Newest Princeton Township resident says he hopes to get involved in community.
By: David Campbell
Gov. James E. McGreevey, Princeton Township’s newest resident, said he expects to register for his library card just as soon as he changes his voter registration.
In about eight weeks the time he expects his left leg, which he broke while walking on a Cape May beach in February, to be completely healed Princetonians shouldn’t be surprised to see him about town on his daily 5-mile run, the governor said during a tour of the private residence at Drumthwacket on Saturday.
Gov. McGreevey, his wife, Dina, and their 4-month-old daughter, Jacqueline, moved into the 19th-century Greek Revival mansion Thursday, leaving behind the family’s modest two-bedroom condo in Woodbridge.
The governor, who walked through the 19-room mansion with the aid of an Irish shillelagh, a gift he said he received as grand marshal of Woodbridge’s Saint Patrick’s Day parade a couple of years back, said he would miss his old hometown.
"But the commute is much better," he noted as he stood at the counter of his newly renovated kitchen, where boxes from the family’s move were in evidence. "We’re actually still unpacking," the governor said. "Full-scale unpacking."
The McGreeveys had planned to take up residence at Drumthwacket in January when the governor took office, but the discovery of lead-based paint, which can cause health problems, throughout the private residence and in portions of the first-floor rooms open to the public delayed the move.
Renovations took two months longer than expected, at a cost of around $300,000, about half of which went toward lead abatement, the governor said.
Contractors, union painters and an interior decorator donated labor and materials for the renovations to the Drumthwacket Foundation, the nonprofit group that maintains the mansion. A muralist donated her talents to decorate the family nursery, a converted workout room.
The first lady oversaw redecoration, Gov. McGreevey said, conceding, "I fully recognize my limitations."
Mr. McGreevey is the second governor to live in Drumthwacket since it became the official residence in 1981, but he is the third governor to live in the mansion since it was built in 1835.
Gov. Charles Smith Olden built the estate on the site of the original Olden family cottage, which stands today on the front lawn of Drumthwacket, and lived there during his Civil War-era term of office. The name of the mansion comes from two Scottish words: "drum," meaning hill, and "thwacket," meaning woods.
Gov. Jim Florio and his wife, Lucinda, lived at Drumthwacket during the governor’s 1990-1993 term. The mansion stayed vacant during the terms of Govs. Tom Kean and Christie Whitman, who chose to live in their own North Jersey estates instead.
"Princeton’s just a tremendous community," Gov. McGreevey said Saturday. "I hope to be involved, whether it’s a Little League game or a meeting of the historical society."
Does the governor intend to become an economic engine for the local stores and restaurants in Princeton?
"My wife loves the coffee shop," Gov. McGreevey said of Small World Coffee on Witherspoon Street, while he said his own preference is Olives Deli & Bakery, also on Witherspoon.
"They have great sandwiches," the governor said following a budget talk with reporters in Drumthwacket’s solarium Saturday.