A perfectly Plainfield Mother's Day treat

Rendering of the restored showcase house on Hillside Avenue.
Inset is Grace, after whom the showcase is named.

Why not celebrate Mother's Day this weekend with a visit to Grace's House, the showcase fundraiser for the Valerie Fund, which helps children with cancer get medical treatment as near their home as possible.

The showcase is a restoration of an 1870 mansion on Hillside Avenue that has been in disrepair ever since a tree was blown into its roof during Superstorm Sandy in 2012.

Abandoned, neglected, and in danger of falling into ruin, the house was rescued by custom builder Dan Reichard of Berkeley Heights, who, along with investors bought the house at auction last year with a mind to fix it up and flip it.

Then Reichard had another thought at a walk/run fundraiser sponsored by the  Valerie Fund. His granddaughter Grace was successfully treated for a brain tumor at The Valerie Fund Children's Center at Beth Israel Medical Center in Newark in 2018.

His thought was not only to restore the mansion (many of whose details were intact) but to turn it into a designer showcase as a fundraiser for the Valerie Fund.

With buy-in from his investors and the Fund, Reichard has turned the 20-room mansion (8 bedrooms and 6 baths) on a 2-acre setting into a showcase for the best interior designers of the metro area (for a complete list of the designers and their rooms, see the TAPinto story here).

There will be special opportunities for this Mother's Day weekend --

SATURDAY -- BRUNCH WITH GRACE AND TOUR

[Sorry, the brunch has been cancelled.]


TOUR AND TEA AT THE SHOWCASE
This Saturday and Sunday, visitors can also enjoy both a tour of the showcase and a splendid 3-tier English high tea in the garden of the two-acre estate. Tickets for the tea are $30/person (in addition to the tour). Reserve your table by calling (908) 591-2900.

The Grace's House showcase is at 950 Hillside Avenue. Tickets are $35 at the door. The showcase will also be open for tours next Thursday and Friday from 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM, and next Saturday and Sunday from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM. The showcase ends on Sunday, May 19.

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  -- Dan Damon [follow]

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