Home of crab cake king ‘Bobby Chez’ is still for sale, but the asking price is about a half million less

The dream house Robert “Bobby Chez” Sliwowski and his wife, Linda, designed and built nearly 20 years ago on four pastoral acres in Moorestown has been on the market for a year. But they’ve lowered the asking price from $4.4 million to $3.9 million.

The 9,000-square-foot Bridgeboro Road mansion has five bedrooms, six bathrooms, five fireplaces, an outdoor pool, and an ornamental pond. Custom millwork, tilework, and flooring — including recovered “river pine” from Mississippi — were created and installed to the couple’s specifications.

“We built every room the way we wanted,” said Bobby, 74.

» READ MORE: Chef ‘Bobby Chez,’ the king of crab cakes, is selling his New Jersey mansion. Asking price: $4.4 million.

So the windows are all high-end, as are the appliances in the expansive, professional-grade kitchen. Genuine stone, brick, artisanal moldings, and top-of-the-line finishes are featured throughout. The roof is covered in slate shingles from Vermont.

And the raised platform with a baby grand on it in the family room, along with the house sound system, the bar with the multiple TV screens, the movie room, and the wide open (yet cozy) spaces, attest to the Sliwowskis’ love of and flair for entertaining.

“We called it Chez Noel because it was the Christmas house,” said Linda, 67, describing scenes of Santa arriving by helicopter, on horseback, or with a merry band of Mummers over the years.

“This house has always been filled with family and friends,” she said. “As pretty as it is, the house is even nicer when it’s filled with people. We believe anyone who chooses to settle here will be as happy with it as we have been.

“We’re just ready to move on.”

Bobby, who got his start in the food business helping his mother sell hotdogs at the Woodcrest Country Club in Cherry Hill, said: “I’ve always worked. But now I am ready to spend time with my family.”

The couple now divide their time between homes in Scottsdale, Ariz., and Saratoga, N.Y. Bobby sold all four Bobby Chez Famous Crabcakes takeout locations in South Jersey last December but retains a financial interest in the business.

He built the Bobby Chez brand and the brick-and-mortar stores with a jumbo lump crab cake recipe from his father, the culinary skills of his mother, Phyllis (“she hand-rolled every crab cake,” Linda said), and the willingness to find buyers by knocking on restaurant doors with fresh samples.

What became a successful regional operation followed a professional debacle in the 1990s: Chez Robert, Sliwowski’s fine dining establishment in Westmont (where Giumarello’s is now) shut down after lawsuits and the dissolution of his first marriage.

“I lost everything,” Bobby said. “But after I came back with the crab cakes. I built this house so that my mother could live with us. That’s why it’s basically all on one floor, and wheelchair accessible. She lived long enough to see me be successful again.”

Linda also built her own business: Providing customized vehicles for use on location photo and video shoots. Success came despite her having grown up “very poor ... on welfare, in South Amboy,” said Linda.

So both Sliwowskis are up for the challenge of helping find what their Realtor and friend Melissa Young calls “the right buyer in this market” for the house.

They hosted a promotion last year at which the Kerbeck dealership in Palmyra and the luxury car company Aston Martin unveiled the new DB12 model in their driveway. Young also is part of a nationwide network with fellow members of the Compass real estate sales force who specialize in luxury properties for professional athletes and entertainers.

Several Philadelphia sports and music luminaries have looked at the Sliwowski’s property so far.

“This house is 25 minutes from Philadelphia,” Young said. “It’s perfect for a professional athlete.”