Bellaire
Bellaire Drive (off Anderson Avenue), Demarest, NJ 07627 · East Hill, Demarest, New Jersey
Bellaire is a gated community of 34 luxury townhomes on Bellaire Drive in Demarest, built by American Properties in the mid-2000s on the edge of the Alpine Country Club golf course. Designed by L&M Design in the manner of a French chateau, the three-level homes run about 5,900 to 6,000 square feet, each with a private elevator and a two-car garage.
At a glance
- Type
- Gated townhome condominium
- Built
- About 2005 to 2008 (sponsor sales 2007 to 2009)
- Homes
- 34 market-rate townhomes in eight buildings (the borough counts 38 units including four affordable homes)
- Developer
- American Properties (Iselin, NJ)
- Architect
- L&M Design LLC (Radnor, PA)
- Home size
- About 5,883 sq ft (interior) to 6,041 sq ft (end) in the Turnberry plan; three levels including a finished lower level
- Amenities
- Gated entrance, private three-stop elevators, two-car attached garages, home theaters, mahogany libraries, three fireplaces, bluestone terraces; no shared pool, clubhouse, or tennis
- Pets
- Allowed (cats and dogs, per MLS listing data)
- HOA
- About $1,200 to $1,300 per month in 2024 to 2026 listings
A French chateau enclave on a Tillinghast golf course
Bellaire sits on an 8.55-acre parcel on Demarest's East Hill, bordering the Alpine Country Club. The club's 196-acre course was designed and built by A.W. Tillinghast in 1928 as Aldecress, a name drawn from Alpine, Demarest, and Cresskill, and it was sold to its members and renamed in 1960. Demarest's planners describe the townhome parcel as the borough's one inclusionary development: 38 units, four of them affordable homes, at about 4.4 units per acre. The 34 luxury residences marketed as Bellaire make up the rest.
American Properties of Iselin, New Jersey, built the community, and L&M Design of Radnor, Pennsylvania, designed it as eight buildings arranged around stone-paved courtyards in the tradition of a French chateau. Each home has three levels, with a two-story entry under a domed ceiling of about 24 feet, a curved staircase, a wood-paneled three-stop elevator, a mahogany library, bluestone terraces, and a home theater. The sponsor's Turnberry plan measured 5,883 square feet for an interior home and 6,041 for an end home. At the 2007 New Jersey Builders Association SAM Awards, Bellaire was named Community of the Year and Best Attached Home over $400,000. A decade later the association replaced every roof after leaks traced to construction defects, a dispute that ended in a settlement.
Sales opened just as the housing market turned. In January 2008 homes started at $1.9 million, about a third had sold, and the sponsor was promising a Maserati to buyers who closed that month. By May 2008 the community was more than 75 percent sold, with the last homes cut from as much as $2,695,000 to $1,988,000, and the sponsor reported that at least 30 percent of buyers were Korean American. Resales are rare. State deed records show nine arm's-length sales from January 2023 through June 2026, most between about $1.75 million and $2.4 million.
Josh's view of Bellaire
What you won't find on a listing portal, in Josh's own words.
Who it suits
Those who want the best of North Jersey in a luxurious complex close to New York City. Some of these townhomes are close to 6,000 square feet!
Buying here
Overlooking Alpine Country Club, this is a peaceful complex. If you are a golfer and join the club, you will have no excuse not to become a scratch golfer!
The best lines
These are all beautiful townhomes with first-class finishes and appliances. They feature two-car garages, fireplaces, and high ceilings, and they make an excellent rental investment as well.
Mistakes buyers make
Owning a townhome is a lot easier than owning your own private home, with a lot less maintenance!
What a listing won't tell you
This is a great piece of real estate that will always be desirable. The Demarest and Alpine area is prestigious, and there will always be demand in the future.
Living at Bellaire
Bellaire is a short private drive off Anderson Avenue on the quiet east side of Demarest, a borough of about 5,000 people where the golf course and the Palisades woods take up much of the land. The town center at the Duck Pond, with the restored 1872 railroad depot, is about a mile west, and Closter's supermarkets are a few minutes north. There is no rail service, so most trips to Manhattan run by car over the George Washington Bridge or by commuter bus.
- Commute: Anderson Avenue leads east to Route 9W and the Palisades Interstate Parkway; the George Washington Bridge approach in Fort Lee is about 8.7 miles (roughly 15 minutes with no traffic) and Times Square about 17.5 miles (about 30 minutes with no traffic, longer at rush hour); Rockland Coaches routes 20/20T stop at the Duck Pond on County Road, about 1.2 miles away, with service to the Port Authority Bus Terminal
- Parks and golf: the private Alpine Country Club course borders the community; the Demarest Duck Pond is about 1.2 miles west, and the Tenafly Nature Center is about 2.6 miles by car
- Schools: Demarest Public Schools, with County Road School (pre-K to 1, about 0.8 mile by car), Luther Lee Emerson School (grades 2 to 4, a 2023 National Blue Ribbon School, about 1.9 miles), and Demarest Middle School (grades 5 to 8, about 1.4 miles); grades 9 to 12 attend Northern Valley Regional High School at Demarest (about 2.6 miles)
- Shopping and hospitals: Closter Plaza and Whole Foods Market in Closter are about 1.8 miles by car; Englewood Hospital, 350 Engle Street, is about 4.1 miles
Run the numbers
Sources: Bellaire sponsor website (archived June 2008): community, home designs, and location pages · Bellaire sponsor website (archived June 2008): Turnberry home design square footage · Bellaire sponsor website (archived June 2008): location · L&M Design LLC, 'L&M Design LLC Wins SAM Award for Best Community Design' (May 1, 2007) · Zampolin & Associates Architects, Notable Press (awards list) · Berman & Wright, 'Bellaire Condominiums in Review' (February 8, 2019) · Multi-Housing News, 'Demarest, N.J. Community Offers Virtual Tours in English and Korean' (May 21, 2008) · The Real Deal, 'Flashy cars offered as incentives' (January 18, 2008) · Borough of Demarest, 2020 Land Use Plan Element Amendment · Alpine Country Club, Our Story · NJ Division of Taxation, SR1A sales data files (Sales2023 to Sales2026, Demarest district 0209, Bellaire Dr) · NJParcels.com, 713 Bellaire Dr, Block 120, Lot 11.31 · Coldwell Banker, 214 Bellaire Dr (MLS 24036372, sold May 21, 2025) · Compass, 414 Bellaire Dr (MLS 26015145: pets, sales history) · New Jersey Proper, 311 Bellaire Dr listing · Agentviewsites (NJMLS), 713 Bellaire Drive (MLS 26037909) · Buying in Bergen (Michael Shetler), Bellaire Townhomes in Demarest · Wikipedia, Demarest, New Jersey · Wikipedia, Demarest Public Schools · U.S. Census Geocoder, 114 Bellaire Dr (location) · OpenStreetMap and OSRM routing (distances and drive times)
Photos: Photo by Jerrye and Roy Klotz MD, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped
Thinking about Bellaire?
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