Cape May Point Historian,Architect and Author Joe Jordan designed this home after an 1887 dwelling.

CAPE MAY POINT — At first glance, the house under construction at 307 Cape Avenue looks like a small cottage but that is only from the front. It’s a long, front-to-back house designed by borough historian Joe Jordan, author of “Cape May Point-The Illustrated History,” and two other books.

No one would expect Jordan to construct a modern marvel in this borough famous for church camp meetings and winter storms. He designed a unique shingle-style house reminiscent of the late 1880s with Arts and Crafts style casings on wide bay windows and three porches with mahogany railings.

“I really wanted to design a house that looked as if it had been here since the beginning,” said Jordan. “I didn’t want to do an imitation Victorian.”

Jordan has been an architect for 50 years. He is a former professor and head of the Architecture Department at Drexel University. He pursued graduate studies in city planning under a Fulbright fellowship at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Denmark.

He designed the U.S. Post Office in Rio Grande.

Jordan said the summer residence of W.G. Low inspired him. That Oceanside structure was built in 1887 in Bristol, R.I.
The Low House was designed by architect Charles McKim.

“I remembered one of my favorite houses from my studies at the university,” said Jordan.

His new creation is between his own home and the former villa of John Wanamaker, now a Marianist retreat.

In 1915, Jordan’s grandfather acquired the property his own residence is built upon for $800. That included a triple size lot. Jordan and his wife Sarah have no children to inherit their home. Jordan said they believe their heirs would sell their house at their passing.

With a triple size lot, their historic home would have been a prime target for someone to demolish and build a “McMansion and mess up the whole area,” he said. He said they hope the new house alongside their current home will prevent such a scenario.
The new house was designed larger than the typical 2,100-square-foot home constructed on a 50-by-100 foot lots here.

Jordan’s creation is about 2,700 square feet, 20 feet wide and 80 feet long. With the entrance on the side, it eliminates the need for a long hallway through the house, he said.

The new home is built with retirees, who entertain summer visitors, in mind. All principal living areas are on the first floor including master bedroom and a den with two bed rooms upstairs and a “hideaway room,” that could act as an office or more sleeping space.

The house has three porches including a screened porch off the master bedroom and a deck off the second floor.

The new house is slightly influenced by a small cottage Jordan’s grandfather had built on the lot in 1916. The one-bedroom cottage was originally a storage building purchased from the Pennsylvania Railroad, said Jordan.

The new home will be finished by Memorial Day. The price tag is typical for the Point, $1.3 million.

The Jordans can be contacted at 609-884-4455.