Bernardsville, N.J.: A Gilded Age Enclave Looking to the Future

0
201
Bernardsville, N.J.: A Gilded Age Enclave Looking to the Future

After nearly 17 years of commuting more than an hour each way from North Jersey to his company's headquarters in Basking Ridge, Ray Wierzbicki finally moved with his wife, Bernadette, into a home just minutes from his office last December – an English country-style home Bernardsville, New Jersey Seven months later, he retired from Verizon, where he had worked for 43 years, most recently as senior vice president.

Joking that he should have started the move south a little earlier, his colleagues tried to encourage him to “stay a little longer,” to which Mr. Wierzbicki replied, “No thanks, I'm fine.”

He's busy enjoying his new life in the five-bedroom, 1885 house on five acres that the couple bought for $3 million and which he described as “something you'd see in my wife's magazine.” “would see” described.

“We feel very blessed to wake up here every morning,” said Mr. Wierzbicki, 69. “We love history, and you can spend every weekend driving around, seeing all the houses and learning about their past.”

In fact, Bernardsville is steeped in history as one of the premier rural enclaves of the Gilded Age. After the Manhattan railroad was extended to the area in 1872, the scions of New York society flocked to the borough, purchasing large tracts of land and commissioning notable architects to design what they called “summer homes.”

“That was the average type of house here back then,” said Molly C. Tonero, a saleswoman with Turpin Realtors, during a recent drive past Bernardsville’s many grand estates and rolling lawns. “When financiers came from Manhattan, they had deep pockets and bought as much land as they could. They wanted fresh air, space and a view.”

Many of these houses still stand, although ownership passed from industrialists and banking magnates at the turn of the century to today's leaders in media, fashion, entertainment and technology. But not all of Bernardsville's nearly 8,000 residents have deep roots or excessive wealth.

Mayor Mary Jane Canose, a 52-year resident, said the district has seen a lot of sales since the pandemic. “Bernardsville tended to have an older population,” said Ms. Canose, 73. “But because of Covid, a lot of those people wanted to sell their homes and move south, so we are now seeing a lot of young families with children moving here.”

Heather Grabin is part of this influx. She moved to the area from Jersey City in 2022 in search of better schools for her children, Priya, 11, and Gobind, 6. Ms. Grabin, 36, a hotel consultant, rented a home in neighboring Far Hills for a year before purchasing a three-bedroom colonial in Bernardsville for $693,000 in August.

“Everyone is so welcoming here,” she said. “I think the city is diverse to a certain extent and that adds to its appeal. There is always something to do to help other people and it is important that my children are involved.”

According to the United States Census Bureau, Bernardsville's population is 91 percent white, but the regional school system's population is about a quarter Hispanic.

Natzar Hill came to New Jersey from Costa Rica when he was seven and moved to Bernardsville 12 years ago. Ms. Hill, who describes herself as an “unofficial liaison” to the Spanish-speaking community, said she helps families integrate into the district. She recently started a project selling homemade evergreen gnomes to support families in need. In three weeks, she sold 58 copies and raised nearly $4,000.

“We're painting the city with dwarves and inviting the Spanish-speaking community to be part of the process,” said Ms. Hill, 40. “It's about inclusion and supporting each other with resources that we already have here, but. “Many may not be aware of this.”

Most residents of this 12.9-square-mile tract in Somerset County define their place of residence as either a “mountain” or a “village,” reinforcing what Daniel Lincoln, an architect, describes as a historically “split” identity.

“There have been wealthy people on the mountain since the 1880s, and in the city there were merchants, farmers and immigrants who helped build these mansions,” said Mr. Lincoln, a member of the Bernardsville Historic Preservation Advisory Committee. “Today there is a whole new generation that earns a lot of money. And we have a fairly large Hispanic population from Uruguay and Paraguay who work in construction and landscaping and own their own contracting companies.”

Although there is no defined boundary between the two areas, those who live within walking distance of schools and downtown are generally considered village residents, while the area northwest of Route 202 and the railroad tracks is considered mountain residents. Properties in the Mountain District are zoned to a minimum of 5 or 10 acres and, for the most part, are not adjacent to the county's water or sewer systems. The mountain is also home to the historic properties, although a small area near the high school has been designated as the Olcott Avenue Historic District. Neighborhoods south of the railroad tracks have more modest homes, including ranches, split-level homes, and smaller colonial homes.

Most of the district's commercial activity—specialty stores and services, a handful of restaurants, and the historic Bernards Inn—occurs along Morristown Road and Mine Brook Road, or Route 202.

Aside from converting the St. Bernard Church rectory into 20 luxury condos four years ago, there hasn't been much condo or apartment development in the city. But that's about to change, with a proposed mixed-use development recently approved by the City Council. Located at a key downtown intersection, the Palmer Square project will include 68 apartments, 10,000 square feet of retail space and underground parking. Some, like Mr. Lincoln, have expressed concern about the proposed four-story height, while others question the tax breaks given to developers and the lack of housing that would meet the state's affordable housing needs.

The developers, Advance Realty Investors, will contribute to the county's affordable housing fund for future affordable housing projects, said Ms. Canose, who believes the project is critical to the revitalization of downtown Bernardsville. “We’re trying to do enough projects to preserve the character of the city but also bring people into the city,” she said. “If you don’t change, you die.”

As of mid-December, there were 20 homes for sale in Bernardsville, including two for more than $12 million. One, a 32-acre estate with an 1886 castle-like house designed by George B. Post, is owned by fashion designer Marc Ecko. The price is $13.75 million. The second, a 25,444-square-foot home built in 1998 on a 32.88-acre lot, is listed at $12.995 million. At the low end of the market is a two-bedroom bungalow built in 1930 that is listed for $390,000.

The average price of the 94 homes sold through December 12 of this year was $795,000; According to the Garden State Multiple Listing Service, 117 properties sold for an average of $780,000 in the previous 12 months.

While most of the homes listed for less than $1 million have only been on the market for a few weeks, others, like the two-bedroom 1950s ranch house owned by Mikayla Walsh, 25, and Mike D'Elia, 31, bought in May, already lingered on the market much longer.

After stalking the home for months and watching the price drop, the couple made an offer for $580,000, which was accepted. “I tell people we bought the house for our two dogs,” Ms. Walsh said, referring to her 1.28 acres of woodland that has a stream running through it. “We wanted property and not something completely new. It needs a lot of work, but it’s the perfect house for us.”

A valuable guide for those wishing to visit Bernardsville's mountain estates is the two-volume volume “New Jersey Country Houses: The Somerset Hills” by John K. Turpin and W. Barry Thomson, which describes dozens of local mansions built between the 1880s and were built in 1880 during World War II.

There is also a walking tour guide compiled by the Historic Preservation Advisory Committee and Friends of Historic Bernardsville, which includes information about landmarks such as the Bernards Inn, which was built in the early 1900s, destroyed by fire, and then converted into what is now a boutique hotel , with the new restaurant Red Horse by David Burke. A few doors down, the Bernardsville Cinema recently reopened, showing current films on three screens.

Near the schools there is a municipal swimming pool, tennis courts and sports fields called “polo grounds”.

Bernardsville is part of the Somerset Hill School District and shares services with Peapack-Gladstone and Far Hills for elementary and middle schools and with Bedminster for secondary schools.

Students in preschool through fourth grade attend Marion T. Bedwell Elementary School, which has an enrollment of approximately 450 students. Students in fifth through eighth grades attend Bernardsville Middle School, which has approximately 470 students. About 800 attend Bernards High School in Bernardsville, which offers 27 Advanced Placement classes, a media center and math and science master leagues. In the 2021-22 school year, average SAT scores were 599 in reading and writing and 592 in math, compared to state averages of 538 and 532.

Private schools include Far Hills Country Day School and Mendham Country Day School for students in preschool through eighth grade, and Gill St. Bernard's School in Peapack-Gladstone for students in preschool through 12th grade.

Bernardsville is approximately 40 miles west of New York City; The journey by car takes about an hour, depending on traffic.

New Jersey Transit provides rail service from Bernardsville to Penn Station in Manhattan, with direct trips during peak hours and transfers at Newark or Summit during off-hours. The train journey takes about an hour and a half on average; Tickets cost either $15 one-way or $436 for a monthly pass.

Rep. Millicent Fenwick lived in Bernardsville most of her life and served in local government before leaving for Congress at age 64. An outspoken, pipe-smoking civil rights activist, she was the model for Garry Trudeau's Doonesbury character Lacey Davenport. She died in 1992 at the age of 82 at her home in Bernardsville. A bronze statue of her, the first outdoor statue of a woman in New Jersey, was unveiled in 1995 and stands near the train station.

For weekly email updates on residential real estate news, sign up here.