Now, people with money build these big, ostentatious houses and do want to be known. It's not uncommon for home buyers in Alpine to purchase an older house, tear it down, and build a larger one in its place, a national trend as the economy continues to soar. On streets throughout town, modern stucco mansions so large that they dwarf a two-acre lot cast shadows over modest capes and colonials a third their size. They needed to conserve. They didn't need to heat a huge house that had five bathrooms that they weren't using.
Residents say contractors charge more because of the address.
Old-timers of less than extraordinary means are used to seeing eyebrows arch when they tell outsiders where they live. I say it's not the Alpine I knew as a youngster. Also common for older Alpine residents are the periodic queries from builders and real estate agents about whether they plan to sell their homes. Many old-timers said they have no plans to move. But, looking ahead, they see the possibility that the homes they built and raised families in may one day be torn down and replaced with estates.