On the Market: Victorian Guest Palace in Cape May
Not only will you live like a king or queen in this elaborately restored Queen Anne guesthouse, but your guests will get the royal treatment too.
501 Hughes St., Cape May, N.J. 08204 | Images via Chris Clemans Sotheby’s International Realty
You are hereby summoned to an audience with the Empress at the corner of Hughes and Decatur streets in historic Cape May, N.J.
You may arrange a suitable time and date for the audience with her secretary, whose name appears below.
Upon your arrival at the stipulated location, you will be presented with this elegant and exuberant Queen Anne house for sale.
Front parlor
Side parlor
Its current owners took this 19th-century gem and scoured the planet for finery with which to dress it up. Working with their architect and designer, they transformed it into the Empress guest house, a totally 21st-century throwback to the Gilded Age.
Dining room
“Opulent” fails to capture the level and quality of the decor in this place. “Baroque” might be more appropriate. As you should be able to discern from the photos of the main-floor public spaces, the owners pulled out all the stops in making the parlors and dining room palatial.
Kitchen
They kept going when they got to the kitchen, whose up-to-date range comes straight out of the late 1800s. (It has a more modern oven and microwave backing it up to its left.) What I would like to know, however, is: What’s that contraption on the island do? (My guess is it’s a 19th-century scale.)
Guest bedroom
And they didn’t stop there, either. All eight of the house’s bedrooms are plush and richly decorated with authentic period furnishings, drapery and fixtures.
Master suite
The top-floor master suite also has an especially commodious sitting room, and it and several of the other bedrooms have their own private balconies.
Basement rec room
The basement contains all sorts of goodies for you and your guests. The rec room has a game table, a player piano, an antique soda fountain and a popcorn machine.
Theater
That last means that you and your guests can watch movies in the 12-seat theater in true movie-theater style.
Barber shop
There’s also a barber shop and dressing room on this floor. The house also has a dumbwaiter so your guests don’t have to haul their luggage upstairs.
Buy this oh-so-elegant house for sale and you will be able to treat yourself, your friends and your guests like royalty. Don’t be surprised if the visitors who check in address you as “Your Majesty.”
THE FINE PRINT
BEDS: 8
BATHS: 8 full, 2 half
SQUARE FEET: 4,563
SALE PRICE: $3,800,000
501 Hughes St., Cape May, N.J. 08204 [Chris Clemans | Chris Clemans Sotheby’s International Realty]
