Marven Gardens

Marven Gardens Historic District
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. Historic District
Location:	Bounded by Ventnor, Fredericksburg, Winchester and Brunswick Avenues, Margate, New Jersey
Coordinates:	39°20′0″N 74°29′43″W / 39.333333°N 74.49528°W / 39.333333; -74.49528Coordinates: 39°20′0″N 74°29′43″W / 39.333333°N 74.49528°W / 39.333333; -74.49528
Area:	16 acres (6.5 ha)
Architect:	Pedrick & Sons
Architectural style:	Tudor Revival, Mission/Spanish Revival, Dutch Colonial
Governing body:	Private
NRHP Reference#:	90001440 [1]
Added to NRHP:	September 13, 1990

Marven Gardens is a housing area in Margate City, New Jersey, in the United States, located two miles (3 km) south of Atlantic City. It is famous as a Yellow property on the original Atlantic City version of the Monopoly game board, although the game misspelled the name as Marvin Gardens. The misspelling was introduced by Charles Darrow when his home-made Monopoly board was copied by Parker Brothers. It was not until 1995 that Parker Brothers acknowledged this mistake and formally apologized to the residents of Marven Gardens for the misspelling.^[2] It is the only such property on the game board that is not located within Atlantic City.

The name Marven Gardens is said to be derived from Margate City and Ventnor City, because it lies on the border of Margate City and Ventnor City.^[3] Marven Gardens is surrounded by Ventnor Avenue, Winchester Avenue, Fredericksburg Avenue and Brunswick Avenue. The streets within it are Circle Drive, East Drive and West Drive. Most of the homes were built in the 1920s and 1930s.

For many years, houses in the neighborhood fell into disrepair. During the housing boom of the 2000s, though, many houses changed ownership and have been returned to their former beauty. Marven Gardens is one of the most expensive streets in Margate. It has some of the highest price per square foot rates in New Jersey.

See also

• The King of Marvin Gardens

References

1. ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. 2009-03-13. http://nrhp.focus.nps.gov/natreg/docs/All_Data.html. 
2. ^ http://www.npr.org/programs/morning/features/patc/monopoly/index.html
3. ^ Winkler, Renee. "Whatever the spelling, Marven Gardens has its charms", Courier-Post, August 9, 2004. Accessed September 30, 2007. "Marven Gardens, whose name is derived from the combination of MARgate and VENtnor, comes close to straddling the line dividing these two towns."