55 Minnisink

In the late fifties, Mr. an Mrs. Israel Greene commissioned their son-in-law, Stanley James Goldstein, an architect in West Orange, to design a new, modern styled house in Short Hills.  The house, which would become known as the Israel Greene House, earned Mr. Goldstein an AIA award and was featured in Architecture Magazine.  It remains one of Essex County’s best examples of the Late International Style.

The house, which had diminished in relation to the demands of a contemporary lifestyle was in need of a major rehab including a substantial increase to its floor area.  The problem then was how to radically change the building without compromising its original design.   The solution turned out to be hidden in the steep slope site on which the house sits.  By creating another, larger story below, the house was essentially left in its original position.

The exterior shell and chimney were rehabilitated but everything else including the interior layout was redesigned.  The house now exists as a bridge between its previous life and its new.