The 1889 home of artist John F. Peto, now owned by his chatty grand daughter, Joy Peto Smiley, is on the National Register of Historic Places. It’s near Barnegat Bay, Barnegat Peninsula beach resorts, and Island Beach State Park. Visitors can walk to bay-shore beaches, rent a sailboat nearby, or sit in rocking chairs on the screened porch, looking out on Toms River.
The large wainscoted room, known as the studio, dominates the first floor. On its walls are a multitude of objects— glasses and lanterns, a spinning wheel, and swords—alongside Peto’s paintings, many of them dark still lifes that seem to have frozen the knick knacks in time. Upstairs, one bedroom has a gabled wall and green beams that hover above a double bed, while a larger room, good for guests with children, has four twins, two on a raised platform behind lattice work. In fact, though most visitors are couples getting away from the city, a number of features make this a good place for families. There’s the simple second-floor guest kitchen (great for packing lunch for the beach), and then there’s Joy’s friendly husky, Yuri, who is so loved by kids he gets fan mail.
|