Cranbury house tour a walk through history

By Philip Sean Curran, Staff Writer
The history of Cranbury is told partly through architecture, like in the five residences the Cranbury Historical and Preservation Society has on its historic house tour happening Saturday, Sept. 23.
The biannual tour is scheduled from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., rain or shine, said Bobbie Marlowe, tour chairwoman. Tickets cost $25 to visit homes dating anywhere from the late 1700s to the mid-to late 1800s.
“This is a sort of a continuation of a theme, that’s extremely popular, which is young families living in these older, historic houses and how they, without compromising the historic architecture or the appearance of the house, make them work for their lifestyle these days,” said Marlowe, a real estate agent who lives in town. “It’s proved to be a very popular theme.”
Each house has a story. For example, the one at 33 S. Main St. had been empty for a while, sold at auction and was renovated, Marlowe said.
“That’s the only one that will be vacant,” she said. “You’ll be able to learn a lot about how the renovation happened.”
The house on 28 Station Road previously had been located on the other side of Route 130 and moved to its current location, she said.
Besides their ages, the houses also vary in architectural styles; Italianate, Greek Revival and Carpenter Gothic are among the ones represented.
To answer questions, some 50 docents will be on hand. There are some rules tourgoers have to follow. Indoor photography is prohibited; backpacks and strollers are prohibited inside the houses too.
All five of the houses are close to one another, so tourgoers also can stroll downtown, visit the society’s museum on Park Place East, grab a bite to eat or watch Civil War re-enactors at Barn Park on Cranbury Neck Road.
“There’s a lot for people to see,” she said.
Cranbury seeks to protect its history. Owners of homes in the historic district can do whatever they want to the interiors, but the local Preservation Commission has to approve changes to the exteriors. All five homes on the tour are in the district.
“To me if you think about you’re standing in a house, which is now currently lived in with all the modern conveniences in the same place that somebody could have been standing in the Civil War,” she said. “That gives you a lot to think about.”
Information about the tour can be found at the Historical and Preservation Society’s web page, www.cranburyhistory.org.