Local architect Max Hayden is about to continue a long tradition that has seen many Princeton area buildings moved from their original sites. In his case, he wants to move his historic home in Mount Rose from a busy crossroads to a much quieter location a quarter of a mile away down Carter Road.
The move was prompted in large part because of increases in commuter traffic through the once quiet intersection. "The sounds, headlights, smells and potential for accident have increased tenfold since I first moved into the house," said Mr. Hayden, "and it doesn't appear to be going to improve."
Although he's enjoyed anchoring the hamlet of Mount Rose for the past 11 years, he finds that the corner site is not an easy place to live for a family with small children. Besides which, the house would also be very difficult to sell for any reasonable amount, he said.
Locally known as an "I" house because of its original appearance, one room deep and two stories tall, Mr. Hayden's house was built in 1850 by Reuben Savidge, who owned the Mount Rose general store and other buildings there. Over the years, it has been added to, first in 1881 and then again at the turn of last century.
A little over a century later, Mr. Hayden bought the house from the Van Liew family in 1984, and extended it further during 1996 and 1997. As an architect with a sense of history — growing up in Somerset County's Warren Township, his family owned the historic King George Inn, once a stage coach stop — Mr. Hayden referred to the style of local farmhouses, particularly another "I" house nearby on Pennington-Rocky Hill Road.
After the move, which will take place as soon as weather permits — cold hard ground being preferable to water-logged mud — Mr. Hayden plans to expand the house further, adding a family room, a mud room, and perhaps additions to the kitchen.
Modern Moves
In the past when homes had no electricity or indoor plumbing, all that was required in order to move a building was the power to do so; to hoist the building up and haul it away. For a contemporary building, with all its electrical wiring, heating, and air conditioning, the prospect is a little more involved because of its infrastructure and because of the power/phone/cable lines that have to be relocated. "Our house was also built in four stages and has many levels of structure, foundations, etc., so it's not straightforward," commented Mr. Hayden by e-mail.
Mr. Hayden purchased the land for the new site in 2005 and has been planning the move since last February. In spite of all that is involved, he said, the cost is worth it and amounts to "about half of what it would take to build the house with comparable finishes."
He's already moved two family homes at this location: the neighboring Verbeyst family and the Vanderwater family homes were moved back from the road intersection.
While the biggest challenge will be fitting the building to its new foundation and making the connection seem natural, Mr. Hayden wouldn't hesitate to advise a homeowner contemplating such a move given the home has some architectural integrity and value. "We are also somewhat sentimental about our homes and you cannot deny that factor, too," he said.
W.A. Construction, headed by Wayne Yarusi of Westfield, has been contracted to do the heavy lifting. "Wayne moved my neighbor's houses," said Mr. Hayden. "The wiring and the plumbing will stay largely intact and will be re-connected to the new septic and well."
Mr. Yarusi has used railroad ties to hold up the house and a series of hydraulic pumps and jacks. Large beams have been inserted under the house cross beams to catch the perimeter points.
Mr. Hayden came to Princeton in 1982 after graduating from Carnegie-Mellon University. Before forming his own firm in 1991, he worked in Princeton and Trenton, most notably for Michael Graves. His restoration projects in the area include restoration of the Grover Cleveland house, Westland; restoration of the Drumthwacket Coach House; restoration of the Morven farmhouse; and restoration of the Mount Rose General Store. In addition to numerous new houses in Princeton, he worked on the Market Fare Food Court (with Ronald Berlin).
His interest in architectural renovation, not to say relocations, may have been sparked early on. "As a small child, my parents moved a small turkey coop onto their property and converted it into a small garage and as a teenager, my folks decided it would be cool to have a caboose in their backyard; for 25 years they had a caboose as a cabana."
Tradition
Mr. Hayden will be continuing a long tradition that has seen many buildings in Princeton moved from their original sites. In 1978, four homes on William Street were moved to make room for Princeton University's Hoyt laboratory. They form Nassau Court, behind Nassau Street, looking to newcomers as though they have been there forever.
Astonishing as it sounds, the brick building that houses Town Topics, formerly Priest's Drug Store, had the address of 1 Nassau Street before 1914 when it was moved some 60 feet back from the road to make way for the war memorial. According to one contemporary account, mentioned by local architectural historian and preservationist Susanne C. Hand, the story spread that a glass of water in the building didn't spill a drop.
Ms. Hand is the author of New Jersey Architecture [New Jersey history series 1995] and the article, "Moved Buildings in Prince-ton," published in the Historical Society of Princeton's journal and available on its website (www.princetonhistory.org). She curated the Society's exhibition of more than 180 photographs, drawings, maps and newspaper cartoons showing the many moves that have taken place in Princeton over the years.
According to Ms. Hand, the 1868 long-distance move of the Sheldon House from Northhampton, Massachusetts to Mercer Street seems to have sparked a Princeton tradition of moving older buildings that went on for some 130 years, during which time nearly two hundred buildings were moved. The circa 1830 Greek temple style Sheldon House was disassembled and moved lock, stock, and colossal-columns, by canal barge. It traveled up Alexander Street and was reassembled on Mercer Street.
"Not only is the number of relocated buildings astounding, but the types of buildings, the changes made to the buildings during and after the moves, the distances moved, and the locations and characteristics of the new sites are very diverse," Ms. Hand has written. "Elegant houses, modest workers' cottages, elaborate Victorian dwellings, stately Colonial Revival houses, estate outbuildings, clubhouses, churches, pharmacies, boarding houses, a rectory, a theater, and a school are among the buildings moved to new locations."
Princeton History
Houses were moved to and from Nassau Street, Mercer Street, Prospect Avenue, Murray Place, Cleveland Lane, Birch Avenue, Leigh Avenue, Library Place, and Vandeventer Avenue; some were moved twice, two were moved three times, and three were moved from other states.
Notable moves included: the home of the physicist Joseph Henry — the first building to be moved by the University (in 1870) and moved again several times after that; the Jonathan Deare house, which was altered to become the Peacock Inn; several buildings on Mercer Street, including 112; 19 and 20 Murray Place which now sit on opposite sides of the street and are reputed to have been one house originally; the building that now houses E.Y. Staats on Moore Street was moved from Nassau Street.
Not all moves were horizontal. Some were vertical, as in the case of 166 and 168 Nassau Street, which were raised up a story on their original site, as were three buildings on Witherspoon Street (16-18, 17, and 24-26).
The development of Palmer Square led to dozens of buildings being moved to new sites on Birch and Leigh Avenues.
The story of one move seems to have been embroidered by history. As reported by Ms. Hand, a Princeton University theater, pre McCarter, known as "The Casino," was said to have been moved west across the train tracks in the dead of night, after the last train and before the first morning train.
Mr. Hayden's house move is expected to take a tad longer. The process is expected to take about two days, and in daylight.