This massive brick house in the Elmora (or El Mora) section of Elizabeth was written up in the Elizabeth Daily Journal on February 12, 1927, as follows.
Brick veneer, at present one of the most popular types of construction for better class homes, was used in building a residence for Mrs. Sarah Cherlin, at 942-946 Harding Rd. It is virtually completed. A built-in garage, which satisfies the requirements of the building code and does not affect the appearance of the house, is its main feature.
The lot is irregular, with a frontage in Harding road of 136 feet, and depth of 120 feet on the right side, the maximum point. The house, which sets ten feet from the property line, ahs a gross frontage of seventy-three feet. The residence section proper, however, is thirty-eight feet by twenty-eight feet deep and the remainder of the over-all length is absorbed by the garage and sun room.
The building is two and one-half stories and sits on a terrace that raises it several feet above the street level. The roofing is plain black slate.
The first floor includes an entrance, a living-room, a dining-room, sun-room, kitchen, and wash-room. The second floor has three bedrooms and a bath with a built-in shower. The bathroom is finished entirely in tile. Two rooms and bath are finished on the third floor. Here tile is used again in the bath.
The woodwork of the first floor is chestnut finished in its natural tones. Whitewood is used in the bedrooms. The walls are painted, stippled, and panelled. Hardwood floors are laid throughout the house.
The basement contains the heating plant, laundry and lavatory. An oil burning vapor vacuum heater has been installed. Electric motors also are provided for the laundry and for a refrigerating plant.
Shrubbery has been planted to harnomize with the Georgian-Colonial stle of the exterior.
Frank A. Reed is the architect and has been supervising the construction. The cost is estimated at $26,000. Santella and Son Building Co., Inc. are the contractors.
Not mentioned were the bullet proof door between the garage and the back entrance hall, and the trap door in the pantry leading to a secret room in the basement where the liquor business was carried on during Prohibition. When the house was put up for sale in 1964, this passed for a bomb shelter.
2003; 2022