By Donald Wittkowski
Susan Hall-Pinzini became emotional while recalling some of her fond memories from all the years she spent at her family’s big brown house at 4801 Landis Ave. in Sea Isle City.
In particular, she remembers how the sprawling, wraparound porch at the historic Colonial Revival-style home served as the epicenter for many family affairs as well as countless summer evenings relaxing in rocking chairs.
“Because the porch was street level, we did a lot of interaction with those going by through the years, often inviting them up to sit and rock and visit,” she said.
Hall-Pinzini and her sister, Merrilee, even had their weddings at the house. But as much as she loved the family vacation home, Hall-Pinzini also feels intensely sad when she talks about it now. Soon, it will be gone.
The two-story house, which had been owned by the Hall family for 65 years, is about to become another casualty of Sea Isle’s trend for new housing. It was sold for $1.1 million and will be torn down to make room for two new duplexes, Hall-Pinzini said.
There are differing accounts about when the house was built. A real estate listing says the house dates to 1900. Information provided by the Sea Isle City Historical Society says the house was built in 1920.
It occupies an over-sized lot facing Landis Avenue at 48th Street. Hall-Pinzini said the house was bought by Sea Isle realtor Dustin Laricks. She said Laricks plans to build two duplexes costing $1 million each after the house is demolished. Laricks did not return messages seeking comment.
Hall-Pinzini said her 92-year-old mother, Flora Hall-Cuddy, and her 96-year-old stepfather, L. Brookman Cuddy, who live in New York City, simply were unable to maintain the house any longer, so her mother sold it.
“Five generations – my grandparents, my aunt and mom, their children, my four sisters and cousins, our children and then some of our grandkids – have enjoyed the house each summer. So it is hard to let go,” Hall-Pinzini said in an email.
Jacqueline Malench, an agent with Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Fox & Roach Realtors in Sea Isle, said she approached the Hall family about having her sell the house for them, but they declined. Malench explained there once had been some hope that a buyer could be found who would save the house.
“It’s a shame. It really is heartbreaking,” Malench said of the home’s upcoming demolition.
The demolition date has not yet been announced.
Last year, the Hall family began emptying the house of its contents. Other things were sold off.
“When we opened the house this summer to sell what we could, every time I sold something, I wanted it back when it was gone. Some people took things I hadn’t intended to sell, which really broke my heart,” Hall-Pinzini said.
Yet some of the furniture, paintings, family mementos and many books still remain inside and will be lost forever when the house is demolished.
“Believe me, we took as much as we could,” Hall-Pinzini said. “There was a lot to clear out.”
Even though the house is boarded up, some of the books are still visible, stacked up against the attic window on the Landis Avenue side.
A peek inside also reveals, among other odds and ends, a painting of the Vineland home once owned by Hall-Pinzini’s grandparents, Mary Elizabeth Edwards and Phillip St. George Prince. It was her grandparents who originally bought the Sea Isle house as a seashore vacation retreat.
Hall-Pinzini, who is 68, now lives in Loudon, Tenn. Her childhood memories of the old house date back to a time when Sea Isle was still a quaint seashore resort. She recalled that on her block of Landis Avenue, there were only four homes, including one big Victorian house no longer there.
There were trips to the penny candy store, she said. The family would also go to an ice cream store on 47th Street and come back with comic books and bags of goodies for a relaxing night of reading and eating on the porch.
“We spent most of our time on the beach or porch,” she said. “Breakfast, lunch and often dinner were eaten on the porch. Lobster was one of our favorites.”
“Rocking, reading or talking to those walking by (were other activities),” she continued. “We had family get-togethers. Many summers our Georgia cousins would join us. We would decorate baby strollers or wagons for baby parades.”
The house itself is notable enough for the Sea Isle City Historical Society to have it included in a binder of historic local homes.
Sheathed in wood shingle siding, it features a “hipped” roof with a central hipped dormer, decorative exposed rafter ends and wood sash windows. The wraparound porch is embellished with a series of columns anchored to concrete block bases, according to an architectural description provided by the Historical Society.
Abby Powell, president of the Historical Society, said she would always marvel at the house when she would walk by it when it was still in good shape.
“I thought it was the poshest of the posh shore homes,” Powell said.
In its heyday, the house included beautiful gardens surrounded by roses. Now, the yard and the slate sidewalks have been torn up as the house awaits demolition.
The structure appears badly deteriorated. Even the once-stately wraparound porch – where the Hall family spent so many cherished days and nights – is in shambles.
