Reviving Morven

Thoughtful restoration of former governor’s mansion celebrates New Jersey’s heritage

By: Sally Friedman

"Reviving
Staff photo by Mark Czajkowski
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   It sits majestically beyond a long driveway at 55 Stockton Street, its facade graceful and imposing, yet not the least intimidating.
   It is such a familiar part of the Princeton landscape that passers-by may forget that this special house reaches back in history to the first year of the 18th century, when Richard Stockton purchased a 5,000-acre tract from William Penn.
   The house we now know as Morven arose on that land in about 1758, and would ultimately house Stockton’s grandson, Richard, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, and generations of the Stockton family. The only documentation of what was the original structure is believed to be a room-by-room inventory, conducted in 1781, when the signer of the Declaration died. That inventory listed a parlor, dining room, back parlor and kitchen on the first floor, and two "chambers" on the second floor.
   It is deduced that the central section of the house was rebuilt circa 1795, although the reason for the rebuilding is not known. Other major renovations took place in 1850 that included raising the ceiling and roof heights of the west wing of the building. Other appendages were added by 1866.
   By the early 20th century, the property was rented by General Robert Wood Johnson, a son of the Johnson and Johnson family, and had already known great swatches of American history, including the housing of British troops during the Revolutionary War. Expansions and changes altered the magnificent Georgian structure, but never obliterated its grace.
      Then, in 1945, Governor Walter Edge purchased the property, and nine years later, deeded it to the State of New Jersey on the condition that it be used as a governor’s mansion or museum.
   For 27 years, Morven was filled by the families of Governors Robert Meyner, Richard Hughes, William Cahill and Brendan Byrne. But it became increasingly clear that Morven could not serve as both a residence for modern families and an executive mansion.
   By the late 1980’s, the property came under the direction of the New Jersey State Museum and in 1999, a comprehensive three-stage restoration project began. The goal: to transform this national treasure and its expansive grounds into a living history museum open to the public.
      "Buildings need a use, a reason, to be restored," said Annabelle Radcliffe-Trenner, a preservation consultant /architect and a member of the team that is working on the Morven restoration under the auspices of her company, Historic Building Architects in Trenton. "Our first major decision was to commit not just to the restoration of Morven, but to its ongoing function."

"Martha
Martha Wolf, executive director of Morven, looks forward to the interior renovation of the 10,000 square-foot building.

Staff photo by Mark Czajkowski

   Ms. Radcliffe-Trenner, a European-trained preservationist, has strong feelings about the wisdom of preserving buildings with a present purpose, and sees Morven as a perfect case in point. "By phasing the project-dividing the interior/exterior work into manageable segments-and by using a public-private partnership approach-Morven will become a kind of Winterthur for New Jersey. The hope is to house some of the finest early American furniture in an environment that is suitable, and that functions as both period space and exhibition space."
   The project is undeniably an ambitious one. Already, the facade of the building has been successfully completed, with 22 coats of paint removed without the use of harshly abrasive materials. Today, the building is clad in a limestone wash imported from England, which returns the structure to its mid-19th century appearance.
   Phase One also involved, among other things, the painstaking restoration of the gardens on the property, which are defined as Colonial Revival, with peonies, boxwood and other plantings offering a magnificent color palette.
   The next phase of the restoration, and perhaps the most complex, according to Morven’s executive director Martha Wolf, is on Morven’s interiors spaces.
   The 10,000 square-foot building will undergo everything from wheelchair accessibility and code-conformity to climate control for its future function as a museum.
   Some spaces, like the sun-splashed solarium, will probably remain intact. Others will be completely redone.

"Outdoor

Staff photo by Mark Czajkowski

   Phase Three will focus on the carriage house, pool and pool house, with the entire restoration process overseen by Historic Morven, a 20-member consortium, and with funding from the State of New Jersey, the New Jersey Historic Trust, the Robert Wood Johnson Charitable Trust, and a dozen other funders, including the New Jersey Committee of the Garden Clubs of America.
   According to Ms. Wolf, the time frame for the restoration is generous, with years of planning already completed. Optimistic estimates are that Phase Two will be completed in two years. There is the hope that not only will this duly registered Historic Landmark become a most visited museum/education center; there is also a plan for the grounds to be used for memorable weddings and other social functions in years to come. While the indoors will be off-limits to such events because of the museum it will house, the expansive "campus" of Morven may ultimately lend itself to grand gatherings.
   Those gatherings will have a rich legacy. Guests at Morven have included President and Mrs. John F. Kennedy, Fidel Castro, Princess Ranier and Princess Grace of Monaco, and performers like Bill Cosby and Andy Williams.
   "These are very exciting times for a house with a wonderful history," said Ms. Wolf. "So much has already been done, and so much is left to do. Like all grand visions, this one will take time, effort and the work of numbers of people. But we know that the results will definitely be worth it."
   Hours at Morven are Wednesday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.; Thursday and Friday, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., with tours at noon; and Sunday, 1 to 4 p.m., with tours at 2. For more information, call (609) 683-4495.

Gov. Brendan T. Byrne Remembers Morven

   He was the last governor to reside at Morven, and former Gov. Brendan T. Byrne recalls a wonderful house filled with the inevitable happy chaos of seven children.

   "We filled the place up!" said Gov. Byrne, now a private citizen practicing law in Roseland. "It was a wonderful home for us."

   And it was decidedly a home, not just a formal executive mansion. It became something of a state joke, in fact, that to be New Jersey’s governor, one needed many children to fill Morven. Governors Hughes, Cahill and Byrne all had unusually large families.

   Gov. Byrne remembers his children using the grand foyer of Morven as a baseball field, and the occasional misses that threatened chandeliers. He recalls how the New Jersey State Police would tease the younger Byrnes about the ghost of George Washington stalking the mansion.

   And he will always remember the little sapling planted on the grounds in memory of his nephew, Chris Byrne, who died in a freak accident. "That tree has grown so tall that you can’t even see the memorial plaque," said Gov. Byrne, who occupied Morven from January, 1974 to January, 1982.

   The Byrne family ate dinner in Morven’s grand dining room, but Gov. Byrne preferred more informal breakfast meetings in the sunroom.

   The oldest Byrne child, Tom, was already a student at Princeton University when the family moved to Morven. "But he often popped in between classes, and like most students, he wasn’t terribly formal. If that informality surprised guests, it also often charmed them."

   Gov. Byrne also recalled the evening when Jimmy Carter was a dinner guest at Morven shortly after the end of his presidential term. That was the night that President Carter signed a contract for his first post-presidential book, with the publishers coming to Morven to make the contract official.

   Author John McPhee and Gov. Byrne witnessed the signing of that contract.

   "There are so many special memories attached to that house," Gov. Byrne continued, "and I’m delighted that Morven will begin another new life soon. It’s really a home that belongs to all of New Jersey."

Sally Friedman is a free-lance writer/essayist who writes about the arts, home design and other subjects for national and regional publications. She is a frequent contributor to The Packet Magazine.