281 Trenton Lakewood Road

The property at 281 Trenton-Lakewood road held a two story house right on the bank of the Doctors Creek in Cream Ridge. 

The ~2200 square foot home was built in the mid 1970's. It consisted of a standard mid century  cedar clad dwelling atop a concrete pedestal.

Most of the livable space was on the second floor, likely due to the risk of flooding. 

The interior of the home featured two large fireplace made of natural river stone, which I imagine heated the space very effectively.

Combined with the pine ceilings and walls the space echoed its natural surroundings quite well. 

In October of 2016 Monmouth County purchased the property, which had only been empty a short time. 

They let the home sit abandoned for another six or so years before eventually demolishing the building.

I'm grateful to see any effort to restore the overbuilt floodlands of the state, and more free open space is always a win. Still, I'm glad I was able to check out the home while it still stood. 

Thanks for reading!

19 Marie Major Dr

The home at 19 Marie Major Dr was built on a three acre lot in 1974.

Well manicured lanscaping surrounded the home itself. The owners also installed a pool and tennis courts on the edge of the property.

In the decades since the home was built Alpine became home to some of the richest people in the state. By 2016 the property was assessed to be valued at $6 million. 

When I was growing up my father always had a skill of delivering some sort of complex, practical knowledge with a single sentence.  One of his classics was the phrase "something is only worth what somebody is willing to pay for it. 19 Marie Major is a great example. The property was sold in June of 2019 for just $3 Million.

The home sat vacant for a number of years. During this time a new trend developed in the Urban Exploring community, particularly on Tik Tok. It was the era of the "clout mansion".

A "clout mansion" is any large home, usually a fairly recent real estate listing, which has some distinctive feature that drives the algorithm wild. It may be an interior pool, a famous former resident, or in some cases even just the list price. People who seek attention visit these places and immediately share them with other people who had broken into similar mansions, creating this weird trend in the moment. 

I had been putting off visiting these mansions even though a couple were in NJ. I did eventually check them out though. 19 Marie Major was known as the "Basketball Court Mansion" because the last owner installed a single hoop inside on the second floor.

The home was finally torn down in 2025, and a new home built on the same spot. Hopefully the new owners dont disturb the property too much, as it really is a fantastic piece of land.