Just Listed Down the Shore: Carriage House in Avalon
This brand-new classic on Avalon’s bayside couldn’t have been built on its lot had its builder not left a piece of the house that used to sit here inside it.
Isn’t this just the cutest thing? This brand-new house at 667 22nd St., Avalon, NJ 08202 channels the style and spirit of Shore houses past. And it sits where it does because it includes a piece of the house that once stood here. / Photography by Anthony Priest, via Compass
This Avalon carriage house for sale shouldn’t exist. But fortunately for both you and its builder, it does. And you now get a sunny, comfortable, up-to-date Shore house at a price that’s low for new construction in Avalon.
TCW Premier Builders erected this house on the footprint of the house that had been on its site. The trouble was, that footprint was too large to fit its lot under Avalon Borough’s current zoning code. The house that had sat here dates to the time before Avalon took off as a vacation resort; its location on one of several bayside islands laced with lagoons would have made it ideal as a home base for a fisherman.
A loophole in the zoning ordinance, however, allows for a non-conforming home to be erected on an existing footprint if it retains either wood from or a wall of the previous structure. So, explains listing agent Eric Montanari of Compass, what the builder did was raise the original house’s foundation one story off the ground, build a two-car garage under that foundation, and retain an interior wall from the original house.
Voilà! A brand-new house on a lot it couldn’t have been built on. And one that’s future-proofed as well, since its garage keeps the house out of the way of floodwaters.
This house takes its exterior design cues from the Shingle Style popular in late-19th-century New England, which also made its way to the Jersey Shore. Latticework on the ground floor and flower boxes and shutters on the first floor give this house storybook charm.
And like just about every other new construction house at the Shore, this one’s upside down.
First-floor hallway
To enter it, you climb a flight of stairs next to the garage. The vestibule leads to a hallway containing the laundry and doors leading to the house’s three bedrooms and one of its three bathrooms. By the way, the interior wall wasn’t the only thing the builder salvaged in building this house: its 10-inch-wide pine floorboards were reclaimed from an 1895 cocoa factory in Camden.
Primary bedroom
The second bathroom is attached to the primary bedroom. Note that both of its closets have bureaus inside them, making it possible to store all your clothes without having to buy dressers.
Primary bathroom
The modern primary bathroom features a large stall shower lined in brick-pattern tile.
Main living area
And the top floor consists of a single open-plan main living area under a vaulted beamed ceiling. There’s plenty of room for relaxing and entertaining under that ceiling as well.
Living room
The living room has a fireplace and sliding glass doors that open onto a balcony. A powder room sits next to the fireplace.
Kitchen
And the kitchen has a butcher-block-topped table and a full complement of stainless-steel appliances.
Balcony
Since one of the lagoons sits across the street from this Avalon carriage house for sale, you get water views from the top-floor balcony.
And you get all the furniture you see in these pictures as well. Most of it comes from Blufish Designs, a furniture store in downtown Avalon.
Even if this house is too large for its lot per current zoning codes, it does have outdoor space. There’s a gas connection for a grill and an outdoor shower.
This house is also close to both the beach and downtown Avalon. And, as already noted, it won’t set you back as much as most new construction houses in Avalon will. Good thing the builder was able to fit it all in, no?
THE FINE PRINT
BEDS: 3
BATHS: 2 full, 1 half
SQUARE FEET: 1,103
SALE PRICE: $1,895,000
667 22nd St., Avalon, NJ 08202 [Eric Montanari | Compass]
