Short Hills, NJ | The 1874 Planned Suburb
A National Register Suburb With Three 10/10 Elementary Schools, a $2.5 Million Median and the Station Its Founder Built
Short Hills Real Estate | The Market at the Top of the Ladder
Short Hills is the section of Millburn Township that Stewart Hartshorn laid out as a planned suburb in 1874, and a century and a half later it is the most valuable address in the markets this team covers. Buyers searching Short Hills homes for sale in 2026 met a ZIP 07078 median sale price of $2,548,897 over the three months ending August, up 2.1 percent year over year per Redfin, on 71 August sales, up 14.5 percent, with a 14-day median market time and $728 per square foot, up 8.5 percent.
Read the competition metrics together and the market's real character appears: a Redfin Compete Score of 92, a 105.8 percent average sale-to-list ratio, 60.9 percent of sales above asking, up 7.7 points, and, at the same time, 21.3 percent of listings taking a price drop, up 13.1 points. Short Hills runs at two speeds. In the broadly bid tier, a Wellington Avenue four-bedroom listed at $1,450,000 closed at $1,880,000 in August 2026, 30 percent over asking, one of the largest premiums this team's pages cite, with a Rippling Brook Drive sale at 24 percent over, Canoe Brook Road at 18 percent over and West Road at 14 percent over in the same window. In the estate tier, the tape breathes: a $3,825,000 Addison Drive sale closed 1 percent over in 56 days, a $2,975,000 Hilltop Road sale went exactly at list in 79 days, and Denman Court and Old Short Hills Road closings landed 9 and 2 percent under after 65 and 111 days.
The ladder itself is wide for a luxury market: a Meadowbrook Road cape traded at $849,000 in July 2026, the renovated core runs roughly $1.7 million to $3 million, and new construction and the estate streets carry the market past $3.8 million. Which lane a home sells in is decided mostly at launch, by preparation, pricing and timing, which is exactly the work this team does.
The Allison Ziefert Real Estate Group, a Compass team headquartered in the same township at 378-380 Millburn Ave., brings 25+ years of combined experience, more than 500 five-star reviews and pricing built on street-level comparable sales to the one market where the spread between the two speeds is routinely measured in six and seven figures.
What to Love About Short Hills
An 1874 Plan Still on the Map
Stewart Hartshorn, wealthy from perfecting the self-acting shade roller, bought 13 acres in 1874 and grew the holding to 1,552 acres for a village he described as "a harmonious community filled with people who appreciated nature"; the picturesque plan survives intact, and the Short Hills Park Historic District joined the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.
The Name He Would Not Take
Offered "Hartshornville" by a neighbor, the founder refused and chose Short Hills for the local topography and the name the Lenape used for the region, reportedly content that the village quietly shared his initials.
The Station He Built Himself
Hartshorn paid for the Short Hills railroad station in 1879 and persuaded the post office to open inside it in 1880; both still stand, his family's 1944 gift of Crescent Park faces the platform with the stipulation it stay public forever, and today the stop carries one-seat Midtown Direct trains to Penn Station.
Three 10/10 Elementary Schools
Glenwood, Deerfield and Hartshorn, the three K-4 schools on the Short Hills side, each rate 10 out of 10 on GreatSchools, feeding the shared Millburn Township ladder that ends at Millburn High School, rated A+ and 16th in New Jersey by Niche for 2026.
Gardens From the Founding Family
The Cora Hartshorn Arboretum holds 16.5 acres the founder gave his daughter in 1923, with a 1933 Stone House built from his own quarry's stone, willed to the township in 1958; the historic Greenwood Gardens opened to the public in 2011, Old Short Hills Park adds county green space, and the South Mountain Reservation's 2,000-plus acres rise at the shoulder.
A Two-Speed Market
In mid-2026, 60.9 percent of ZIP 07078 sales closed above asking while 21.3 percent of listings cut price, and the spread between a 30-percent-over launch and a 111-day negotiation is the most expensive strategy question in the team's markets.
Every street here prices differently. Ask the team about the one you have in mind.
Ask the teamShort Hills Neighborhoods and Property Types | A Buyer's Guide
Buyers comparing Short Hills NJ homes for sale generally shop the section in four tiers, from the Register district to the rebuild lots.
Short Hills Park | The National Register District
The oldest streets, including Hobart Avenue, Knollwood Road, The Crescent and Lake Road, hold the planned suburb's original fabric: Shingle, Queen Anne and Stick style houses built between 1870 and 1928, sited on knolls along roads that bend deliberately with the terrain, listed on the National Register in 1980 for both architecture and community planning. Inventory here is scarce by design, trades are infrequent, and the buyers who win them tend to value original detail enough to restore rather than replace.
Old Short Hills Road and the Estate Corridor
Searches for Short Hills luxury homes concentrate along the Old Short Hills Road spine and the deep-lot streets running toward Greenwood Gardens and the reservation, where 2026 closings ran from $1,810,000 on Old Short Hills Road itself to $3,825,000 on Addison Drive. This is the tier where the market breathes: at-list and under-list closings with 42 to 111 days on market are normal here even in a 92-Compete-Score year, which rewards buyers who stay patient and sellers who price to the comp, not the headline.
The Commuter Core | Colonials and Midcentury Blocks
Between the station, the mall side and the school campuses, the colonials, split-levels and expanded capes of the $1.7 million to $3 million band carry most of the section's volume, and this is where 2026's fiercest bidding landed, with closings at 14, 18, 24 and 30 percent over asking and a 14-day ZIP-wide median pace. Walk-to-train and walk-to-school blocks carry measurable premiums; the team prices them from the matching streets, not the ZIP average.
Teardowns, New Construction and the Entry Tier
The rebuild cycle is a Short Hills constant: smaller postwar houses like an $849,000 Meadowbrook Road cape, recorded in July 2026, and a $1,376,000 White Oak Ridge Road sale mark the entry tier, and many trade as land for new construction that returns to market above $3 million. For buyers, this tier is the lowest price of admission to the section and its schools; for sellers of original-condition homes, builder demand creates a second bidding audience the launch strategy should deliberately reach.
Short Hills NJ Homes for Sale
Homes the Allison Ziefert Real Estate Group has listed and sold in Short Hills.
Living in Short Hills | Dining, Shopping and Things to Do
Shopping and Dining
The Mall at Short Hills sits inside the section's own line with an anchor roster that includes Neiman Marcus and Bloomingdale's alongside flagship luxury houses, and since November 13, 2024 it has held Eataly's first New Jersey location, a 17,000-square-foot Italian market with the 230-seat Eataly Ristorante. The Hilton Short Hills faces the mall across John F. Kennedy Parkway, and the township's restaurant rows, from Millburn Deli's sloppy joes to Basilico's northern Italian kitchen, run through downtown Millburn minutes away, covered venue by venue on this site's Millburn page.
Outdoor Recreation and Things to Do
The founding family's green legacy still frames daily life: the Cora Hartshorn Arboretum's trails and Stone House programs, the historic Greenwood Gardens, open to the public since 2011, Old Short Hills Park's county fields, Crescent Park facing the station, and the South Mountain Reservation's 2,000-plus acres at the section's shoulder. The township's Gero Park recreation complex adds municipal facilities, and Paper Mill Playhouse, the state's celebrated regional theater now in its 88th season, performs a short drive away in downtown Millburn.
Short Hills Schools
Short Hills and Millburn share one school system, Millburn Township Public Schools, and the Short Hills address feeds the same ladder the district is famous for: five K-4 elementary schools assign by address, with Glenwood, Deerfield and Hartshorn on the Short Hills side, every fifth grader in the township converges on Washington School, and the path continues through Millburn Middle School to Millburn High School.
How they rate. On GreatSchools, Glenwood, Deerfield and Hartshorn each rate 10 out of 10. On Niche's 2026 measures, Washington School carries an A+ and ranks 31st among New Jersey public elementary schools, Millburn Middle School carries an A+, and Millburn High School carries an A+, ranking 16th in New Jersey and 147th nationally, with an A+ for college prep, about 1,393 students and an 11-to-1 ratio; New Jersey Monthly named the high school the state's best in 2010, and a 2022 statewide ranking placed the district first in New Jersey. Treat every rating as a dated third-party measure.
What the shared district means. There is no schools trade-off between a Millburn and a Short Hills address: both names, one district, one high school. The variables that matter are the K-4 assignment and the walk, and the team confirms the current assignment with the district for any specific home before a buyer writes an offer.
Short Hills on the Map
- Within
- Millburn Township
- ZIP code
- 07078
Landmarks on the map
- Cora Hartshorn Arboretum
- Crescent Park
- Greenwood Gardens
- The Mall at Short Hills
- Old Short Hills Park
- Short Hills train station
Frequently Asked Questions About Short Hills Real Estate
Compare Short Hills With Nearby Towns
Find Your Home in Short Hills
Team
Allison Ziefert Real Estate Group at Compass. Co-principals Allison Ziefert (NJ License 0999509) and Sarah "Ginge" Calhoun (NJ License 1650080)
Office
378-380 Millburn Ave., 2nd Floor, Millburn, NJ 07041
Hours
Weekdays 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Weekends by appointment.