Check out this Princeton mansion, home of a former U.S. president, that’s for sale

Princeton University students once gathered in the foyer of this Tudor Revival-style mansion where their law professor, Woodrow Wilson, held classes.

The home was not extravagant when he had it built 129 years ago.

Journals retained by the current owner detail ways Wilson tried to keep costs down. This includes stained glass doors that still separate the foyer and dining room, which Wilson ordered from Sears for $29.

Today, the home is immaculately preserved and refurbished, having undergone a five-year, multi-million dollar renovation.

“He played on what was there and made it even better to the period,” said Barbara Blackwell of Callaway Henderson Sotheby’s International Realty. “There were maybe things that Wilson couldn’t have afforded, that he added.”

Among the additions are an oak-paneled library off the foyer, a solarium with custom wood windows, and an office converted from a former porte cochère.

The 5,687-square-foot home, with seven bedrooms, five full- and one half-bathroom is listed for sale for $6.5 million.

The median sales price of a home in Princeton was $1.27 million in August, according to New Jersey Realtors.

Wilson had the home built in 1896 and lived there with his wife, Ellen, and three daughters until 1902, when he became president of Princeton University and moved into Prospect House, on campus.

From there he became governor of New Jersey in 1911 and was elected the 28th U.S. president and served from 1913 to 1921. He is the only U.S. president to have a doctorate degree, which was in political science.

The home, which won a state award, has had 20 owners since Wilson, including Princeton University which used it to house faculty during the Depression.

This home, at 82 Library Place, and Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello, are the only two homes in the country that were built by U.S. presidents and are still being used as residences, according to the home’s current owner, who hired a Princeton student to try to find others.

The three story home has the library to the left of the foyer with a living room behind it and the solarium is off of that. On the other side of the living room is the dining room, a breakfast room, the kitchen and the office.

The kitchen has an original copper sink and a dumb waiter and modern conveniences like Wolf appliances. The dining room has a mural that wraps around the room. It’s painted on linen and depicts three iconic Princeton University buildings and natural landscapes.

The second floor has the primary suite, four other bedrooms, two additional bathrooms, a balcony and a sleeping porch.

The third floor has three more bedrooms, a sitting room, a large cedar closet and a full bathroom.

The home’s basement is finished and has a recreation room, a family room, a laundry room, a pantry, a full bathroom, a wine rack and wine cooler, storage and mechanical rooms.

“It’s got to be one of the most iconic and special houses in Princeton,” Blackwell said.

It sits on a lushly landscaped three quarters of an acre lot in West Princeton and backs to the current Princeton University president’s home. Homes in the neighborhood range from $2 million, if they’re not updated, to $10 million, she said.

The buyer will likely be some who appreciates history and something substantial, Blackwell said.

“It’s not a McMansion,” she said. “Buyers who are looking for brand, new open concept, it’s not that. It’s timeless.”

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