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A Southern-Style Manor in New Jersey With Porches Galore

Built in 2004, the home feels like it comes from another era

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Listing of the Day

Location: Bernardsville, New Jersey

Price: $5.4 million

Past a gated driveway and beyond a wide paved courtyard stands the grand Mountaintop Manor. With brick and stone exterior walls, a cherry-paneled library and design reminiscent of the grandest homes in the American Southern tradition, Mountaintop Manor is at once historical and homey, classic and comfortable.

Classic elements like high ceilings, sconces and columns abound. Its current owner, who built the house in 2004, filled it with "personal touches," said listing agent Debra Ross. Those include the plantation-style mural in the dining room, painted by a local artist, and the custom leaded-glass work in the windows, also created by a local artist.

The owner modeled it on stately homes in Georgia, and included a plethora of porches—rarely seen in New Jersey. There’s the front porch, closed on three sides, which is best for winter; the library porch, for "men to smoke cigars," and the back porch for grilling.

"It’s a wonderful feeling of peace about the property...we’ve been happy here," said the current owner, who asked to remain anonymous.

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The Stats

With six bedrooms (all en-suite, all with walk-in closets), eight full baths and two partial baths, this three-level manse can comfortably accommodate a big family and then some. The house itself is 13,000 square feet and sits on a 5.99-acre lot of "formal gardens and plantings, verdant meadow-sized lawns, historic stone walls and woodlands," per informational materials on the property, so there’s lots of room to play both indoors and out.

Amenities

A bluestone pathway and deck lead you from the house to the in-ground pool and waterfall spa. Inside, the "pool house" room is equipped with a kitchenette and dressing areas; there’s also a wine room and gym.

The property also has a heated four-car garage and a barn with electricity.

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Neighborhood Notes

"Bernardsville Mountain [has many] large estate properties, many of which were from the turn of the last century" Ms. Ross said, noting that when the area was first inhabited with families leaving the city, they traveled there by horse-drawn carriage and train. The train station remains in downtown Bernardsville, though you’ll have to supply your own horses if you want to travel by carriage. Some of the original estates still exist, Ms. Ross said, and the rest of the land has been zoned into areas of five to 10 acres, so even the closest of neighbors have plenty of space.

The current owner’s favorite part of the neighborhood? That it "doesn’t feel like a neighborhood." It’s a little over an hour by car from New York City, but feels worlds away; you can go outside in your pajamas at any time of day and never run into another human. Truly a place of peace.

Agent: Debra Ross, Kienlen Lattmann Sotheby’s International Realty

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