RED BANK: RIVERFRONT COTTAGE CLEARED FOR BIG NEW HOME

Only the fireplace remains as a demolition crew clears the cottage at 64 Locust Avenue last month. (Reader submitted photo.)

By BRIAN DONOHUE

The old cottage overlooking the Navesink River at 64 Locust Avenue was small, but it sure held a lot of stories.

First, there’s the story it tells about home affordability in America.

It was built, its late former owner Henry Tindal once told us, as one of the mail-order kit homes sold by companies like Sears, Aladdin, Gordon-Van Tine, and Montgomery Ward during the first half of the 20th century. Those kits could get a family into their own home for the 2025 equivalent of less than $50,000. Millennials, can you even freakin’ imagine?

Then, of course, there’s the stories told by and about Henry Tindal himself, a popular and beloved neighborhood fixture, youth mentor, cookbook author and a pioneer of social change.

And, finally, there’s the story it’s telling now, about where we’re headed – as a town undergoing a development boom and a country and state undergoing a housing affordability crisis.

The claw looms over the cottage at 64 Locust Avenue. (Photo by Brian Donohue)

Over the past few weeks, the cottage was torn down to make way for a planned 3,450 square foot, five-bedroom home that will feature spectacular views of the Navesink River.

The project was approved by the Borough in August, according to the permit issued by the Borough Departmentt of Planning and Zoning.

The builder/applicant is listed as Gary Singh of Montville.

County property records — which often lag in being updated — still list Tindal, who passed away in February, as the owner.

But they also show a $1.6 million mortgage on the property issued on May 15 to K&G Realty Group LLC of Shrewsbury, NJ.

Members of the LLC are listed on documents filed with the state as Keith Eyerman and Gurasis Singh.

The view from 64 Locust Avenue. A perfect place to sit and ponder the unanswerable question of “Where does the Navesink River become the Swimming River?” (Reader submitted photo.)

The project includes restoration of an existing boathouse on the site, according to plans submitted to the borough. Two trees on the bluff as to be removed, according to the plans.

One thing we asked about: Will the property be subject to borough rules requiring public waterfront access for riverfront properties?

That ordinance applies to properties requiring major site plan or subdivision approval. This project did not require those approvals, so no easement is required.

redbankgreen editor Brian Donohue may be reached via email at [email protected] or by calling or texting 848-331-8331 or yelling his name loudly as he walks by. Do you value the news coverage provided by redbankgreen? Please become a financial supporter if you haven’t already. Click here to set your own level of monthly or annual contribution.