothing store I used to love, but found it totally changed, and stocked with clothes I hated.

I drove around my town, and whereas the houses all look fantastic, all spiffed up to within an inch of their life, it begins not to feel like home. McMansions have eaten up some of the neighborhoods, (I was horrified at what used to be the Marlboro Inn) and the yuppification of my comfortable, diverse and interesting town is now complete. It worries me. House prices, as everywhere, have soared. Friends sold their nice, comfortable but nothing extraordinary house for close to a million dollars, and I learned that our dear old home on Fernwood Avenue was recently assessed for $925,000, and would undoubtedly sell for over a million.

I was shown on a list of my old neighborhood assessments that even the little houses on Nassau are all well over half a million, and I saw none on the entire huge list for less than that. Most of the plain, normal  houses I remember are over $750,000, many that I remember in the 8's and 9's, like ours, and MANY way over a million, a number over 1 million 5, and one on Park street for $2,300,000. And this was always a very nice, but not the priciest part of town. I cannot imagine the assessments on Upper Mountain, or in the estate section in Montclair proper.

Well, it concerns me greatly. An old friend, who recently moved to Clifton to avoid the taxes, was telling me that her son and his wife wanted so much to buy a house in town, but could find nothing they could afford, and are in Bloomfield, I believe. I remember when my own daughter and her husband were house hunting a few years back after renting in town, and they found the same thing and had to move elsewhere. And these are the kinds of young people Montclair needs in order to stay the community it always was.

 

Continue reading "Montclair: Don't Ever Change?" »

At just shy of 6,000 square feet and situated on .41 acre of property, this 1897 side hall Victorian is special, and not just because it's still standing.

After a complete renovation/restoration, its sale has set a record. Located at 31 Madison Avenue in Montclair, the house has sold three times in the last few years, first for $210,000, then $375,000 and then this past December for a whopping $929,000. With 10-foot-ceilings throughout -- and an open staircase that soars through all three levels, as well as seven bedrooms and a 14 by 24 foot living room, it's got all the amenities of a Crisco without the price tag or claustrophobia.

Jim Walters of Remax, who has sold the home all three times, says the next highest priced sale for the neighborhood area was $740,000. Walters searched the MLS for homes that sold from Glen Ridge to Orange Road and from Washington to Woodland Aves. For more pix, click through to the jump. -- Liz George

Continue reading "South End Stunner Sets Record" »

Realtors are jumping into the blogosphere and Baristaville's house hawkers are no exception. Adriana O'Toole has Montclair Community View, described as...

This Community Blog was created in order to give the Montclair Community a free, interactive and comprehensive communication site that serves as a one-stop source for community news and information.

And forget nametags. Adriana's trademark image -- her, holding her oversized name placard -- makes us think how much friendlier Baristaville would be if everyone walked around with a giant sign with their name on it. Slightly less warm and fuzzy is Suburban Digs, the blog of realtor Roberta Baldwin, who we hope will continue to tell tales out of school , like this one...

Buying and selling homes is so incredibly intense and scary that it messes with people's minds until they're not themselves. After 11 years in real estate, I can safely say I've met every personality type known to mankind. Or, so I thought until I encountered one so complex and difficult that all the screamers, worryworts, undecided, difficult and suspicious types (most just temporarily so!) put together did not equal the intensity and complexity of this client.

Continue reading "Look Who's Blogging, Too" »