OK, we'll bite. It does sound more romantic than Christopher Court. Notting Hill Way...
Get ready for the face-off between American Properties and Continental Properties. The former of Crisco fame, will have to contend with an upstart, Montclair Heights, which is pricing its townhomes, described as "a breathtaking enclave of 19 ultra-luxury estate townhomes," very competitively. Building has started on the site of the former Montclair Community Hospital, and the first two homes are already on the market, listed at $1,299,990 (for the #26, St. Moritz model) and $1,349,990 (for #24, the Chamonix). The townhomes are listed at just under 4,000 square feet and will have three bedrooms and three full baths. In addition to fanciful names, (buyers will also get the whimiscal street address of Notting Hill Way), the townhomes also promise "exquisite features including two-story entry and a 10' first floor ceiling."
What they won't have is actual land between them or the postage stamp yards of Crisco, but considering how closetogether the Crisco homes are, this may not matter after all. Of course, they also don't have the Crisco stigma.
August 14, 2006
Such random disconnects in how these are named: "Notting Hill Way" will have townhomes with styles named after Alpine ski resorts. All they need to do to top it all off is to have two choices of kitchen trim packages: the Santa Fe Sands or the Outback Sunset.
Posted by: appletony | Jun 5, 2006 4:10:50 PM
Sometimes I'd be happy to have the size of my house without all of the yardwork. I grew up in a limestone rowhouse in Park Slope, Brooklyn, where we had postage size front and backyards, and no land at all inbetween. To me, this was the norm. I think no side yard at all is better than the Christopher Court design, which just looks like a mistake. Personally, I'd rather not have side windows, than windows that make me feel like I could reach out and touch my neighbor.
Posted by: Jessica | Jun 5, 2006 4:29:12 PM
The reason I moved to Montclair was to have open space and yards. The influx of these homes is no better than NYC. And now that parking is just as bad, we are going from worse to terrible. I guess I need to move even further west (?Iowa) or back to NYC.
Posted by: Ian Seth | Jun 5, 2006 7:47:37 PM
Ha, I love it - if you can't make it in NY, then move to Iowa, forget about NJ, PA, OH, IN, etc. Actually, life in Iowa is pretty good, and you don't have to deal with boneheads like ROC and Cathar, just simpletons like Chet and Jake.
Posted by: Trent | Jun 5, 2006 11:16:12 PM
Trent --
northeastern snobbery never ceases to amuse me. And I say that as a born and bred NYer. My husband, Jake -- ahem -- is from Iowa. Have you actually met him? Many lovely people from there, and many very very smart people. With better manners than some people in the northeast. I wouldn't live there, but very much enjoy visiting.
But it is true -- if you want land, go further west. Try Nebraska or the Dakotas, even. You can have a big big yard.
Posted by: Proud wife of Iowan | Jun 6, 2006 10:18:04 AM
The townhomes look beautiful, but why don't some of these developers start investing in towns like Clifton or Bloomfield to help make them become more desirable (while still making plenty of money). Or start investing in already nice neighborhoods in Verona, Little Falls, Wayne, etc... where you can completely renovate an existing house and still have land. I think development in Little Falls would benefit the most with its two train stations and proximity to Upper Montclair, and highways to Midtown Manhattan. Montclair is becoming overbuilt, overtaxed, and WAY overpriced as you can see price reductions all over town.
Posted by: Ken | Jun 6, 2006 12:54:54 PM
Believe me, Ken, they ARE investing in Bloomfield. We're getting our own influx of townhomes and condos. It's everywhere. And it's too much.
Posted by: mauigirl52 | Jun 6, 2006 6:30:44 PM