Sam Joseph with RE/MAX Village Square in South Orange

Sam Joseph, with RE/MAX Village Square in South Orange, is a master at setting the perfect scene at his open houses. His secret? “I let the house tell me how to present it.”

Lucy Ricardo serving martinis. Knights jousting on horseback. Little Orphan Annie pining for tomorrow. All conjur specific images. And all are concepts that get a house sold.

The Cape Cod in Llewellyn Park looked just like Lucy and Ricky’s Connecticut farmhouse. He envisioned Lucy entertaining guests and the concept was decided. A Lucy impersonator served food. Sam wore a white dinner jacket a la Ricky at the Tropicana. Realtors remembered. The house was on the market in December 2008 for two weeks, listed at $799,900. It sold for more than the asking price.

Realtors know that he serves a mean lunch (“I have a caterer who is fabulous”) and they’ll have a good time.

“Lots of Realtors think I spend a lot of money, but I don’t,” he says. For the castle, a call to Medieval Times supplied the knights and horses. Medieval Times’ relationship with Perrier brought in refreshments. “If you think a little outside the box, you don’t need to spend a lot of money,” he says.

Any idea can work. He’s used the seasons; he’s run a state fair complete with carnival and jugglers. He’s staged Raven Claw, a Georgian Colonial in Llewellyn Park, as Daddy Warbucks’ house in “Annie.” A call to friends on Broadway supplied an Annie for the day.

Sam specializes in custom-made houses in Glen Ridge, Maplewood, Montclair, and South and West Orange (including Llewellyn Park). He’s in the process of doing a couture house in Montville and has two open houses planned for spring. “If the house doesn’t talk to me, I can’t sell it,” he says.

He takes his time when deciding whether to take on a listing. “I like to walk around, take my time,” he says. He may need several visits before the path is clear. People come because my open houses are fun,” he says. “They say they never know what I’ll do next.” And that means bigger business. “If Realtors are having fun at the open house, they’ll stay longer. If they’re at my house, they’re not at others.”

Holding an open house that sticks in their mind means a greater chance that Realtors will bring their clients to see Sam’s homes. That formula has paid off. After only three years, he has a market niche. He averages about 20 deals a year, with up to 25 in the works for 2010. Former clients include Whoopi Goldberg and the Sultan of Brunei, whose son is attending NYU.

Sam was Rookie of the Year and has been a RE/MAX Platinum Club member since 2006, with sales of more than $14 million. He is a certified luxury home specialist, meaning that his sales represent the top 10 percent of the marketplace. He has five listings for spring, totaling about $15 million in inventory. One home is in Glen Ridge, two are in Montville and two in Llewellyn Park. Sam says the luxury real estate market is doing just fine in New Jersey. “We haven’t suffered like others,” he says. “We have a built-in market: People will always work in New York and need a place to live.”

With more than 25 years of design and decorating experience, Sam is uniquely suited to real estate. When he represents a seller, he brings the ability to stage and decorate the house to its potential. When he represents a buyer, he takes the time to match his client with the perfect home. Sam’s creative ability has been featured on two seasons of HGTV’s “Bought and Sold,” about 14 episodes, which spotlight his luxury home clientele and properties. Before the real estate business, Sam was vice president, creative director of Macy’s flagship store in Herald Square.

For 12 years, he was the creative force for the annual Macy’s Flower Show, the world’s largest indoors. Other responsibilities included designing all the store windows, including the holiday windows, which attract millions of shoppers each year. After about 400 window designs, he was feeling a tad burned out, so he retired from Macy’s on air on CNN, while being interviewed for his “Polar Express” themed holiday windows.

Soon after, a friend brought him along to a real estate course. Two weeks later (six days a week/eight hours a day) he passed the test. While at a cocktail party, friend Roy Scott, who owns five RE/MAX Village Square offices, heard the news and offered him a job on the spot.

He credits his success with his ability to team-build. “I can’t draw,” he says about creating window displays, “but I can surround myself with those who can to make myself better.” With a degree from the University of Montevallo in Alabama, and a certificate from the London School of Fine Arts, he began a design career in London, serving as window director for Harvey Nichols’ flagship store in the exclusive Knightsbridge shopping district.

While in London, Sam also put his special event talents to work, planning the Queen Mum’s 90th birthday party at the Royal Opera House. An “American by birth, a Southerner by grace,” Sam hails from Birmingham, Ala. That Southern upbringing (he later lived in Georgia) instilled in him a love for historic architecture.

He’s been an Essex County resident since 1992, having restored and decorated two grand homes. The first, the former home of publisher John W. Scribner, is a six-bedroom home circa 1900 in South Orange’s Montrose Park. The second, a brick and limestone 1907 mansion in Glen Ridge, was the home of jeweler and Titanic survivor Henry Blank. The estate includes a large sun porch, a music room and formal English dining room on the first floor and six bedroom suites on the second floor.

He now calls Linden Lawn home. The South Orange estate was built in 1903 by architect Edward Gooch and his wife, Josephine. The French Chateau-style house is marked by a slate mansard roof. The first floor features black-walnut paneling, beamed ceilings and three marble fireplaces. It also boasted an Otis elevator used to convey visitors from the French living room to the entrance hall.

“I love old houses. I’m a houseaholic.”

Market Makers offers insight into the innovative ideas of the region’s top real estate brokers. More than just open houses or balloons tied to a For Sale sign, Market Makers have mastered the creativity and outside-the-box thinking needed to close the deal.