Asbury Park Press from Asbury Park, New Jersey • Page 201

Nov. 9, 1986 Asbury Park Press fin 2 House of the Week 6 Kenneth Harney 13 Classified 4 ITU omes matter of knowing market Selling JUL-" in developing a residential community. "You have to create a buyer in your mind and think about what their hobbies would be, how many children they have and their age," she said. "You have to work around personalities that the buyer can relate to, so when they walk into a model home they say, 'Oh, yea, this is Those in charge of coordinating the design of residential developments said people want their home to be an extension of their life. And they want as many luxuries as they can afford.

Often, too, the home buyer will look for room for expansion. Today's buyers are opting more often for a great room, as opposed to a formal living room, and skylights and fireplaces have become almost standard in many developments. "The fireplace plays an important role in design," said Holub. "It has never and will never change. It symbolizes warmth and that cozy feeling.

Only nice things happen in front of a fireplace. Santa Claus comes down the chimney, people read in front of the fireplace." Charles Sicurella, president of Design Planned Communities, Wall Township, developers of Heritage Commons, a commercial building on Route 35, Wall Township, and Laurel-town Woods, a housing complex in Brick Township, said many people like a lot of glass and open stairwells in their homes as well as their commercial buildings. "And they want the most square footage for the least amount of money," he said. "And the home buyer wants three bedrooms today instead of four." Commercial developers look for a location with a good traffic flow pattern, preferably on a major highway, with the option to expand if necessary, Sicurella said. At Raintree, one of the Kaplan Organization's residential communities in Freehold Township, there are several types of homes offered because people By ELLEN CARROLL Press Correspondent WHEN YOU BUY a home in a new residential complex today, chances are the sales company already knows a lot about you.

Depending on what area of the country or even what part of the state you live in, the company will know whether you like a traditional, country look or are more the glitz and glitter type. Today builders work closely with interior merchandising executives to achieve the type of homes people want to fit their lifestyles. "A builder will call us and say where he or she is building," explained Fred Holub, executive vice president at Gordon Danieli Design Eaton-town. "Depending on where it is, it will immediately trigger a certain lifestyle in our mind. In Chester we did a couple thousand homes, each with 3,500 square feet on two acres.

They don't want to see a lot of Macy's. But in Staten Island it's a totally different look a lot of glitz," he said. With a greater variety of people buying homes today young professionals, couples whose children have grown and moved away, and young couples with or without children builders are targeting their markets and giving the home buyer what he or she wants and can afford. "We design reality, not dreams," said Holub. "We design something that the average home buyer wants and can personally achieve in the foreseeable future.

We don't want to create something they can only dream about." Interior merchandising of both residential and commercial complexes has become an important aspect in the total picture of construction, according to those in the field. Cheryl Herman of Freehold, design coordinator for the Kaplan Organization, Highland Park, said she believes the concept is one of the most important, if not the most important aspect v. Finn merchandising firm Gordon Danieli Design Eatontown. PC A Li- A traditional decor was chosen for The don't want to look at cookie-cutter units, Ms. Herman said.

There are townhouses, patio homes and single-family units in the development. The company advertises the development as "New Jersey's only singles and all-adult community." You must be 18 or older to live there. Ms. Herman, who acts as liaison between the Kaplan Organization and the interior merchandising firm hired to do the models, said most of the home buyers there are either young professionals, recently married couples or empty-nesters. The Homes are designed with ceiling fans and cathedral or two-story ceilings with balconies overlooking the living room.

"This gives the illusion of more space, more volume," she said. "And we have lots of windows and windows above windows to give the maximum amount of light. This is what people like." Fireplaces are available to Raintree home buyers who want them. Holub, whose firm did the Poet's Corner development in Freehold -11 Landings, Toms River, by the interior Township and The Landings development in Toms River, stressed that certain types of houses fit certain areas and the interior merchandising firm must understand the personality of the person who will live there. In an area where two-acre zoning is in effect, a den or library is standardly equipped with walnut paneling.

"The homeowner will be sitting in that room reading the stock reports," he said. "But in Staten Island they want a media room so they can watch movies on a big screen, the larger the screen the better. And in Toms River they might go more for the Ethan Allan look." "We rely on design, not furniture," he said. "Anybody can buy furniture. The trick is to make something look really attractive and enhance the $150,000 house so that the person can afford the things to put into it.

We don't want them to think they have to spend untold amounts of money to live in the house." At Poet's Corner, a 700-unit resi- See MARKETING, page H3 ''Iter Id. Asbury Park Prms Only recently in Keansburg, it wasn't easy selling condos, such as Beachside Gardens, a seven-unit complex on Shore Boulevard. Building boom finds borough Contemporary is the mood in Olde Oaks models at Raintree, Freehold Township, done by the Kaplan Organization, Highland Park. Interlaken strictly residential town tuft I Vinl vhl Lf LWA-tw-w ,1 liKMi'im 't I'iJ LP Uf, I 5sa.c Special to The Press INTERLAKEN This seven-block-long, five-block-wide borough has the distinction of being thg only municipality in New Jersey that is strictly residential. It is zoned for single family homes most of which are more than 30 years old and have been selling for According to Fritz Cleary, a writer and sculptor who was born in the house where he lives on Windermere Avenue, the borough which borders Asbury Park, Ocean Township and Loch Arbour, was a haven for artists.

Cleary said in 1895 a group of people tried to develop a health camp for the affluent here. They proposed to build a large hotel on the north branch of Deal Lake, but the plan never materialized. Instead, it was decided to sell building lots for homes. The price of the lots was based on how far each was from the railroad tracks. Those closer to the transportation lines were more expensive.

"Because it was quite a beautiful place, it attracted illustrators from Wilmington, students of Howard Pyle, who taught the Wyeth family of wild and unkempt sand dune vegetation. "The townhouse is fine. And this little section (of Keansburg) is fine," said Janet Laslo, who this summer purchased one of the condominiums. "But I think the town is a wreck," she said, referring to trash left lying on some streets, in vacant lots or in front of some homes. And then there's the wild dog pack that comes by each morning, added Mrs.

Laslo, a former Old Bridge Township resident. It wasn't easy selling the two-story units. The last only recently was contracted for, said Harvey I. Marcus, president of Shore Boulevard Beachfront Construction owner of the complex, Beach-side Gardens. But that was before.

Currently, there appears to be a new building wave sweeping through the town, particularly in the beachfront area. All bodes well for both construction and sales, said Marcus, who is awaiting a building permit to proceed with 17 more units on the 4.2-acre lot off Shore Boulevard. "We would break ground tomorrow if we had the building permit," Marcus said, adding he felt an See KEANSBURG, page H4 i By YURY TARNAVSKYJ Press Shrewsbury Bureau KEANSBURG A sea gull's cry can be heard from the sand dunes stretching from the back of the homes off Shore Boulevard to Raritan Bay. On a clear day, New York's skyline can be seen across the bay from this northeastern section of town. Although the beach is somewhat littered with broken bottles and weathered, empty beer cartons, much of nature's beauty has been preserved in the rolling dunes.

Looking toward town, many of the once-seasonal summer cottages that today serve as year-round homes can be seen. The wash is hanging on a tall clothesline in one of the backyards of the small homes that lie just north of Shore Boulevard. An older resident is out front with a brush and paint can putting a fresh coat on his tiny bungalow. Then you see a seven-unit, modern-looking condominium that doesn't quite seem to fit the picture. It has a parking lot out front.

Large windows face onto each unit's wooden rear porch that places the residents practically on the beach. A trim lawn covers the area nearest the building. The grass looks almost artificial when contrasted with the mmim Asbury Park Press Interlaken is the state's only all-residential town. These homes are at Bridlemere and Bendermere avenues. MM WANAMASSA W-yl "e- AllENHURST ASBUHV AM NEPTUNt I OCEAN GdOVt painters," he said.

"They established an artists' colony here." In 1922, when the artists decided to break from Ocean Township and incorporate as a borough, they made Asbury Park Press Graphic sure regulations were put in place to allow the studios. Those laws have not changed. No businesses or industries are allowed in the borough but the studios have been permitted to remain. Zoning regulations call only for single-family houses. Most of the 1,000 residents are business people and professionals, said Mayor Edwin A.

Ambler, who has been a council member for 30 years. "And generally everyone knows everyone else," he added. The wide, tree-lined streets complement the mostly large ranch and two-story homes. The 9.3 miles of streets are policed by a five-member police force, including the chief and two special police officers. Ambler estimated Interlaken provides twice as much police coverafe per capita as the average community the state.

With only one street entrance from the east and five from the western edge of town, the borough has one of the lowest crime rates in the state. There are no schools in this municipality although years ago officials from Interlaken and neighboring Loch Arbour considered building a school. i LIVING IN INTERLAKEN Current Tax Rate $2.23 1980 1985 1990 Census Estimate Projection Total Population 1,037 975 905 White 99-3 99.3 99.2 Black 0.1 0.1 0.1 Other 0.6 0.6 0.7 Total Households 389 374 350 Median: Household Size 2.67 2.61 2.59 Median Age 47.6 46.7 45.9 Household Income $30,875 $40,421 $51,886 Source: Donnelly Marketing Information Services Officials said it would be difficult to consider building anything in the borough today because there are no vacant lots. The borough is a sending district to Asbury Park schools. Elizabeth M.

Rozza, who is the Board of Education secretary as well as borough administrator and treasurer, said 75 borough residents are in elementary and secondary schools. Of those, only five attend schools in Asbury Park. Most of the others attend See INTERLAKEN, page H8 Keansburg now is enjoying a building and buying boom. All 18 units in this complex, Bayview Manor, sold before they were completed. .1..