Linden Creek, a luxury interior design and home staging firm headquartered in Raleigh, North Carolina, announced on Monday the launch of its newest franchise location serving Montclair, Summit, and the surrounding communities across Essex, Union, and southeastern Morris counties.
The expansion marks the latest step in Linden Creek’s national growth strategy, establishing a local presence in one of Northern New Jersey’s most competitive and high-value residential real estate markets.
The new franchise operation is led by owner Phoebe Punzalan, a former operations executive at New York University’s Stern School of Business. Punzalan, a longtime New York City commuter, brings operational systems background and design execution to real estate agents, home builders, and property owners throughout the region.
The expansion comes as suburban Northern New Jersey continues to report strong real estate fundamentals driven by proximity to New York City, established commuter rail access, highly ranked public schools, and vibrant downtown corridors.
According to regional housing metrics, the average home value in Montclair reached $1,179,806 in May 2026—a 8.1% year-over-year increase—with properties going under contract in an average of 11 days. With low inventory absorbed rapidly across Essex and Union counties, professional staging and curated interior presentation are increasingly utilized by sellers as strategic tools to maximize valuation and reduce time on market.
“These are communities where buyers have made intentional choices about how they want to live,” Phoebe Punzalan, owner of Linden Creek Montclair and Summit, said. “My goal is to make sure every home tells that story clearly and beautifully, so the right buyers can see themselves in it from the moment they walk through the door.”
Linden Creek’s Montclair and Summit location offers a suite of professional staging and design capabilities tailored for both occupied and vacant properties:
- Vacant & Occupied Home Staging: Full-service furniture, lighting, and decor curation designed around target buyer demographics.
- Photo-Prep Services: Short-term staging consultations and styling optimized specifically for digital real estate photography and virtual tours.
- Full-Service Interior Design: Customized residential design, space planning, and furnishings sourcing for long-term homeowners.
- Model Home Design: Turnkey interior builds and space staging for residential real estate developers and custom builders.
Nationally, Linden Creek’s design team has staged over $1.5 billion in residential real estate, achieving sales velocity timelines that average half the broader industry standard.
The addition of Montclair and Summit expands Linden Creek’s regional footprint in New Jersey, joining existing locations in Princeton and Morristown.
The firm now operates across major market clusters in North Carolina, South Carolina, Pennsylvania, Florida, Georgia, Texas, and Delaware. Additional market launches planned for the near term include West Chester, Pennsylvania, and Wilmington, Delaware.
