By Paul Goldfinger, editor @Blogfinger
Mr. Thomas Freund, a 46-year-old heating and cooling contractor, has been coming to Ocean Grove since he was 13 years old. His father has been the proprietor of the Quaker Inn since 1979. Tom was already the owner of two homes in the Grove when he spotted 107 Central Avenue five years ago. He loved the potential of the property which has a driveway with garage and a prime location on the corner with Clark Avenue facing Fletcher Lake. He saw that it would be his “dream house.” He learned that the original owners were members of the Scott Paper Towels family, although he is unsure of the date of construction.
107 Central Avenue at Clark: corner angle view. Paul Goldfinger photos.
Tom saw that renovations would be needed, but he felt confident because the structure had “good bones.” The outside was clad in aluminum, and the 2nd and 3rd floor porches were gone. Tom said, “It looked very 1970’s, with lots of linoleum and Formica. It was very dated, but the wrong date.” Tom had an old photo of the house in its prime (see below) and he wanted to take it back to the early 1900’s.
Mr. Jay Cortese of the Historical Society of Ocean Grove made the presentation at the Beersheba awards dinner, and he spoke about how “the original cedar clapboards were revealed, restored and replaced when necessary.” He said, “The building’s rich colors of gold, deep red and cream are reflective of the deep, muted tones preferred by homeowners in the 1880’s and are instrumental in bringing this home back to it’s original elegant state.” He also mentioned the “Juliet balcony” on the 3rd floor, Clark Ave. side.
107 Central Ave. c. 1910-1920. Note the car on Clark (? model T Ford helps date the image). Courtesy Tom Freund. Note that Blogfinger has cleverly placed the before after the after, but it looks better this way.
The restoration was designed by Cate Comeford and built by Jack Green.
According to Tom, the inside needs a great deal of work. “We have a long way to go,” he said.
RINGO STARR “Photograph.”
This home was not owned by Scott paper family. It was owned by Charles B. Scott of Scranton, PA. and they owned C.B. Scott Company.
Reblogged this on Blogfinger and commented:
In Ocean Grove we should think about our historic homes, and Blogfinger will post photographs. Here is the story of 107 Central Avenue reposted from 2011. If Click on Blogfinger below this sentence. —Paul @Blogfinger.net