Tour of Notable Homes Draws Hundreds to Experience Grand Westfield Residences

WESTFIELD, NJ — Hundreds of people visited Westfield on Saturday to view four historic residences and enjoy live music performances as part of the Friends of the New Jersey Festival Orchestra’s 39th annual Tour of Notable Homes. The event, which enabled visitors to celebrate some of America’s 250 years of history while staying close to home, raised money that will enable the orchestra to continue to present world-class concerts, and also support outreach programs at local schools and hospitals. Tour goers of the event benefiting the NJFO, now in its 43rd season, were also treated to musical interludes inside homes presented by the Garden State Musical Arts Club. Comprised of young musicians from eighth through 12th grades, the active group collaborates in performances for one another and also the public in various concerts and community engagements. In addition to the participating homeowners, the event was supported by the Westfield Historic Preservation Commission, volunteers, NJFO staff, underwriters, advertisers and merchants. Volunteers from the Westfield High School Architecture Club were stationed throughout the homes to assist guests and help bring additional historical and architectural context to the tour experience.Visitors to 713 Fourth Ave. got a personal tour of an example of the Sears, Roebuck “Honor Bilt” houses that helped make homeownership available to the suburban class rapidly growing in the 1920s. The 1926 “Homewood” model retains its original design inside and out, thanks to a faithful restoration by architect Greg Talmont, who grew up in the house. The patterned brick fireplace is the focal point of the interior, trimmed in natural woodwork and the owner’s custom shelving.Talmont said he was delighted that so many people took the tour, and that “the rain clouds basically held off.”Behind the home, guests could take in a personal glimpse of a modernist gazebo set within a deep backyard, landscaped with natural features and indigenous flora by Talmont’s wife, Elizabeth, who is the co-founder of the local chapter of the Native Plant Society of New Jersey. Also featured in Saturday’s tour was the stately Georgian Manor located at 424 Hillside Ave., set off by a circular drive and displaying the formal symmetry of solid brick walls and classical portico that evoke its prewar style. “I’m pretty impressed by the architecture and historical examples presented on the tour,” said Cranford resident Daniela D’Amato. The first-time attendee of the Tour of Notable Homes was inspired to attend after learning that the Hillside Avenue home was designed by the same prominent New York City architects, Hollingsworth & Bragdon, who designed her home. “I’m intrigued. I’m definitely seeing similarities in style,” she said.The interior was styled for Jazz Age entertaining, with an elegant living room hosting a grand piano and multiple seating areas and an original fireplace. A family room was added in 2008. Exiting through the home’s lower level, visitors could note the wine cellar and relaxed TV room, reflecting the abode’s century-long transition from Gatsby to Gen Z.Described as a garden retreat, the grand residence located at 241 E. Dudley Ave. was also on the tour and served as an elegant example of the Edwardian era, when New York City financiers and industry leaders were settling Westfield’s newly developed Dudley Park. The grand 1910 Colonial Revival estate incorporates elements of Craftsman design, signaling the arrival of that popular West Coast style. The residence, owned today by the Hertell family, includes a deep rear yard that has become the popular setting for outdoor concerts by the New Jersey Festival Orchestra. Visitors Saturday were treated to performances by members of the Garden State Musical Arts Club. “We’ve had a fantastic turnout today,” homeowner Keith Hertell, former president of the NJFO Board of Trustees, said of Saturday’s event. “It’s been a greater turnout this year than ever.”The fourth house on the 2026 tour was one of Westfield’s most striking and best-preserved Victorians, subsequently moved, enlarged and extensively remodeled.The structure, which reflects the growth years that followed the arrival of the railroad, was first built on Prospect Street in the Italianate style. After its purchase by William Keeler, vice president of the New York Fire Insurance Co., the home was moved to its current location at 120 W. Dudley Ave.The home has been remodeled in the popular Queen Anne style with top-of-the-line woodwork, lighting and stained glass. The home’s emphasis on vertical design evokes a “religious, uplifting response,” noted architect Greg Blasi of the Westfield Historical Society. The current owners have lovingly maintained it with clever updates, such as repurposing a dumbwaiter as a bar. Manicured hedges conceal rose gardens and a stunning pool on the three-quarter-acre property.