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Drumthwacket

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Template:Short description Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox NRHP Drumthwacket (Template:IPAc-en Template:Respell<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>) is the official residence of the governor of the U.S. state of New Jersey at 354 Stockton Street in Princeton, New Jersey, near the state capital of Trenton.

The mansion was built in 1835 and expanded in 1893 and 1900. It was sold with its surrounding land to the state in 1966. Drumthwacket was added to the National Register of Historic Places on June 10, 1975 for its significance in agriculture, architecture, commerce, landscape architecture, and politics.<ref name="nrhpdoc">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }} With Template:NRHP url</ref> It was designated the governor's mansion in 1982.

The estate is administered by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection. It serves as the executive residence and is also a historic house museum.

HistoryEdit

The land that Drumthwacket is built on was once owned by William Penn, the Quaker proprietor of the Province of Pennsylvania and founder of Philadelphia. William Olden bought it in 1696 and built a small white homestead called Olden House.

In 1799, Charles Smith Olden was born there. Olden gained wealth working at a mercantile firm in Philadelphia and later New Orleans before returning to Princeton, where he began to build Drumthwacket in 1835. The name probably comes from Sir Walter Scott's 1819 novel A Legend of Montrose, whose comic character Dugald Dalgetty is laird of Drumthwacket.<ref name="DFHistory"/> Modern sources say Drumthwacket derives from two Scottish Gaelic wordsTemplate:Specify meaning "wooded hill".<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref name="DFHistory">"The History Template:Webarchive." Drumthwacket Foundation.</ref> Olden began his involvement in politics as a gentleman farmer and businessman, as treasurer and Trustee of the College of New Jersey, as a state Senator, and as governor in 1860, the first to live at Drumthwacket. The original structure consisted of a center hall with two rooms on each side, including the Template:Frac-story center section and large portico with six Ionic columns.<ref name="DFHistory"/>

In 1893, financier, industrialist, and Princeton University benefactor Moses Taylor Pyne purchased Drumthwacket from Olden's widow. Pyne was responsible for major expansions of the home, turning it into a magnificent estate, "surpassing anything previously built in Princeton".<ref name="DFHistory"/> Pyne added two wings on each side of the house in 1893 and 1900, both designed by Raleigh C. Gildersleeve and including a paneled library. Pyne also added park-like landscaping, greenhouses, bridle paths, a dairy farm, and formal Italian gardens.<ref name="DFHistory"/>

Pyne died in 1921, and his granddaughter Agnes Pyne sold the property to Abram Nathaniel Spanel in 1941.<ref name="DFHistory"/> Spanel was an industrialist and inventor who had immigrated from Russia as a child. He founded the International Latex Corporation, which became the International Playtex Corporation. Many of Spanel's staff lived at Drumthwacket, and many of his patented inventions were conceived in the Music Room.<ref name="DFHistory"/>

In 1966, the Spanels sold the estate to New Jersey with the intent that it be used as the governor's official residence, to replace Morven, the old governor's mansion. However, it took 15 years for the estate to be used as an official residence, with the New Jersey Historical Society raising enough funds in 1981.

In 1982, the Drumthwacket Foundation, a non-profit organization responsible for preserving, restoring, and curating the house and its grounds, was established by New Jersey First Lady Deborah Kean.<ref name="DFHistory"/><ref name=njc/> In addition to establishing the Drumthwacket Foundation, Kean also oversaw the conversion of the mansion into the state executive residence.<ref name=njc>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=bcn>Template:Cite news</ref> Kean renovated much of the public and ceremonial rooms in the mansion. Before the renovation, much of Drumthwacket was furnished with older, donated furniture, much of which was unsuited for the home's new ceremonial role.<ref name=bcn/> Debby Kean replaced those furnishings with higher quality, antique furniture and decor needed for the formal residence.<ref name=njc/><ref name=bcn/><ref name=njh>Template:Cite news</ref> Despite her work, Governor Thomas Kean and Deborah Kean chose to live at their own home in Livingston, New Jersey, rather than Drumthwacket.<ref name=nytimes>Template:Cite news</ref>

Governor Jim Florio, who was in office from 1990 to 1994, and First Lady Lucinda Florio were the first gubernatorial couple to live at Drumthwacket.<ref name=nytimes/><ref name=njglobe>Template:Cite news</ref> Lucinda Florio also oversaw major renovations and played a key role in its conversion into a modern governor's residence.<ref name=nytimes/><ref name=njglobe/><ref name=njcom>Template:Cite news</ref> Florio focused much of her work on Drumthwacket's private living quarters, which had been largely untouched by her predecessor.<ref name=nytimes/> Florio and the Drumthwacket Foundation replaced the mansion's antiquated heating system, installed new plumbing and drinking water systems, and repaired uneven hardwood floors.<ref name=nytimes/> Closets and storage spaces, which were absent from bedrooms in homes from the era, were added.<ref name=nytimes/> Florio also acquired curtains and other window treatments, which were missing from many of Drumthwacket's windows.<ref name=nytimes/> Additionally, beginning in 1990, Florio restored the Italianate gardens on the 11-acres grounds surrounding Drumthwacket using private donations.<ref name=nytimes/><ref name=df>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=df2>Template:Cite news</ref> The gardens were originally created in 1905 by the mansion's previous owner, Moses Taylor Pyne, but had fallen into disrepair by the 1990s.<ref name=njcom/><ref name=nytimes/><ref name=df2/> In 1990, Lucinda Florio hosted a small wedding reception for her father at the home.<ref name=nytimes/>

Use by recent governorsEdit

Building details and toursEdit

File:Drumthwacket Back.jpg
The back garden of Drumthwacket

There are 12 private rooms upstairs used by the first family and six public rooms on the main floor that are the site of many official functions. An annual Garden Club holiday display is a tradition at the property.<ref>Lauren Payne, "Christmas At Drumthwacket Template:Webarchive" (November 17, 2010). New Jersey Monthly.</ref>

Drumthwacket is open for guided tours on most Wednesdays, except for August, the day before Thanksgiving, and several other dates. The tour includes the six public rooms used by the governor for meetings and receptions, as well as the solarium, center hall, dining room, parlor, music room, library, and governor's study. Guided tours are conducted by volunteer docents. Visitors can walk through the gardens and visit the Olden House, the restored farmhouse on the property that houses a gift shop and the Drumthwacket Foundation.<ref>"Visit Drumthwacket Template:Webarchive." Drumthwacket Foundation.</ref>

See alsoEdit

NotesEdit

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External linksEdit

Template:Sister project

Template:US Governor Mansions Template:Princeton, New Jersey Template:NRHP in Mercer County, New Jersey

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