About five years ago I wrote an article about what not to do to get your landscape ready for winter. As I continue to talk to people and make observations, I decided that a few of those things bear repeating. In addition, there are proactive things you should do before […]
The United States was barely 100 years old when the home at 1247 Washington Street was constructed. Houses were not electrified, and indoor plumbing was not a common feature. But sleepy Cape May, NJ was a growing destination spot, fueled by the introduction of railroads and railroad money. Large hotels […]
Nestled on a side street east of Broadway sits 112 Yorke Avenue, a three-story Victorian charmer built when West Cape May was mostly farmland, and peopled with service workers and Mayflower descendants. There may be less farmland and fewer Mayflower descendants these days, but the home remains a preserved piece […]
Did you know that lawn is the largest crop in America? It is estimated that turf grass covers approximately 1.6% of the surface area of the entire country—more than 62,500 square miles. That is an area larger than Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Connecticut combined! What’s disturbing is that we spend […]
Once upon a time, wife and husband Kelly Lavorgna and Andrew Bares had careers on Wall Street. As the current owners of Evan James Interiors, a design team that’s appeared on HGTV’s Flea Market Flip, those finance days—of which they spent nearly a collective five decades—are long behind them. These […]
Walk around Cape May any time of year and you’ll see people admiring and photographing the unique streetscapes. Their experience is like stepping back into another era when people lived differently than we do today but whose homes, like ours today, reflected the style and manner of their times. In […]
Like most trends, things in the interior design world tend to be cyclical. From paint colors and building materials, things fall in—and out—of favor only to come back around a few decades later. And while wallpaper itself isn’t anything new, the way we use it, the way we make it, […]
It’s a story heard time and time again: boy meets girl, boy and girl fall in love, get married, and honeymoon in Cape May, where they fall in love with the city. Over time, the city’s irresistible pull connects the couple and the island together until the deal is sealed […]
When we think of perennials, we most often picture lovely flowers, even though they may only bloom for a few weeks each year. Rarely are they grown primarily for their foliage—except for hostas. Loved by many, they are consistently voted a gardener’s favorite perennial. Hostas have come a long way […]
We all know the look. You walk into a new home and instead of multiple closed-off spaces, we see a communal living space, often consisting of a kitchen, dining area, and living room, with plenty of openness. For years, the concept was hailed as the epitome of modern living, fostering […]
Something claiming to be the anything of anywhere must be sure to live up to the title—which is certainly the case for the Inn of Cape May. The property at 7 Ocean Street is an exemplary sample of both the Victorian architecture and hotel design in Cape May during the […]
A lot has happened and unfortunately not happened since we wrote about the renovation of 1069 Michigan Avenue in the fall of 2022. I can’t believe I purchased this property more than five years ago and it still has issues. Last spring I talked about problems with drainage, the pool, […]
The Kiwanis Club of Cape May celebrates 100 years of community service in 2024 with a gala dinner at the Grand Hotel and perhaps aperitifs on their clubhouse sundeck. This is a storied organization in Cape May with a history of notable members, significant accomplishments, and community involvement. “The Cape […]
For those of us who’ve lived through the advent and normalization of all things internet, we may think of “smart homes” as stark, futuristic environments not completely unlike Stanley Kubrick’s cinematic masterpiece, 2001: A Space Odyssey, in which an AI persona named Hal goes dangerously haywire. We would, of course, […]
Here’s some regrettable news: according to fashion sources like Vogue and InStyle, skinny jeans are making a comeback. If that news has you bracing yourself for the inevitable and recurring shimmy that’s required when wearing skin-skimming jeans, we have better news for you: you don’t have to follow this or […]
The best gardens don’t just happen by accident. They are carefully and systematically designed and thought out. When you visit one, you immediately recognize the difference. Many gardeners never have a plan. They buy what appeals to them but what they end up with is simply a collection of plants. […]
One of Cape May’s enduring attractions is its sense of mystery. Tales of pirates along the coast, ghosts in the eaves, and foreign spies having dinner in town give the city an enigmatic vibe that locals and visitors love to embrace. That mystery also extends to many local historic properties. […]
Deep in the heart of Cape May, on one of the city’s oldest roads, a house stands apart from the rest of the neighborhood. While a few buildings on this street may offer guest lodging today, all but one have apparent histories as single-family residences. Only the Holiday House on […]
As a plant person, I never look forward to winter. No leaves, no flowers, and cold temperatures that keep me locked up inside the house. But the truth is we need winter if we are going to enjoy a beautiful spring. We think things are dead—or at least dormant—for months, […]
December, 1936… Dear Friends, enclosed is a picture of my Cape May cottage to which you are all invited to spend Fourth of July 1937 with me – remain two nights at least. I look forward to your coming with much pleasure indeed. Sincerely, Eleanor B. Gillespie “My mother, Katherine […]
When you’re inspired by interior design, it can be hard not to get swept up in every potential project out there. Whether it’s creating a tranquil bathroom, emulating the design of a boutique hotel, installing built-in cabinetry, or extending your living space with an outdoor oasis, options for well-designed home […]
Word of Cape May’s cool breezes and sandy stretches was spreading north and south by the late 1800s, reaching the ears of visitors and attracting them to escape the city heat of the North and the summer sweltering to the South. And as people built homes, the story of the […]
And finally, we come to the end of our saga. As of the writing of this article, we have “finished” the gardens at 1069. Hallelujah! Well, as finished as any garden ever is. We all know that gardens, by definition, are a work in progress. After all, they are living […]
Beyond where the promenade ends, at the corner of Trenton and Beach Avenues, resides an illustrious structure unlike any other in Cape May. South-facing, toward the Atlantic Ocean, the Peter Shields Inn and Restaurant sits prominently over the dunes and is set back from the street to feature a well-manicured […]