The House That Laricks Built

Arthur Laricks (middle) was among those making headlines on June 24, 1972, when ground was broken, signaling the beginning of construction for the Spinnaker, advertised as a luxurious high-rise on New Jersey's southern Shore. Joining Laricks here are Joseph Fabi, contractor Alfred P. Lignelle, SIC commissioner Raymond Brisco, developer and Louis Mutzel, a redevelopment official.

One Family Has Been in the Sea Isle Real Estate Game for 80 Years

How do you measure the last 80 years?

One can track path of gasoline prices from 21 cents in 1946 to $4.12 in early April 2026, according to AAA. Or see that there have been 15 presidents occupying the White House since 1946, if you count Donald Trump twice.

In Sea Isle City, the reference is more community based: the Laricks family name with the real-estate business. It represents 80 years of sales, rentals, relationships, and a niche as one of the island’s oldest, most reliable businesses.

Eighty years of real-estate service amid Sea Isle City’s evolution from low-priced cottages to multimillion-dollar mansions. And 80 years anchored by five operators over three generations.

For Dustin Laricks, who has carried the family banner since 2005, the 80 is more than a number. It’s a link to his grandparents Arthur and Louise Laricks, who founded the business in 1946. And to his parents Donald and Elvira, who carried the baton from the late 1960s until he took the reins.

“When I think of 80 [years], it reminds me of how many people we have serviced,” says Dustin, the head of COMPASS Laricks at 4110 Landis Ave. “I think of how many people that we have helped create memories for at the beach and a wonderful lifestyle for them here. Think of the people walking around town, how happy they are to be in Sea Isle City. I remember selling a house many years ago to a family that had young kids. Now those kids are having kids and there is another generation of children there. You see generations grow.”

The Laricks story differs from many family businesses. It does not entail the traditional hand-down from one generation to another. It involves two major twists: opportunism and Dustin listening to his inner voice.

Congratulating the new County Surrogate Arthur Laricks (center) circa 1952.

Arthur was the Laricks family pioneer. He bought the property at the former site of Hawkins Construction in 1946. He’d been a graduate of Rider College, where he had met Louise. Arthur later worked as a New York City accountant and joined the Navy in World War II in the payroll division of the Seabees, according to Don Laricks. The Seabees were credited with building more than 400 advanced bases, airfields, and roads across the Pacific and Atlantic.

Arthur settled nicely into this occupation until a different opportunity knocked. He would become a surrogate for Cape May County and served several six-year terms, according to Don Laricks. Duties for surrogates generally include reviewing and approving wills, appointing guardians for minors, processing paperwork for adoptions, and managing paperwork for contested cases.

Arthur’s move created the first prominent twist for the company. Louise would take over and become the owner-broker of the agency for about 50 years. That connection was vital to the longevity of the business.

The company eventually passed to Don and Elvira, now married 38 years. They held it until Dustin was groomed to assume command.

Don Laricks, now 80 and splitting time between Sea Isle City and Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., fondly recalls Sea Isle City’s real-estate growth. He had come on board in 1968, a recent University of Tampa graduate and a member of the National Guard during the Vietnam War.

Don juggled a life that would seem foreign to many people today. He had a six-year National Guard commitment to serve one weekend a month and two weeks every summer, stateside. (Longtime baseball remember fans their favorite players having to leave their clubs for extended periods in the 1960s for reserve duty.)

When the smoke cleared, Don Laricks resumed his Sea Isle real estate career in a comparatively simpler time.

“It was a different market back then,” he says with a laugh. “Living in Sea Isle felt more like a neighborhood than a town. It was very small. Everybody knew everybody. Sea Isle City was just starting to get known for its beaches and everything. It was affordable for everybody.

Larick's Building, circa 1905. This building has been Laricks Real Estate's home since 2001. Looking south on Landis Avenue.

Arthur Laricks (fourth from right) joins other civic-minded citizens including Dr. Frank Dealy, Dom Raffa, Adolph Wilsey, Rev. Sawn, and Bill Haffert to welcome the new SIC Ambulance.

“I would say it was close to an even split between rentals and home purchases. You could rent a two-bedroom bungalow in Townsends Inlet for $125 a week.”

Don Laricks considered the era fulfilling. A trust formed between customers and agents. The patrons who treated one week in Sea Isle as Disneyland and the agents who regarded them as family became financially creative.

“They were so excited and so hardworking,” Don recalls. “They would send $10, $20 a week to us during the off-season so that the rental could be paid by the time they came down. They lived all winter talking about the week they would have here.”

It was, relatively speaking, Camelot.

Don and Elvira kept the business until their golden years beckoned.

Into the changing environment came Dustin, armed with a marine biology degree from the University of New Hampshire. But his future profession would come from trusting a sixth sense.

That element would propel Laricks Real Estate into a third generation.

“I learned probably halfway through college that marine biology was not what I wanted to do in life,” Dustin remembers. “I got the degree and finished, but deep down I wanted to remain in Sea Isle City, and the family legacy was important to me.”

Laricks, born and raised here, had no previous experience with the family business. He hadn’t gotten a taste of it by working in the office as a young adult. The passion to pursue real estate came from another direction.

“I was a bartender in town and when the customers learned my name, a lot of them would tell stories about coming to Sea Isle and either renting homes from Laricks or buying homes from Laricks,” he says. “Families had been coming down for generations and they had fond memories. After I realized that we had been a part of it and how significant this was to people, the family legacy became very important to me.”

He shifted gears. Laricks got a real-estate license. Later he earned a broker’s license, enabling him to run an office. He notes that state law mandates that each office has a broker responsible for all of its agents.

“If I didn’t get the broker’s license, then my parents would have had to hire a broker or sell the business when they wanted to get out,” he says.

Theresa Laricks with grandparents Elvira, "Al," and Don Laricks at Washington College graduation.

The Laricks family: Dustin Jr., Quinn, mom Debbie, Peyton and dad Dustin.

Dustin removed that worry and began thriving with the changing times. He launched video tours and hired people who used drones to showcase properties. He also partnered with Compass to obtain enhanced resources.

Modern technology in general quickens the communication between buyers and sellers. It also unfurls a monkey wrench if, for example, online estimates vary sharply from what an agent believes a property is worth.

Dustin Laricks has thrived in a challenging business. It appears to rain money when a company closes a $10 million sale. It looks difficult when dwindling inventory creates massive competition for a small number of homes to sell.

Through it all, the Laricks company has prospered across different market cycles.

It’s interesting to project how long the family business will run. This is, in effect, a bonus era, because Dustin unexpectedly entered it.

Unlike the two previous generations, this one does not involve a spouse. Dustin’s wife Debra recently retired as schoolteacher and the couple – pillars of the community via their contribution to many causes – has not pushed their three children in this direction.

Whether the kids gain a passion to continue it remains to be seen. So would the possibility of Dustin working another 20 years and the family milestone reaching 100.

What’s important for now is that this Sea Isle City anchor has thrived for a long time, for the right reasons.

That’s one great way to measure 80.