New Jersey blues haunt up for sale

Iconic New Jersey blues venue The Stanhope House is up for sale.

But the owners of the bar branded ‘The Last Great American Roadhouse’ insist they intend to keep running it as a music hotspot and that they hope to bring onboard a new investor.

The property is listed for sale at $1.7million, although Jon Klein, who has owned the building since 2010, says “we ain’t going nowhere.”

Klein tells NJ.com he is “testing the waters” with the listing and adds: “We can’t sell to someone who isn’t in the heart of the blues.”

Located on Stanhope’s Main Street, the building has been standing since 1794 and was a house, general store and post office before being transformed into a music venue in the 1960s. Artists including Stevie Ray Vaughan, Muddy Waters and Buddy Guy have performed there.

Estate agent Weichert’s listing reads: “Own a part of New Jersey music history. The property consists of a large restaurant/bar and live entertainment venue.

“Included in the sale are the land and building, liquor license, all fixtures and inventory and a first-class sound system and PA for live music.”

Stef wrote close to 5,000 stories during his time as assistant online news editor and later as online news editor between 2014-2016. An accomplished reporter and journalist, Stef has written extensively for a number of UK newspapers and also played bass with UK rock favourites Logan. His favourite bands are Pixies and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. Stef left the world of rock'n'roll news behind when he moved to his beloved Canada in 2016, but he started on his next 5000 stories in 2022.