'Sinatra house' in Point Pleasant Beach sells for about half initial asking price

POINT PLEASANT BEACH - The oceanfront home whose owners piped Frank Sinatra tunes onto the boardwalk for some 30 years has been sold for $2.26 million, a real estate agent said Monday.

The "Sinatra home," first put up for sale in September 2022 for $4.4 million, was purchased by Jeffrey Woszczak and his family, real estate investors who plans to rent the property.

"It's been a difficult process for (the owners) since the idea first became kind of real that they would be selling," said James Ward, an agent at Keller Williams Realty Ocean Living who represented the sellers. "It's been tough. They've got a lot of extended family, a lot of people impacted by the decision. I think ultimately it was just a lack of frequent use that made everyone agree it was time."

The home at 175 Boardwalk has five bedrooms, three bathrooms and 3,600 square feet, enough room to sleep more than 20 people — unremarkable by the standards of some summer homes at the Jersey Shore.

What $28M will buy you: NJ's most expensive home for sale is in Colts Neck

But it took on legendary status. It was owned by Paul R. Smith, the former chairman of Sony Music Distribution, who bought the property as a summer home in 1986 and showered his family, neighbors and passersby with Sinatra tunes from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Smith's decision to buy a beach house was odd. His family said he never set foot on the beach. But it scarcely mattered. The Sinatra songs, played through a sound system that could shuffle 200 CDs, attracted crowds of all ages, and the affable Smith would invite people inside for a drink or a tour, even after his grandchildren went to bed.

Smith, a Sinatra fan from the time he was a teenager growing up in St. Louis, moved to New Jersey in 1964 after taking a marketing job at Columbia Records. He only met "Ol' Blue Eyes" once — by coincidence when they were both at the Hilton Hotel in New York.

What the Shore costs: Jersey Shore waterfront home price rises will make your eyes pop

After Smith died in 2002, his family — wife, Anita; sons, David and Jeffrey; and daughters Susan and Diane — continued to stay at the summer house, playing Sinatra tunes. But they found themselves using the home less frequently, and with the Jersey Shore's real estate market soaring, they decided it was time to sell .

Woszczak, a Point Pleasant resident, told the Asbury Park Press that, while he's a Sinatra fan, that wasn't the motivating factor for his purchase. But he said it was too soon to discuss his plans for the home, except that he plans to rent it.

For the Smith family, the sale marks the end of a chapter.

Ward said that for some families, the sale of summer homes can be heartbreaking. For others, it's a relief.

"Sometimes the market conditions are going to give a price point that is really going to soften that blow, and people are just more excited about making a new opportunity for themselves," Ward said. "In other cases, like this one, I believe, it's just more of a hard decision, but the right one for them."

Michael L. Diamond is a business reporter for the Asbury Park Press who has been writing about the New Jersey economy, housing market and health care industry since 1999. He can be reached at mdiamond@gannettnj.com.

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: 'Sinatra house' in Point Pleasant Beach sells for about half initial asking price