In New Jersey’s Delaware Township, midway between NYC and Philly, sits an ultra-charming property that’ll make you daydream about leaving the city behind.
Recently listed for $899,000, the house sits on over 5 acres of land in Hunterdon County’s Delaware Township, best known for its open space preservation and agricultural heritage.
But it wasn’t the generous acreage that caught our attention.
It was the unique design of the 3-bedroom house that sits on the property, a New England Cape Cod ‘Bow House’ with oodles of charm and cozy interiors.
The architectural style is named after the roofline of these classic homes — which date back as far as the 1600s — patterned after the curved hull of Nantucket whaling ships.
The home was designed and built by Bow House Inc. of Bolton MA, who have long been specializing in this unique design.
In fact, we found a Chicago Tribune article that’s almost 40 years old detailing how the company has helped other homeowners bring their Cape Cod Bow Houses to life.
“The New England-style Cape Cod house is often described as a ”land vessel” built in the 16th Century by ship`s carpenters to ride the northeastern gales onshore just as easily as its sisters of the sea did,” the publication states, adding that the bowed roof of the homes “is a result of Cape Cod`s intimacy to the sea.”
The legend also says that the first settlers actually dismantled their ships to make their bowed-roof homes.
That’s not the case for the New Jersey house we’re looking at today.
This one was built in 1989 but still showcases all the architectural elements typical for bow houses. Listed for a somewhat modest $899,000, the Delaware Township house is repped by Marlene Orlandi with Coldwell Banker Realty.
Featuring 3 bedrooms, all set on the upper floor where we also find a bonus loft area and a full bath, the bow house at 27 Sandy Ridge Rd has a total of 8 rooms, per the listing.
The first floor is anchored by a kitchen & family room, while also featuring a living room, dining room, and 2 Rumford back-to-back fireplaces with a central masonry chimney.
Other notable features include 2-inch wide pine flooring throughout with antique rose head nails, brick flooring accents, and ing throughout w/ antique rose head nails, brick flooring accents, solid wood raised panel doors.
A few recent upgrades add to the appeal of the property, including a recent 3-bedroom septic system, newer heating/cooling systems, a new well pump, an updated electric panel with 220V service, and the latest lightning protection system.
With 5.31 acres, there’s plenty of space for more structures to be added on the grounds of the property, which already features quite a few of them — one more charming than the other.
The cute little bow house is also close to Delaware Valley’s beautiful river towns, making it the perfect rural retreat.
And for some reason, the house reminds me of that little English cottage that Cameron Diaz rents in the cult rom-com, The Holiday. Can’t you picture Cameron Diaz’s character escaping her busy Los Angeles life to retreat here?
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