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Nick Churton of Mayfair International Realty visits a building on the market through Turpin Realtors that started life before American Independence and now offers a delightful home in an area of outstanding natural beauty.

It’s funny what you remember a few days after seeing a house for the first time. I thought this having seen The Herb Farm in Chester Township, New Jersey. This is in a rural, well-heeled, area of the state and the house is an historic building that has been beautifully restored to a very high standard. It is full of wonderful detail and features. But it was the huge copper hood over the fire in the kitchen, the fabulous original wooden stair and the magnificent island unit in the kitchen with black granite top and matching basin that stick so firmly in my mind.

And then there was the magnificent living room with its stone walls and exposed ceiling timbers, and the little water feature that surprises and then charms one on turning a stair. Not forgetting the tiny detached stone outhouse in the garden – as yet not modernised – where I am convinced I could happily try and write the great American novel – although I’m British. All things seem possible at The Herb Farm.

So perhaps possibility is really the lingering memory of this house. The possibilities were certainly seen and then seized upon by the owners who commissioned architects Hiland Hall Turner to re-fashion the building for the present day. The architects’ vision and the owners’ talent at interior design were both spot on.

Developed from a stone barn dating back to 1750 that later became a well known restaurant and a thriving herb business, the house stands in over 5.7 acres and is surrounded by the beautiful 500 acre Black River Park.

So what will be your abiding memory? Everyone’s will be different. But whatever it is you are certain to be touched by this wonderful property. It is a perfect remedy to a house purchase dilemma.