Stone Chateau in Northern N.J. Sells for US$17.7 Million, the State’s Biggest Home Sale in Three Years
The custom megamansion is located in the affluent town of Alpine, not far from New York City.
2 min
A Versailles-style chateau in Alpine, New Jersey, has just been sold for US$17.7 million, the state’s highest home sale in the past three years.
The sale of the custom megamansion, which closed Tuesday, is also the highest-priced in the affluent town and in the Rio Vista neighbourhood since January 2022.
David and Mindy Kwon bought the vacant Bergen County land in 2011 for $3.95 million, according to records on Property Shark. They declined to comment on the sale.
The Kwons spent four years building their dream house, which they christened Chateau de la Roche for the boulder that had to be blasted out of the ground before the project could commence.
Designed by Zampolin & Associates Architects, the cast stone, limestone and travertine residence presides over 2 acres.
The interiors are by Denise Albanese, who, in her dual role as realtor associate at the Christie’s Mahwah-Saddle River Sales Gallery, also represented the Kwons in the sale.
“Among the luxury homes in Rio Vista, Chateau de la Roche is the cream of the crop,” she said. “It’s one of the most elegant—there’s a general feeling of grandeur and luxury.”
The seven-bedroom, 10.5-bath house, which was completed in 2017, is palatial enough to suit royalty.
The 25,700-square-foot house, which is about a half hour from Manhattan, has a 15-seat theatre, an elevator, a gas fireplace, a billiards room, two bars, a wine cellar, two indoor plunge pools, a sauna, a steam room, a conservatory and a central-vacuuming system.
Other features include a grand central staircase illuminated by a massive crystal chandelier, a great room warmed by a mammoth fireplace, a conservatory, a mezzanine and an ornately wood-panelled library with a fireplace. The garage can accommodate four vehicles.
Outside, there’s a resort-style swimming pool and a spa.
It’s the details, Albanese said, that set the chateau apart.
“It has soaring ceilings, custom fireplaces and bridal staircases,” she said. “In one of the powder rooms, there is glass-beaded wallpaper.”
Mansion Global could not immediately confirm the identity of the buyer, who was represented by Richard Orlando and Jason Pierce of Prominent Properties Sotheby’s International Realty and Taylor Lucyk of Christie’s International Real Estate Group
Albanese said that the Kwons, who own several other homes, are downsizing.
The transaction, she said, was a “full-circle moment for me as an interior designer and real estate agent. It’s a little sad to see the chateau go, but I’m already working with the sellers on their next interior design and real estate venture.”
Kwon is the corporate vice president and chief legal officer of ADP (Automatic Data Processing), a Roseland, New Jersey., company that provides human resources management software services. And he’s a trustee on the board of SEEDS, a New Jersey-based nonprofit that helps high-achieving students from low-income families.
Chateau de la Roche was originally put up for sale in 2021 for $25 million. Since 2023, the asking price has been $22.49 million.
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After half a century in the same hands, The Palladium blends Art Deco heritage, cinematic history and beachfront living in one extraordinary offering.
3 min
In Sydney’s Northern Beaches, there are plenty of homes with a multimillion-dollar view and an enviable position close to the sand.
This unique listing has all that, but it has also earned its page in the local history books.
After 50 years in the same hands, The Palladium in Palm Beach—once a famed dance hall, then a restaurant, a private residence, and an artists’ studio—is now back on the market with a price hopes of $13.5 million through BJ Edwards and David Edwards of LJ Hooker Palm Beach.
Positioned in a rare corner spot where Ocean Rd meets Palm Beach Rd, The Palladium has been front and centre observing the famous sandy stretch for almost a century.
Built in the early 1930s, the Art Deco building was originally conceived as a vibrant community dance hall; the “it” place to be for young folk during Sydney’s thriving interwar period.
Often the dances were held to raise money for the Palm Beach Surf Life Saving Club, and newspaper reports of the time told of rowdy parties lasting until the early hours, bootleg liquor arrests, and where shorts and sandals—or even pyjamas—were scandalously worn by “both sexes”.
Over the decades, The Palladium has worn many hats.
By 1943, the original owner, Joseph Henry Graham, had defaulted on his loan, and a mortgagee sale reportedly sold the building for £1550, which translates to about $137,000 today. It later became a dining space and a general store run by the Milton family. In the 1960s and early 1970s, the property was also home to the Blue Pacific Restaurant.
The current owners acquired the keys in 1976 when it began its next chapter as a creative hub. One of today’s vendors, filmmaker David Elfick, who has been a filmmaker and producer on such films as Newsfront and Rabbit-Proof Fence, has told stories of a free-spirited creative hub that has been used for film sets, to store numerous movie props, as editing rooms, to hold countless parties and has even hosted visiting members of the Royal Shakespeare Company.
From its famed beachside soirees to its grassroots film club nights, the venue has become woven into the cultural fabric of Palm Beach.
Today, that rich history has been reimagined into a coastal home that honours its past while embracing contemporary beachside living.
Built in a unique architectural style known as streamline moderne, the aeroplane hangar-like building reflects the era’s fascination with air travel, mass transport, and modernity. The facade is defined by a sweeping curved roofline and subtle nautical cues.
The main residence features a vast central living space framed by a number of bedrooms and sunrooms, as well as a front dining room and kitchen. In total, there are four to five bedrooms, three bathrooms and a powder room adjoining an upstairs loft space.
Big, broad windows draw in loads of natural light and provide iconic views, plus the sounds of the beach just across the road.
Many of the original elements remain, most fittingly the polished floors of the former dance hall. In the additional building at the back of the block, there is a separate, self-contained studio with its own bedroom, bathroom, kitchen and laundry. From its elevated deck, the outlook stretches across the full sweep of Palm Beach.
Outside, the expansive 1151sq m land parcel also features established gardens with veggie patches and standalone decks for quiet contemplation.
Sitting just across the road from the beach, the property is also within walking distance of local cafes and the surf club. Palm Beach Rock Pool is at one end of the beach, with the Palm Beach Golf Club and the water airport at the other end of the peninsula.
The Palladium and Palm Beach Studio at 16 Ocean Rd, Palm Beach are listed with BJ Edwards and David Edwards of LJ Hooker Palm Beach via a private treaty campaign with a price guide of $13.5 million.
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