College Hill is one of Maplewood’s most identifiable neighborhoods because of its list of distinctive street names. Amherst, Bowdoin, Colgate, Harvard, Oberlin, Rutgers, Wellesley and Yale are among the blocks in the area. The triangular shaped neighborhood is located north of Springfield Ave, east of Prospect St, and south of Tuscan Rd.
College Hill was originally a dairy farm that had been worked by the Courter family for three generations. As people began to leave the crowded cities for suburban locations with easy access to roads and railroads, the Courter family sold their land to the Trimpi brothers, successful Newark businessmen, who formed the Trimpi tract. The neighborhood began with seven houses designed by W. Frank Bower in the Queen Anne and Four Square styles. Since then, other developers and architects bought land in the neighborhood and built homes in styles that are popular today. The area wasn’t known as “College Hill” until the 1990s when a group of neighbors formed the College Hill Association.
Steven Brier, the owner of Brier IT Services, has lived in College Hill for more than 20 years. Years ago, when he was trying to find an area that was relatively close to his new office at the New York Times, his relocation specialist kept bringing him to the Maplewood/South Orange area. He liked the fact that his commute from Maplewood would be only 30 minutes. He looked at many homes in the area and found that the ones he liked best were in the College Hill section. They met all his requirements. He liked that the walk to the train was manageable, his kids could walk to the Tuscan school, and the prices were reasonable. And the home he did buy had something he really wanted – a front porch.
Steven has a lot of good things to say about the College Hill section. He calls the area a “middle America dream” because of the large number of young families with children and the many non-traditional households in the area. He also reports that there are many creative people in the area, so many he says, that they could put together a rock & roll band, an opera or a Broadway play including just neighbors!
There is a great community feel to the area, and all the neighbors know each other. Steven told me a story about a young family that had just purchased a home but had yet to move in. They come each weekend to mow the lawn and then drive back to Brooklyn. Seeing this, one of the neighbors offered to mow the lawn each week until the family moves, just so they don’t have to make the trek from Brooklyn to Maplewood. This is how the neighborhood is!
Some morning, you might run into Steven walking to or from the Parkwood Diner or the Maplewood Diner, hot spots for morning coffee! He would be happy to spend some time talking with you about College Hill.
Spanning only 0.171 square miles, the area has a population of approximately 1,415 people, many of whom are young professionals with families. The homes that make up this area are predominantly colonials, tudors and cape cods with 3-4 bedrooms on smaller lots. Most of the homes were built before 1939. Here are three recent sales:
6 Amherst Ct. $500,000
21 Yale St. $600,000
7 Colgate Rd. $725,000
Some of the benefits to living in the College Hill neighborhood are:
- It is within easy walking distance of shops and restaurants
- Memorial Park with 25 acres of rolling hills, footpaths, streams, bridges, ball fields and playgrounds is just a short distance away
- Maplecrest Park and DeHart Park are also within easy walking distance
- Kids can walk to the Tuscan Elementary School and the Maplewood Middle School
- The Midtown Direct train line is within walking distance, and jitney service is also conveniently located nearby
- There is easy access to neighboring towns
- The area is within close proximity to the Hilton branch of the public library
- Local festivals like MayFest, Harvestfest and the seasonal farmer’s market take place nearby
- The neighborhood is close to major highways, business centers and Newark International Airport
Looking to buy or sell in the area? If you have any questions about the College Hill neighborhood or real estate in the town of Maplewood, NJ feel free to contact me.
The Allison Ziefert Real Estate Group is a top producing real estate group based at Keller Williams Mid-Town Direct in Maplewood, NJ. Allison Ziefert, a local market expert, specializes in Maplewood, South Orange, Millburn/Short Hills and West Orange, NJ real estate and homes, and the surrounding towns. Allison’s success as a Maplewood/South Orange realtor is driven by earning great testimonials from sellers and buyers of homes in her marketplace. You can read her testimonials at www.azhomesnj.com/testimonials.
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