Do you know where in Red Bank the above photo was taken?
Send your answer (or best guess) to [email protected] by noon, Thursday, October 24. We’ll zoom out and reveal the location the next day.
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Here’s the answer for last week’s “Where.”
One person guessed last week’s photo was a professional building on Maple Avenue. Another thought it was a building on Pinckney Road, across from Warwick Gardens. Another guessed, “it’s the condos next to the Riverside Gardens park.”
But Jacqueline F nailed it with this accurate response: “it’s that most unusual house on a corner on Shrewsbury Avenue.”
Specifically, last week’s “Where” was the building on the southeast corner of Chestnut Street and Shrewsbury Avenue, an address that has been both an example, and a source, of unique architecture for decades. It’s currently the home and office of architect Matthew T. Cronin.
But the design is the work of late architect Jerome Morley Larson, an architect who lived and worked there for many years. Larson passed away a year ago this week. His obit describes his unique skills, personality and sense of mission – and refers to the home at 129 Shrewsbury Avenue.
“Besides his own intricate home in Red Bank, gorgeous shops, the Courts of Red Bank and the Bluffs which locally express his immense talent. His design path lead from villages to cities to Megapolis to (cq) .. eventual global Peace and prosperity, decades ahead of his Time, ever conscious to let ecology and water to define natural boundaries and alleviate strife and implementing attractive and efficient (green), truly affordable housing for all.”
Cronin continues to use it as his home and office for his architectural firm. He said the original home was built in the 1920’s and resembled a typical Red Bank home built in that area, with a wrap-around porch. Larson transformed it with various additions into the entirely unique creation it is now.
As for the ivy? Well, “that kinda got away from us” Cronin said. Removing it poses problems as it anchors into the stucco which could crack if the plant is pulled out, he said. Cutting it at the root results in dead ivy all over the house. Plus, it looks really cool, so there it stays.
As for Cronin, he was happy to have a real gimme in this week’s edition of “Where.” He wrote in among the other respondents with the correct answer when he saw his own building featured. Or, in his words, “I cheated.” We disagree. All’s fair in “Where Have I Seen This?”
Thanks to all those who wrote in: Cecelia Freda, Melissa Houck, Delores Martin, Anthony F. Frazee, Matt Cronin, Melissa Houck, Jacqueline F, Christine Jahnig, Nancy Facey-Blackwood, Tammy Pack, Chuck Stern, Mike Welsh, Matthew Forman, Chris Havens, Loretta Speranzo, Jim Baresich, Adele Murphy Susan Frieri, Kate Brannan, Richard McKenna, Mark Taylor, Evie Kelly, Peter Cavalier, Richard McKenna, Bridget Manfredi
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