NESTLED INTO THE NEIGHBORHOOD: Homes of varying styles, sizes, and eras are on the Historical Society of Princeton’s 18th annual House Tour Saturday, November 2. This house on Maclean Street in the Witherspoon-Jackson Historic District was renovated and expanded, making innovative use of materials from buildings that no longer stand.

By Anne Levin

The six homes opening their doors to the public for this year’s Historical Society of Princeton (HSP) House Tour on November 2 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. cover a range of sizes, periods, and styles.

Visitors can step into a mansion designed by architect Raleigh Gildersleeve, built by Moses Taylor Pyne for his mother around 1900. They can tour a modern house that serves as the laboratory for interior designer Katie Eastridge. Among other stops, the tour features the elegant manor house at Princeton Academy of the Sacred Heart, designed by Rolf Bauhan around 1930 as a home for Mr. and Mrs. Thomas S. Dignan.

A less ornate, but no less interesting home on the tour is at 17 Maclean Street in Princeton’s Witherspoon-Jackson neighborhood, which joined the town’s roster of historic districts in 2016. Princeton architect Steven S. Cohen designed a renovation and addition for the home’s owners in 2015, getting in just under the wire. Historic districts carry restrictions  on additons and renovations. “This was just prior to the historic district designation,” Cohen said. “We started just before that went into effect.”

Built around 1880, the house has a sizable lot with a garden and an array of fruit trees. Cohen’s office and Material Design Build worked together on the project. “It needed a lot of work,” said Cohen. “We went through various designs until we came up with something that worked for the owners. But we knew early on that it needed an addition.”

A new kitchen, master bedroom, laundry room, master bath, and an open space on the third floor were added. “Within the existing house, we did things to keep consistent with the style,” said Cohen. “But the new addition was different. It contrasted a bit with the existing home.”

The builder procured salvaged materials for several areas of the house. An old gym floor is in use on the third floor, and some old beams make up light fixtures in the kitchen. This was of particular interest to Izzy Kasdin, executive director of the Historical Society.

“The level to which they used all of this neat salvaged material is amazing,” she said. “They used wood from the old SAVE (Animal Rescue) headquarters, and from the gym in an old high school. You can still see the seat numbers. It’s a very whimsical and imaginative renovation, and we look for those kinds of things. And the Witherspoon-Jackson story is one we’re always proud to tell.”

The tour is self-guided. New this year is a pre-tour lecture by author and historian Clifford Zink on “Rolf Bauhan’s Architectural Legacy,” exploring the design of the Manor House that is now part of Princeton Academy, as well as Bauhan’s more than 100 other local revivalist buildings.

The Manor House was Bauhan’s biggest residential project. It “showcases his characteristic attention to detail, from stained glass representing Arthurian legends to complex plasterwork, carved wood detail, and decorative copper downspouts,” according to a release about the tour. “The original 1930s kitchen, with antique dishwasher, remains preserved. Manor House’s expansive grounds retain a walled garden with stone gazebos and a groundskeeper’s cottage.”

Another home on the tour, at 56 Balcort Drive, was built around the same time as a 1,600-square-foot pattern book house, and expanded. Visitors can also explore a Tudor Revival house designed by Gildersleeve at 211 Winant Road. The house had a top-to-bottom renovation by a protege of I.M. Pei to give it “an urban, loft-like feel while still retaining the appropriate grandeur,” reads the release. “The original brick walls and Carnegie steel beams are exposed and juxtaposed with formal plasterwork. A striking three-story glass and metal main staircase illuminates the space. Extraordinary attention to detail distinguishes this mansion’s not-to-be-missed rescue story.”

Another top-to-bottom makeover was the classic Tudor home at 29 Cleveland Lane, among the earliest residences of the former Morven tract enclave. A new kitchen and bathrooms, and upgraded period hardware, are among the upgrades at the house, which has many works by local artists on its walls.

Advance tickets for the tour are $45 for Historical Society members, and $50 for non-members. Tickets purchased the day of the tour are $50. Proceeds fund the HSP’s education, stewardship, exhibitions, public programs, and co-curricular support for schools.

“Our criteria for the houses on the tour are manifold,” said Kasdin. “It’s not about size. Anything that is architecturally interesting, where there has been a cool renovation or design, and has an interesting history, fits the bill.”

Visit  www.princetonhistory.org or call (609) 921-6748 ext.106 for ticket information.