By Greg Forester, Staff Writer
SOUTH BRUNSWICK — Want to own a piece of local history, or better yet, would you like to live inside a piece of history?
Thanks to the renovation efforts of the people at Mapleton Associates, residents with an interest in living in a historical one-of-a-kind home can do just that, by purchasing one of several former Princeton Nurseries employee homes being renovated on a five-acre site off Mapleton Road.
Partners Dale Krieger and Mike Sassman are currently working on a handful of the seven houses in South Brunswick, across the road from the former Princeton Nurseries complex. One house has had a family living inside its old walls for around a year, after it was renovated and purchased.
The houses — used by Princeton Nurseries employees from the early 20th century until the 1990s — are undergoing exterior restoration following historic specifications, while Mapleton Associates modernizes the interiors for present-day living needs.
Mr. Krieger said he handles the business side of the project, while Mr. Sassman manages the historical renovation of the residences.
The construction work is both very expensive and time-consuming, Mr. Krieger said.
”The critical feature is that we undertake the restoration of the exterior,” said Mr. Krieger. “The roof shingles, the windows, everything you see from the outside. They will resemble what stood there from the beginning.”
The historic renovation work going into the residences — and their location on what was once the largest nursery in the United States — means the houses aren’t cheap, with prices in the range of $700,000 to $1,000,000, according to Mr. Krieger.
The one occupied home — the largest on the five-acre site — sold for around $1,000,000, Mr. Krieger said.
But with the historic preservation efforts going on with the rest of the 260-acre site, someone buying a house there would have the opportunity to live in a preserved, historic park.
Homes are still available, according to Mr. Krieger, who said Mapleton Associates is still looking for some buyers.
While Princeton Nurseries began using the homes to house employees around 1920, many are believed to be much older than that, according to Robert von Zumbusch, the chairman of the Mapleton Preserve Commission.
”Many were older, and were moved to their present site,” said Mr. von Zumbusch.
Some of the houses were built on the four farms that Princeton Nurseries founder William Flemer Sr. originally purchased that made up the core of the Princeton Nurseries complex.
Mapleton Associates actually moved two of the houses to the five-acre site where the renovated houses are located, Mr. Krieger said.
The price was right for the Flemer family when the old farms were purchased. Some of the houses now being renovated and sold for hundreds of thousands of dollars were either given outright or sold for single dollars.
Once they were put to use by nursery employees, the houses were occupied up until around 1995, when Princeton Nurseries moved its operations to near Allentown. Nowadays much of the nursery is closed, as the various organizations with a stake in the historic site work out the details for its eventual preservation.
The site is scheduled for a hearing with the National Register of Historic Places this month, Mr. von Zumbusch said.
Mr. von Zumbusch attested to the rigorous historical guidelines being applied to the Mapleton Associates project, whose plans require review by South Brunswick historical entities, the Mapleton Preserve Commission, and other historical organizations.
”The reason for that is to preserve as much as possible of the old Princeton Nurseries site, and its historical, cultural and scenic qualities,” Mr. Von Zumbusch said.
He said historic organizations will have to undertake some fundraising activities before being able to undertake the same kind of work being done by Mapleton Associates for the other portions of the complex.
That work will be on a much larger scale.
