Frank Pallante is a cautious person. He refused a request for comment prior to his renovation of “The Children’s Home” at 427 Garden Street, and now even after the finished work should have silenced any remaining critic and filled him with confidence, he still refused to give a comment.
But it was clear that he is proud of his work and wanted to host the “open house” so community members could get an up close look. Mr. Pallante makes clear that he prefers to let his work stand as his testimony. Judging by the happy faces at the open house, the work has made a very favorable impression on neighbors.
Apparently, some people miss the pink paint and Pallante pointed out that the pink color was placed on the historic plaque in the front of the house [see image]. But in general the outside design is faithful to the structure of the original, if not its color. One color that is the same is the paver sidewalk which was reconstructed with brick pavers that appeared to have been salvaged from a historic property.
This single family house now has many decades of use ahead of it. That could not be said with any degree of certainty even a few months ago.
The house is on the market and it will be interesting to see what it commands as buyers arrive, especially those from north Jersey. The Mount Holly Reporter wishes Mr. Pallante good luck in that regard and hopefully new neighbors will arrive soon.