The Bergen County Homes Blog

If you’re in Bergen County next Saturday, come to the Bergen County Zoo and enjoy a special day there – it’s the zoo’s 50th anniversary.  To celebrate, the zoo is offering free admission to all Bergen County residents from 10 am to 1 pm on Saturday August 14th.  Non residents will have a small fee.

With over 500 animals, a train, carousel, and pony rides, the zoo is a favorite spot for families.  Over 250,000 people visit the zoo annually and there are educational programs and activities all throughout the year for adults as well as children. 

During the summer the zoo has 3 live animal shows daily in the amphitheater and a unique exhibit called the Budgie Encounter.  Summer months also host Zoo Camp for children from 5 to 15.  Zoo Camp is a popular one week program that is always sold out. 

Located at the north end of Van Saun Park, the zoo is bordered by Paramus and River Edge.  However, people from every town in Bergen County come to the zoo so it doesn’t matter if you live in Tenafly, Dumont, Cresskill or River Vale - no matter where you are here, the zoo is a “must go” location and, if you can’t go to the zoo, the Bergen County Zoo will come to you.  The zoo has special programs for schools, organizations and senior living facilities too.  You can even book a birthday party at the zoo!

So come join us on the 14^th and help celebrate the Bergen County Zoological Park.

You don’t have to own a home in Tenafly to know what’s happening there – all you have to do is to go to the Borough of Tenafly website where you’ll discover that Tenafly is doing a revaluation right now.

Let’s say you’re thinking of buying a home in Englewood.  You see that many of the homes there are from the early 20th century so you’d like to know about the city’s history.  Just go to the City of Englewood website where you’ll find the Our History page that takes you from Englewood’s earliest days to the present.

The River Vale website is the place to go for local events – it’s always on their home page.   Park Ridge and Westwood does this too along with many other local communities.  You may find important changes on a town’s home page – this year Westwood began registering it’s various Recreation Department activities online; the announcement is on it’s home page right now.

Town websites are also a great help when you need a form.  For example, if you want to put up a fence on your property and you live in Cresskill, the fence permit form can be downloaded from the Cresskill Boro website Some towns like Tenafly actually have a step by step guide for you when it comes to getting a permit

Many community sites have portions of their building codes right on their websites.  Old Tappan has their entire borough code on line.

You may be amazed at how much information can be found on a town website.  If you’re thinking of buying a home or if you’re a Bergen County resident now, check out the borough website.  You’ll be glad you did.

In the world of Bergen County real estate, one of the most popular style of homes is the split level.  It’s efficient design, open floor plan, bright sunlit interior and uncomplicated mechanical systems makes these homes highly sought after by buyers.  Bergen County saw an explosion of split level home construction from 1960 through the mid 1970′s.  A wonderful example of the split level design is found in my listing at 18 Ridge Road which is offered at $795,000:

     It’s easy to see the multi level feature of this style: 

    To the right is the upper level where you’ll find all 4 bedrooms.  The lower level of the left is the entry level where there is a formal entry hall, the living room, dining room and kitchen.  One level down on the ground level is the family room, power door with laundry and entrance to the 2 car garage.  There’s also a basement with a rec room and separate storage/utility room.  All in all, you get a lot of living space in these mutli level homes.

The present owner renovated and expanded the home in 2004 – take a look at how well done it is:                                                               

The living and dining rooms are filled with light.  The open floor plan allows for tremendous light to enter the house through the large window at front and sliding glass door across at the end of the dining room leading to the outdoor deck.

 There was a lot of planning that went into this beautiful kitchen renovation and it shows.

This is the family room  on the left and the rec room is one level below – it’s a perfect set up because the adults can relax in the family room while the children are playing in the rec room.   

These 2 rooms in particular demonstrate the versatility of the split level home.

18 Ridge Road was constructed around 1960 and has only had 2 owners but that isn’t all that unusual.  People tend to stay here once they’ve moved in.  Cresskill is a highly prized location – it has an excellent school district, robust business district, terrific town services and a very strong community spirit.  It’s large enough to support it’s own school district but still very much a small town where one easily feels at home.  A classic Bergen County home located in a quiet family neighborhood with an easy commute to NYC, 18 Ridge Road is simply a wonderful home.