Tasteful friends, is this house worth moving to Jersey?

Wait, this Doug Wright is married . . . to a woman?!

(Maplewood is VERY bland, but well-heeled).

The house is quite lovely (though it was hard to get a real layout with the photos). The decor and color schemes, on the other hand, were a fucking shanda!

"Shoot for the moon, even if you miss you'll land among the stars."

What was with those tacky, horrible looking tye dyed bedspreads in each of the kid's bedrooms? They are hideous

The boys don't get to pick their own wall art--it's dad's 40 year-old political cartoons.

I love it, except for the dining room wallpaper.

I like the kitchen. I hate the granite/stainless look, and this is a nice antidote.

Yes. Gorgeous house.

You can dump the wallpaper and plexiglass chairs later.

(By and large, the interior is fine)

Lovely old house. The decor is pretty haphazard. Those lucite chairs are terrible in the dining room. Some unfortunate bedroom color choices, but it looks comfortable and well loved. Do like the vintage kitchen, beautiful.

Have I mentioned lately how much I hate wallpaper?

Well, that room with the red flowered wallpaper is why I hate wallpaper. Horrible thing to do to a nice old house.

I hate wallpaper, too, R10. Take me to Paris and propose to me.

UIh, no. A most ordinary house with even more ordinary furnishings, some picked to be decorator items." A gay's idea of glamour. All very pedestrian.

I am swooning over the kitchen.

What do you like, R12?

Property taxes in New Jersey are notoriously high. I can't even imagine what the taxes on that place would be.

Here are some more pics of the house

We've seen QUITE enough!

The taxes were $29,256 last year (damn!)

It's nice but Maplewood is next to Irvington and who needs that.

Taxes in Short Hills are in the $30,000.00 somethings and some if the property there is not so large.

I love it, especially the non-stainite kitchen. Hate the dining room wallpaper. And it's a nice shingle house in Maplewood, NJ. What's not to like?

The house is very average except for the wrap around porch, which is exceptional. The colors are singularly horrible, as is most of the decor, except for the dining room. And he went into interior design because architects weren't hiring and that's what he wanted to be. That's not really an advertisement for his business.

Other than the Lucite chairs I think it actually looks decent.

I hate the orange wallpaper in the DR even more than the lucite chairs.

[quote]The taxes were $29,256 last year (damn!)

Is THAT all?

Paying those kind of taxes is the very definition of insanity.

Just two nights ago, R26, a friend literally begged me to get him out of Oklahoma.

Maplewood is where married gay NYers move when they want to go to the burbs. Lots of actors and other people in media/entertainment too. It's a very pretty area with a small town vibe that's about a half hour train ride from Manhattan.

At $1.33M that's got to be one of the most expensive houses in Maplewood as few houses there fetch over $1M.

The schools are what keep prices down. Maplewood has a large working class black area and while white actors and graphic designers have been buying some of those houses for $350K, the high school doesn't have the greatest reputation and has had gang issues.

Maplewood also suffers from being next door to Millburn, aka Short Hills, which is one of the wealthiest towns in America and has one of those high schools that constantly gets called out in "America's Top Public High Schools" articles. That same house in Short Hills would sell for over $3 or $4M, because of the school system.

(And yes, R5, I thought the same thing about the art in the boys room, but also possible the kid thought it was cool.)

Known Doug since college, and he's always been gorgeous. Definitely straight, but doesn't mind being flirted with.

I love the kitchen and like his upstairs study -- and most of his rugs are quite good. I'm not a big fan of "country" furniture nor of mod stuff, so his combination of these doesn't thrill me. (I think his dining room stuff was bought a while ago back when shaker-ish furniture and Philippe Starck were both hot). Overall I think he plays it too safe.

The outside is different, unique and generally wonderful. The inside looks old and worn and tossed.

Agree he plays it too safe. Too curated for my tastes, not enough books.

At least the kids don't have posters all over the walls, I hate that.

That is beautiful.

It's charming and homey, though a bit overdecorated. The Starck chairs in the dining room are jarring in that setting. That kitchen is a dream.

Nothing is ever worth moving to Jersey.

I'll bet he stands by the front door and makes sure *everybody* takes their shoes off.

I guess I’m odd man out - I love it. Perfect traditional home. The all blue and all green rooms are too much for me. But overall the architecture and design are perfect for me. Traditional, tasteful, classic - with some modern hints. Incredible comfy “home”. Unlike so much interior design which is a theater stage set.

I would love to live in that house - not in NJ and not with those taxes though. I would go to CT instead. Better historic architecture, more land, lower taxes and much nicer towns.