Sickles Market Wows Visitors At Holly Hill

The is a labyrinth of happy surprises, and Little Silver's is providing visitors there with at least two sources of inspiration; a fully-loaded pantry and a garden geared for sustainability.

Holly Hill is a historical estate located in the Locust area of Middletown Township. It was built during the depression in 1934 by New Jersey state senator and superior court Judge Thomas Brown, who used local labor and materials for the home's construction.

The estate was chosen to become the third designer show house for Stately Homes By-the-Sea, an organization that brings in acclaimed interior designers, decorators, landscape artists and the like, and has them get creative with various spaces in and around the home.

Sickles Market curated the kitchen's pantry, and third-generation owner Bob Sickles didn't merely want to stock it, he wanted to get a reaction.

Dubbed the "Wow Pantry," Sickles has stuffed the room top to bottom with goods available at his market.

As Karen Irvine, public relations for Sickles Market, explains, "it's an idea Bob Sickles had about three years ago where we can provide pantry staples from the ordinary to the extraordinary into people's homes."

"We wanted to educate our customers on what's available to them," said Irvine, who added that the pantry stocking service is available to anyone who contacts Sickles.

Out of all the items in the pantry, Irvine and Sickles both chose to highlight Mazi Piri Piri sauce, which was recently featured by Saveur magazine. It is a Portuguese hot sauce made from tomatoes, piri piri chile peppers, oil, vinegar, and a little bit of whiskey.

"This sauce has flavor, plus it's not going to kill you," said Sickles of the sauce, which is made locally by Peter Mantas. "I use it like ketchup, I just think that it's really good."

The other part of the Holly Hill estate put together by Sickles is the garden, which is a modern-day victory garden that will produce various fruits and vegetables, and also features aesthetically-pleasing elements such as a blue gazing ball, a bird feeder, and outdoor furniture.

"We all live in very stressful situations with traffic and working and all the recreation that we try to do," said Irvine. "The garden allows us to come and enjoy and relax and see things grow, and it's very extremely rewarding."

Sickles agreed, adding that he believes "gardening and working together outside is very nurturing, it's great stuff to do with your kids, it's good exercise and it teaches about science and nutrition, all kinds of things."

"It's not like everyone's going to go back to being a farmer again, but at least you can have appreciation of it."

"That experience of farm to table happens when you pick your own tomatoes, pick your own lettuce, pick your own string beans, and are able to bring them in and eat."

The VNA Stately Homes By-the-Sea Designer Show House at Holly Hill is open Tuesday through Sunday until June 12.

You can learn more about the property, which is for sale, and find out about other designers showcased there on the Stately Homes By-the-Sea website.