Gargoyles And More

Ok... So, I've got to win the lotto, then take that and put it on 13 Black on the roulette table. If I hit *that* then I can afford to buy the Gates Ave, the adjoining property, and pay taxes on it for a year or two.

Sheesh... How the other half lives and all that.

At 115 Stonebridge, the adjacent houses are still ranch-style and this one is way out of sync. Who would pay $3 million for a house that's surrounded by homes that probably couldn't fetch $1 million?

The writer above must be unaware that in Montclair, the house frequently sets the market. That's why Montclair's revaluation worked off of a generalized standard for square footage and lot size and attempted to equalize out the Township.

Examples: 4 Duryea Rd., a large, restored home recently sold for $3 million while the surrounding houses were only valued in the 7-800's. On Heller Drive, at the north end of town, a new build sold for $3.65 million a few years ago -- again with all the surrounding homes worth WELL under $1 million at the time. Today, many of those modest, post WWII houses are now being renovated or purchased for rebuild/renovation at much higher prices.

In constrast, Stonebridge Rd. already has some of the largest and most expensive older homes in Montclair at one end. It was the more modest ranches, built in the 50's and 60's that were actually out of sinc for the area....coming off of both South Mountain and Wayside at one end and then heading north along Stonebridge.

Consequently, if the market finds the quality of the newly renovated 115 Stonebridge Road on par with the larger, surrounding estate homes coming off South Mountain/upper Stonebridge, I suspect there will be a similar, upscale market move that we now see on Heller Drive, to both upgrade and re-work the more pedestrian ranches in-between.

Preservation Note: most of the ranches found on Stonebridge and throughout the Township are not on par with the modernist homes found in say southern California -- where the ranches have a much more distinctive style, history and a construction quality worth retaining on their own.

Martin Schwartz
Textured Home
Restoration & Building Contractors
Builder - 115 Stonebridge Rd.

Can anyone tell me why the taxes on this home are so low, when they are putting a value on it at over 3 million dollars?

is this chris cali's house??

Martin, we saw the interior during the Montclair Kitchen Tour. It was stunning! A job well done creating a new house with loads of character and old charm.