Top Buy Agent in Hopewell Valley All FIRMS---LOVE WHERE YOU LIVE

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TOP REAL ESTATE SALES PRODUCER in VOLUME AND REVENUE HOPEWELL/PENNINGTON

I am pleased to tell you that the year of 2014 is incredibly solid in our area for Sales and Buys of Real Estate.  I was flattered to be interviewed by the Hopewell Sun Newspaper in February.

I listed a property on Thursday in our area and have had 20 showings and nine offers in 48 hours. Please call/email me and ask me why?

NJAR CIRCLE OF EXCELLENCE AWARD SILVER LEVEL 2013 CALLAWAYHENDERSON SOTHEBY'S REALTY

You might ask, "Why should you care about this award?" I will tell you why you should care.  I earned this award by meeting the requirements in the number of transactions and revenue of  10,400,000  million in revenue this year.  I start my days at 6:30 am and can be reached pretty much 24/7 and I LIKE IT. I am officially within the TOP TEN agents of 260 agents with the NUMBER ONE  firm.
I  do not work with an assistant but PREFER to handle my clients and their needs for the reason I was hired.

I have always been competitive in sports and this has translated into my craft.  My career in real estate  started during the recession 2008 and it has made me entirely different type of agent that will be apparent when I am interviewed.

I have many clients that started as a referral and have become friends.   I look forward to sharing my connections with you that will make the process of buying or selling your home seamless.

I chose NOT to part of  a business network referral business that one pays any type of membership fee.  My referrals come to you become they are top flight and have earned the privilege to be part of my team.  They are chosen based on performance, integrity, and swiftness of service.

This is also how I want to be chosen to represent you and your interest.  I am happy to give you references for you to email and/ or talk. Just ask.

Jennifer E. Curtis jcurtis@callawayhenderson.com    609-610-0809

Greater Princeton Area Year End Review (+playlist) CallawayHenderson Sotheby's

This is why I have not been blogging! I have been busy! Personal Review with CallawayHenderson

Sotheby's Realty is that I ended the year in FIRST place in Volume and Revenue in the Pennington Hopewell Office. I earned the NJ Circle of Excellence Award at the Silver Level, which means I am in the top 10 agents of our ENTIRE out of 260 agents and CallawayHenderson Sotheby's is FIRST in Mercer County.

75% of Last Year I was a Buyer's Agent.  Call me at 609-610-0809 or email jcurtis@callawayhenderson.com and ask me Why! It matters.

I love my clients and this firm. I am flattered to be in the best of the Best Firms  that is owned by real families of in the  area and Marketing that is UNRIVALED RESULTS in Mercer County.

Double Brook Farm and Thanksgiving

One of the most exciting things about Thanksgiving in Hopewell Borough is the Farm to Table Movement that is becoming so mainstream.  Imagine the spiritual connection we feel,  knowing that we have walked amongst this year's turkeys on the farm. My daughter loves connecting with the livestock and crops that are growing here.  I have to say as  local realtor with CallawayHenderson Sotheby's and Waldorf School of Princeton parent,  it is something I am proud to share about what is happening in our walkable Borough.

Fiona and I ordered our Red Bourbon Heritage Turkey and brined it before our relatives arrived from Western New England.  We also picked up our winter greens, eggs, coffee made special for Double Brook from Small World Coffee, and delightful cheeses and fresh sausage for my Grand Marnier stuffing. We have a ham ordered for Christmas and watched the beautiful pigs grow fast and live on the open land.
It was lovely to connect with Mr. Lemmerling from the old Bon Appetit  who will be running the cheese section for Double Brook!
I have to say the Greek yogurt that they are making is out of this WORLD!  I am drizzling some local Sourland Mountain honey on it and Double Brook's own granola. I am comparing this yogurt to biodynamic yogurt made in PA and I pick this!! This is also the best granola I have ever had. Fiona agrees.  

The local foodie is going to be able to walk to the  new local market in the  historic brick Chevrolet building that is being converted by Double Brook Farm known as Brick Farm Market.  As Fiona graduates from the Waldorf School of Princeton as an eighth grader this year, it is wonderful for us to continue to meet like minded neighbors in the village that care about how animals are cared for, and where our food comes from and farmers that care deeply for our Hopewell Valley.

Late Summer Containers and Imported Italian Pots and Furniture

 Check out the wet laid patio that was installed last spring.  After that phase of the project was completed, the architect'/builder PDG and I helped client pick out stunning Italian outside furniture. We partner with Tuscan Hills.  I really love putting the finishing touches on outside projects for clients.  Container plantings are three dimensional for a hardscape.  I change these displays out for a client three to four times during the year. Some installations are complete do overs and sometimes I amend from the last season.

Princeton Container Pots for Pools and Patios

Since it is super hot here in Princeton  I thought I would share one of my clients container pots and pool.   Around this property I design eight containers that change with the seasons.  I stick to water plants and succulents and some annuals for continuing color.  It feels refreshing to have plants at eye level with stepping down into a private pool. It really makes your home feel like a resort in many ways.

Hopewell Carriage House Window Boxes filled with Cottage Classics

I don't know what happened to me this spring but I am all about pink with my grey cedar shake nest. As a woman that loves songbirds nothing pleases me more than a nest from a bird already used and ready for some recyling.  I will add some blues to this arrangment but it's still too darn early! Right around Mother's Day is frost safe.

I have weeded, trenched, fertilized and pruned and now it's just that time to fill the window boxes and containers.  For my clients I am sticking to early spring arrangement that are safe from frost right now.
Who loves lush hostas but not that fact that they are deer candy..Solution is what I do for my clients and myself.  Pick varieties that are small to dwarf and put them in pots where you can pick and change locations.  I am going to show you mine this week that are all lined up in pots!

English Daisies Bellis Perennis Blooming at the Hopewell Carriage House

Spring is showing up early though we are still in frost danger until the end of April towards the beginning of May. I have a real mainstay blooming now which is the English Daisy. It is a strong landscape performer and produces masses of large double flowers which are perfect for borders or rock gardens. They are lovely with early spring bulbs and easy to grow but prefer well drained soil.   Dead head them to prevent self seeding.
 Also your helleborus should be in full bloom and most started activity in February!  I love these for a garden. No worries, no fungus, no predators! No slugs and no deer! Only thing that they have going against them is that they are rather expensive in the perennial world.  I have a coveted pale yellow speciman and white and pink varieties. Most of mine are doubles which is peculiar for me considering I prefer the non fuss of a single bloom in most plants.

Custom Cabinetry from Princeton Design Guild

Here's probably the last piece of cabinetry that has been finished in the Carriage House nest.  Princeton Design Guild's Kevin Wilkes gave me a super idea to add a cork board to the cabinet.  I went to Stone Tec and picked out a remnant again of Calcutta Gold Extra Marble.  It has been the right decision for me to go with custom cabinetry for my space.  The weight of the doors alone are lovely to open and close!    We now will amend the walk in master closet next.   Shelves are being designed for this space. I am not a fashionista at all but I am a neat freak.  I prefer style in the garden and home.

Winter Containers for Princeton and Hopewell

It's that time of year for your winter pots to be filled with firs, cypress, hollies, junipers, kales and various winter clippings.   I love doing the winter installations but they are prickly!

These pots just arrived from Italy made for the client.   We pick them out together and they are some kind of Lovely! More pictures to come.

Leaf Online Home and Garden Rag!

I want to share this new online magazine for garden lovers and home dwellers.   It is really inspiring to see so many stylists  be open to the homemade artisinal  movement that has returned which is  similiar to the Arts and Crafts Movement hundred years ago.  This is Leaf's preview issue and I really like it a lot.
Check out the middle of the magazine and decide if you are Homespun, a Neo Prep or an Industrist!  Anyone that knows me knows I am mostly Homespun though I love creating different moods that work for my clients spaces.
The magazine nods a tribute to Ellen Biddle Shipman who was  known as America's best woman flower garden maker. Inspiring to read and nice to be validated with the feminine choices in a perennial garden like Peonies, old fashioned roses and irises and lillies.
 I planted Heirloom species Lilies today- L.tigrinum splendens circa 1870 which will have a radiant salmon orange with maroon garnet spots.  The carriage house was built in 1890 and it is lovely to have some plants that honor the time period.

I also will add Triandrus Narcissi variety Thalia circa 1916 which smells divine and usually bears two or more pendant of flowers per stem and can handle some shade.
I have chosen Rosalie as a tulip which is a Triumph Tulip and is a rose pink that looks will with the Nantucket grey cedar shakes on the carriage house.
For a ground cover I have planted Grecian Windflowers with a daisy like flower circa 1898. These can also be forced in pots though I have not ever done this.

Thank goodness that the weather has been on my side this winter so I have a few more days to complete bulbs in the ground for winter.   Christmas trees are up and so are my English boxwood wreaths.  I always grace the front of the carriage home with a super large Frazer Fir wreath and that is hung. Pictures to come. I promise!

Princeton Garden Design Pots Grow at Bell and Whistle

I had to share what one of my clients container pots looks like at the end of the fall season before there is a change to a different arrangement.  Coleus, Hibiscus, Sweet Potato Vine, Lantana, and Succulents to name just a few!

Italian Pots and Italian Furniture with Princeton Pots and Princeton Design Guild

Wow!I bet you are wondering where have I been this summer? Have I been gardening for clients? You bet I have.  It has been so busy that I have not been very good at keeping up with pictures at all.  Thought I would share a client's lovely bluestone patio designed by Princeton Design Guild and beautified with some Italian outdoor furniture that we picked out for the client. We have a few more pieces coming for this client that will compliment the patio dining furniture.

We selected some graphite grey Imported Italian pots and I jazzed them up with some annuals, tropicals and some perennials that will last until frost. Nothing nicer on a patio than to bring in some three dimensional plantings that work with the space and align with a client's decor.

I encouraged the client to go with a mandarine cushion for the chairs on this blue select patio and they look stunning.  Unfortunately the client took them in.  When the club chairs arrive I will photograph them with a few more Italian pots coming on the next container from Italy.

It is fun for me as a garden designer to work with an architect/builder during the project so that a client is left with a truly finished product that is now a "green living space" ready for entertaining and relaxing.

Tuscan Hills in Kingston for Imported Italian Pots

I work  with Tuscan Hills in Kingston/Princeton for clients that want pots imported from Italy.  Their selection is lovely whether it be contemporary or old world in taste.  I can help with  tasteful selections  and help clients with proper plant selection for the exterior space.  I  take into consideration the sun exposure or lack thereof and a clients skillset in maintaining these plants.   .
Remember the easiest way to make a small space alive is with some container pots on  a patio. terrace or porch!

Step in Stone Container Pots

Sometime the best thing you can do as a store owner is some containers for landscape.   I love working with black containers for contrast.  It is important to make sure that plants chosen suit the site and have water needs that are very similiar.  Also these annuals need to be fertilized throughout the season for abundant blooms. I chose hibiscus, exotic geraniums , succulents and grasses.

Spring Perennial Garden in Hopewell Carriage House

Spring is here in Central Jersey!  I love planting Creeping Jenny because of her chartreuse color that pops in the shade and looks wonderful in container pots as it cascades down the sides. It returns every spring  because it is a perennial.

This is only a wee look at some of the containers that I have on my property.  Many,  I plant  dwarf specimen hostas  that return every year and even ferns in some of the pots.

Don't forget to add some things that are special so that visitors will know that they are invited into your space.  Wrens are my most favorite birds for many reasons and it is some folly to see one in the garden all of the time.

Copper sundials hearken back to another time and I take any opportunity I find to place a pot!


Sometimes simplicity is at its best with some violas for spring in an aging pot.

Containers Pots for Bell and Whistle

It is that time of year that if you are a gardener for a living or pleasure you are busy!  Hopewell is lucky enough to await The Bell and Whistle coming to town and I have started their container plantings as we all wait for them to open.   I love to install container plantings for my clients either for commercial or home pleasure.  Things to take into consideration are location of the sun or lack thereof, mood of installation, maintenance,  and differing heights of plants and textures.  I love doing them!!

Saums Interiors and Paint Shop and Carriage House Interior

So it has come to the point where I have been deciding on paint colors for the carriage house.  I tried numerous samples of greys to compliment my marble slabs.  I tried sample after sample without getting it right.  Luckily I had the help of my most favorite Color Consultant from Saums Paint Shop and Interiors, Sharon Saums!  She is enthusiastic  and knowledgable about colors and their effect on our living spaces.  I was picking greys that were too cool for my environment and she helped to steer me towards warmer greys.

The warmer greys compliment the polished nickle fixtures nicely as it is warmer than chrome with the vanities.  Balboa Mist Benjamin Moore is in the downstairs bathroom and Cumulus Cloud Benjamin Moore is in the upstairs bathroom.  Linen White Benjamin Moore is throughout the house which was decided before I arrived. It is a restful  neutral that works easily for most spaces.   I also decided with Sharon's help to change the front door color from a basic black to Wrought Iron Benjamin Moore Black.  It is a bit of a softer black with a grey base and artsy and a bit urban. Christine Lemieux founder of Dwell used it in a bedroom makeover.  Check it out. I am also loving the vintage beveled mirror I got as a gift which works in this bathroom!

Perennial Gardens with Wildflowers of New Jersey

I am working on a perennial garden for a client this week and wanted to share with you all that at the Historic Hopewell Train Station there will be a talk on Wildflowers!  Rachel Mackow will be bringing a slideshow.  These are some of the nicest flowers to bring in your garden.  They are native, easy and suppose to be here!  No sprays to put on them and nothing to baby!  Wild geranium and Jack in the Pulpit to start!  Join me.  We can talk plants and homes. It starts at 7:00pm.