62 Undercliff Road, Montclair
List Price $1,500,000
Taxes: $44,756
Listing Agent: Roberta Baldwin, Keller Williams Towne Square 973-420-9043
OPEN: Sunday, Feb. 21, 2-4pm.
The circa 1910 Tudor manse at 62 Undercliff sits on 2.5 acres backing up to Eagle Rock Reservation, looking out to the Manhattan skyline. Big and beautiful, the impeccably maintained exterior ranks high on curb appeal. Little did I know it was hiding a very unique room inside…
I did say big, didn’t I? There’s enough space inside the 17-room, 11-bedroom, 5.5 bath house for a small village – or a multi-generational family with a home business.
Entering through the front door, it seems even bigger while taking in the center hall colonial layout. Massive high ceilinged rooms flow easily into consecutive open entertaining spaces which feature big picture windows, exquisite traditional molding, built-in bookcases, and window seats. The pristine wood floors are all recently refinished. Not a trace of Tudor on the main floor, whose cream colored walls offer a happy blast of brightness. On the South wing is a terracotta floored sunroom with fireplace. It opens onto a huge outdoor covered flagstone terrace, where you could party all summer long.
The expansive updated kitchen with requisite granite countertops and a center island the size of a wading pool is blessed with tall windows that light up the cooking, entertaining, and work spaces.
Go up the carved oak staircase to get from bigger to biggest. With so many rooms, you can get lost among two master bedroom/bathroom suites and three bedrooms on the second floor, and six large bedrooms on the third floor. Some of the bathrooms have a vintage look – one with maroon and pink tiles, others need updating, and a couple have been renovated. And like the main floor, the feeling of the rooms is crisp and contemporary.
Get thee to the basement for a bit of fun, where it begins to feel Tudor. Exposed beams and dark wood paneling adorn a recreation room currently housing a pool table. Behind a dark wooden closet door – surprise! It’s a beautiful pub-room, which I suspect could’ve been the neighborhood speakeasy back in the days of prohibition. Bar stools and a long high-backed church pew can seat a small crowd. Note the metal door behind the bar leading to a bottle storage room, and the easy entry/escape door to the side yard.
62 Undercliff is a strong and sturdy home for living large, lending itself well to some easy updating. The slate-roofed four-car garage out back is sweet. GSMLS info and photos, here. Cruise through more interior photos, here.
A real case of “wow, they don’t build ’em like they used to”, right? You couldn’t duplicate this today if you tried. Clearly, though, the owners put all their money in the house, that HAS to be the cheapest, most dated decorating I’ve ever seen in a house of this caliber. And that gutjob of a Home Depot kitchen is a travesty.
Now we know what Prof’s palatial estate looks like.
I’ve always loved this house…1.5 seems low!
Love, love, love the bar. The rest…. not so much.
tax payment rivals your mortgage payment- no thanks. That’s almost an asset you can’t leave your kids, unless you guarantee they make a substantial salary, and don’t become starving artists.
Kitchen and bathroom cabinetry and countertops are terrible for this house. I would have done recessed white cabinets, with marble countertops, subway tile backsplash.. but I guess with 3750 a month to pay Montclair/Essex Co. I can understand the need to bargain shop.
It does sound low at $1.5 million — its assessed value is $1.875MM — and that was just a year or two ago that Montclair revaluated, right? $44k in taxes! That should give you a Gold Card at the Essex County Golf COurses and two Get-Out-of-Jail-Free (for anything up to and including felony assault) cards from the Montclair PD.
But I once spent a long weekend house-sitting in a 10-BR ultramodern manse right on the Atlantic Ocean (list price $7.5 MM); I never felt more alone in my life. I wound up staying in the maid’s quarters, which was normal sized, and had a nice little TV and a fridge for my frosties.
Still way overpriced.
Think about it… Not only are the taxes preposterous, the gas bill will be over $3,000 a month and then there’s all the maintenance. At least $60,000 a year BEFORE your mortgage.
There are 30 houses going for over $1.2 million in town according to Zillow. Do you know how hard it is to get a mortgage for a house priced more than a jumbo loan? Banks are very, very skittish.
It’s not a good time for white elephants, even if they’re beautiful like this one.
This house price isn’t low. It’s a hot mess inside. It needs major renovations throughout–except in the parts that are pictured. I still enjoyed seeing its grandness. Whoever buys it will need $500K or more at her fingertips to spruce it back to its original splendor.
They just marked this one down by 100K to 1.4 million. So, I guess it was overpriced. May still be given Kristen’s comments and that tax bill.