09/11/2018
Today, September 11, is uniquely important to us at Hunterdon's Hideaway. Read Part I of our story to find out why.
Hunterdon’s Hideaway: The Back Story
Hunterdon’s Hideaway is four Airbnbs that come with a an amazing story including: Soviet Spies, a 911 Survivor, immigration, PTSD, paralysis, tragedy, economic disaster, friendship, alcohol abuse, sobriety, winter cyclones, nor’easters and a Romanian connection. It also may be one of the only Airbnbs largely conceived by guests, designed by guests, and built by guests in the middle of a power outage. Here’s the long short story.
JULIA:
Julia and Jack were business acquaintances. Better defined: Julia had hired Jack as her virtual Executive/Life Coach at a desperate time in her life when she was newly divorced, unemployed, and the bank wanted her house back. Jack was on the other end of the phone and country (in California). Julia was fighting severe depression, mounting debt and PTSD. She had taken to more than a few glasses of wine to numb her pain while further delaying needed home repairs and deferred maintenance. A few months with Jack’s executive coaching rates proved too much; no matter how helpful she found their work together. Both suspected it wouldn’t be the last they would talk.
Everyone has stories of tough times in life, but Julia’s had a “Forest Gump-like” character to them. This woman, with a pronounced British accent, had grown up in Cambridge, England; rejected the intellectual snobbery and politics associated with such a place, while being educated in an elite all-girls school. She then took off for “The City” after attaining her college degree in Wales. It wasn’t a typical choice for a liberal arts major specializing in languages (“The City” is England’s equivalent to Wall Street for you colonists), but soon she was living the fast life in the 80’s London banking scene. Breaking the mold once again, she got on a plane to cross the pond for a lofty job on Wall Street with child and husband in tow.
Fast forward to 9-11 and this now Mom of three found herself leading others down 30 flights of stairs in the World Trade Center North Tower; past heroic first responders encouraging them to turn around and head for the roof. Memories of living through “The Troubles” in London would have Julia hear none of going up. “Keep going down!” From a packed ferry leaving the Island Julia watched as the first tower fell. To this day she suffers from lung issues, the result of inhaling jet fueled fiery rain as she ran from the building.
Attending and speaking at numerous funerals in the Fall of 2001, Julia had one more stop to make. Her passport was under a a red, white and blue flag, but it was time to make it one with stars and stripes. Off to the immigration office. Jack learned a lesson when he suggested they put up a tall Union Jack by the pool at Hunterdon’s Hideaway. “Not a chance” he was told in a tone that startled him. At least not as the tallest flag. Now American Citizen, Julia Kate Nand, had made her response to 911 clear.
Coming Up: Part II
It was a Saturday, exactly seven years and one week after 9-11. Julia would be found alone at her desk on Wall Street in the fourth largest investment bank in America...
