This $4.6 million Jersey Shore house is being marketed as a tear-down

If you read the listing for this 125-year-old home for sale in Spring Lake it sounds like it’s being marketed as a tear-down.

It’s being called a “rare opportunity to build a custom luxury home in one of the shore’s most desirable communities.”

But if you ask Susan S. Careatti of BHHS Fox & Roach Spring Lake, the listing agent, she really hopes someone “rejuvenates” it -- her preferred word for renovating.

“I’m a purist and this house depicts what the Spring Lake that I know truly is,” she said. “It just has a wonderful feel and flow to it. The design of it is timeless.”

The home is nearly 3,500 square feet, has six bedrooms, three full and one half bathroom and sits on a 0.34-acre, 100 by 150 foot lot. It’s listed for sale for $4.6 million.

The home has a three-sided, wrap-around porch with green and white awnings in the front.

“I just envision all the people walking around and conversing,” throughout the home’s history,“ Careatti said.

The current family has owned the home since 1961. “They came down on the weekends from New York just to relax and have a good time -- and they hated going back,” she said.

The home was able to be used year-round because it had heat at a time when not many Jersey Shore homes did.

Members of the family bought their own homes in Spring Lake over the years, “that’s how much they like it,” she said.

Spring Lake is a 1.75 square mile borough, known as the “Irish Riviera” because of its concentration of Irish Americans. It has historic inns, some Victorian architecture, a tree-lined downtown, a two-mile, non-commercial boardwalk and a park that surrounds a spring-fed lake.

The median sales price of a home in Spring Lake was $3,206,000 as of April, according to the most recent data available from New Jersey Realtors.

Careatti said she’s lived in lots of places throughout the country but came to Spring Lake in the late 1980s. “ And I never want to leave,” she said.

This home is located in a neighborhood with many long-time residents who go outside and talk to each other. “It’s just a warm, friendly neighborhood,” Careatti said.

The Spring Lake North End Pavilion, with a pool, and the beach are about three blocks away. Downtown is about a four block walk. “Everything is very walkable,” she said. “You could take the train in from the city, walk to the house and not need a car.”

You enter the home into a foyer. The stairs to the second level are straight ahead. The living room is to the right. To the left, through French doors, is a family room and a half bathroom. Both the living and family rooms lead to the dining room, then the kitchen and behind it is a den or office.

The second story has two primary bedrooms with a shared full bathroom and two more bedrooms, also with a Jack-and-Jill bathroom. Up a few more stairs are two more bedrooms and the third full bathroom.

Behind the house is a grassy backyard and a one-car garage.

Showings for the home began Friday and interest has been “brisk,” Careatti said.

A few of the people who scheduled tours have said they are interested in renovating the home.

“It’s a fabulous location. It’s an ample sized lot,” she said “And with the high ceilings and basic structure, I think it could be a beautiful rejuvenation of what was there.”

The home might also appeal to a developer or someone who wants to build a custom home because, at 100 by 150 feet, it’s on a larger sized lot for Spring Lake.

“You’re kind of boxed in on a 50 by 150 foot lot,” Careatti said. “You could get a 3,200 square foot home on that size lot but it seems that people want a little bit more than that these days.”

There are two new construction homes nearby, one on the same block and another is behind this home.

“I believe in progress,” she said, “but I think Spring Lake is such a special town that to try to maintain some of its charm and character is really important.”

Are you an agent, buyer or seller who is active in this changing market? Do you have tips about New Jersey’s real estate market? Unusual listings? Let us know.

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Allison Pries may be reached at apries@njadvancemedia.com.