New Jersey just got upgraded as two former US presidents’ homes in Princeton have drawn big attention — Grover Cleveland’s Georgian mansion, Westland, sold this month for $5.28 million, while Woodrow Wilson’s Tudor Revival residence has hit the market for $6.5 million. The seven-bedroom, five-and-a-half-bathroom Tudor Revival-style house, where Woodrow Wilson lived until he was elected President in 1912, was first listed in May for an eye-popping $6.5 million, New York Post reported. Located at 82 Library Pl., the three-storey property was built in 1896 on three-quarters of an acre and features stained-glass pocket doors, a greenhouse, a dumbwaiter, and “two patios serenaded by a fountain and a cascading koi pond,” according to the listing by Callaway Henderson Sotheby’s International Realty. First Lady Ellen Axson Wilson assisted in designing the home, which includes heated bathroom floors, a balcony, “window seats and period mantels,” Sotheby’s exclusive listing states. “Presidential homes should have a premium attached, both to buyer interest and sale prices,” said Sotheby’s realtor Barbara Blackwell. Wilson owned several properties in locations such as South Carolina, Georgia, and Washington D.C. “This is the one house that he and his wife really made their own,” said University of Wisconsin history professor John Milton Cooper Jr., author of the 2011 Pulitzer-finalist biography “Woodrow Wilson: A Biography.” “She was not a trained architect, but she was an artist.” Wilson served two terms from 1913 to 1921 and sold the house in 1921 to John G. Hibben, his successor as President of Princeton. “The house, as it is now, has been really expanded and renovated a lot,” Cooper added. “It is a lovely house, but it is now twice as big and twice as long.” He expressed surprise at the asking price, saying, “I knew Princeton real estate was expensive, but not that expensive.” Cleveland’s former Princeton residence sold for $5.28 million on August 8 after being listed for more than a year. Initially, the home was listed for $5.95 million. The six-bedroom, seven-bathroom Georgian mansion, originally built in 1854 for Sen. Robert Stockton, served as Cleveland’s retirement home from 1897 until his death in 1908. Named “Westland” in honour of his close friend, Andrew West, a professor at Princeton University, the home is now a designated National Historic Landmark and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. During Cleveland’s residency, Wilson, a Princeton graduate, was serving as the university’s president. In 1911, Wilson was elected New Jersey’s 34th governor, a position he held until his inauguration as President. The gardens at Wilson’s former home are scheduled to be part of the upcoming Princeton Garden Tour on September 13.
