Chaletmomma

Today marks the Anniversary of the day we took ownership of the Chalet! 16 years ago today … we signed the papers on this quirky little beauty. The Chalet was the first home built on property subdivided in 1924 from the Leaycraft Estate. Our street bears the name of that Estate.

Chalet: a wooden house or cottage with overhanging eaves typically found in the Swiss Alps.

While driving with a friend we stumbled upon a For Sale by Owner sign that soon turned into our destiny. A home for sale in my old neighborhood! My dream location full of quiet streets, unique architecture and close to the park. I knew the house - while growing up a few block away I trick or treated here and rode my bike by what we called “The Red Schoolhouse” because it was painted red and the center chimney looks like a bell tower. You can see it here in the 1968 watercolor by artist Nat Lewis. This painting was gifted to us by a former owners daughter. We are so very blessed to have this hanging on our wall.

We started calling it “The Chalet” soon after moving in. Built as a vacation home by Austrian craftsmen brought in specifically by Dr. Morgan the original owner. At roughly 1400 square feet it’s not overly large - it has three-bedroom and although we were originally moving to gain space we have forgiven the Chalet for only offering us one small bath. It has wonderful unique features such the hand cut railings and multiple sets of French doors throughout - there’s so much to love.

We’ve so fortunate to enjoy open-concept living in a home which is almost 100 years old. We’ve jokingly coined the phrase Step-Saver to describe our Kitchen because if you stand in the middle of the room you can reach out and touch everything without taking a step!

Adding to the homey feel, is the fireplace with it’s beautiful carvings in the center of the house.

One major change we’ve made to the Chalet was enclosing our porch. It was an open air galerie - you can read more about it here. Hands down the best thing we’ve done. Both the Master bedroom and our son’s bedroom are above this space. The Chalet is weather tight and quieter!

We love sleeping in the tree tops!

1952

2004

1976

I love these images - the middle is when we still had the humongous American Beech out front. We loved that tree but, it started loosing limbs. You can see it in the image that was published in a local history book in 1976.

Steven, Liam and I have filled the Chalet with many treasures but, the best part of the Chalet is sharing it with others!

We feel so very blessed every day to be able to call this jewel home.

Til next time!

This Spring was long in coming here in Northern New Jersey. We had buckets of rain and the temperatures stayed pretty chilly until just the end of last month - but friends it came and how lovely it all looked! We are on the cusp of the Summer Solstic and temperatures have remained pretty mild. Now, of course we want it to warm up so we can enjoy the swim club! ha!

We have a small Peonies bush.

The Bearded Irises spread every year.

These Siberian Irises were a gift from my sister - she brought some over from her garden!

Nothing better than these old growth Rhododendrons and Mountain Laurel.

Our Cherry Blossom Tree is gorgeous - to think this was an add-on when we redid the landscaping in 2014.

We have two lilac bushes on the side of the house between the kitchen door and driveway and on the side of the garage - the blooms are many and they smell glorious! If only they didn’t make my nose run I would bring some inside.