By Paul Goldfinger, Editor @Blogfinger.net August 8, 2021.
It is a wonderful place to hold a wedding. We walked by on a summer Saturday afternoon in 2020 and saw that a beautiful event was in progress on a beautiful day in the Grove. The house is one of the largest single family homes in town, at Heck/Main/Ocean Avenues.
The guests were sitting about on the porch and on the lawn, wearing masks, holding drinks, and chatting. Pictures were being taken, and it looked like a memorable time.
Across the street was the beach and the Ocean, and on Sunday a car parked out front said “Just Married.”
This dwelling has been made available by the owners for catered events. In earlier years, the owners (the Handfords) used to host reunions of Rutgers University and the Hudson Car Club. It was fun to see those cars show up along Ocean Avenue. American cars are much more interesting than the British models.
Weddings in the Grove have been a sensitive subject since the 2007 angry clash at the Boardwalk Pavilion, although that was about a civil union.
There have been some weddings on the non-fishing pier, but since the Fishing Club was carried away during Sandy, that venue is now out of the question.
Some weddings have been held at the OG beach in recent years, but usually only for photo shoots.
2021 update: This property has been on the market for nearly one year. It fronts at 19 Ocean Avenue and runs from Main Avenue to Heck Avenue (north to south.)
It was built in 1879 and was purchased in 1996 for $105,000. The town was beginning to emerge from a broken mess. It has 6 bedrooms, 6 baths and a driveway for 3 cars.
The current asking price is $4.5 million. Taxes are $39,000 per year.
Let’s hope that the dopes in Neptune don’t give this single family home the “Aurora treatment”and allow it to be zoned for condos.
Here is how the Aurora situation was manhandled:
BRIAN WILSON:
PG: As opposed to the 700 people house party in Jackson!
What we saw seemed to comply, but who knows what what it looked like during the ceremony.
The wedding must have happened outside in front of no more than 25 people. You can’t have more than 10 indoors.
—PG @Blogfinger.
Just playing devils advocate:
Social distanced?
Allowable number of people in a gathering?