Born to Sell - West End Cottage Sold to Springsteen Fans

After 181,000+ website hits, articles on more than 400 websites worldwide and appearances on newscasts coast to coast, the sale of the little cottage at  7 1/2 West End Court has been finalized.

While the prospective buyers came from all directions - there was the entertainment attorney from Nashville, the music industry executives from New York who were going to make it into a songwriter's retreat and a group of fans from London, in the end, the buyer was a Jersey girl, her brother and their good friend. 

I wish the buyers years of happiness and fun times in the cottage.  It's always been a favorite of mine, since college days when I lived across the street on the beach, moving in the same week as Bruce in 1974.

The purchasers are three fans of the E Street Band who felt at $280,000, the cottage was not only a great place to live less than 100 steps from the beach path, but a nice investment, too.  Located in Long Branch's C-3 Neighborhood Commercial zone, the commercial options are endless.  It will be home for one of the buyers. 

As a Realtor, I've never had a smoother deal or nicer people to work with, both on the selling and buying side.  Anthony DeLuca, a lifetime resident of the beachy, once bohemian West End, managed the sale for his family.  He lived across the street in the 1970s and remembers Bruce's flame-painted yellow car out back behind the house.  His mom always liked the cottage and when the chance to buy it came around, she did.  Over the years, there have been busloads of tourists who stop in front, but mostly people in ones and twos, politely asking "Is this the house?".

The outpouring of good wishes from fans, former neighbors and displaced Jersey-ites has been incredible.  The calls came from all over the U.S., from fans in Italy and Finland, emails and calls from Irish, Dutch and Scandinavian fans, in particular.  All of this was just a reflection of how people feel about Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band.

When I find a magic lantern and get a chance to have three wishes come true - not the kind where you can wish for winning lottery tickets, but the "Time in a Bottle" kind - I'll take a day in the summer of 1975 again.  I will be 21. The sky will be clear, the waves will be glassy and as the sun sets and I'm scurrying along this very sidewalk to my waitress job at the old Inkwell, I'll catch a wave and a smile from Bruce, sitting on the front porch of 7 1/2 West End Court. 

Photo © Susan McLaughlin 2009

http://www.SusanMcLaughlin.com