40 US Historical Homes That Are Worth the Visit

17.Drumthwacket

Drumthwacket is the governor of New Jersey’s official residence, located at 354 Stockton Street in Princeton. Its rather unique name is a combination of the Gaelic words for “wooded” and “hill” to describe the lovely setting of the home in Princeton, New Jersey, just outside the capital of Trenton. It is only one of four official governor’s homes in the nation that are not within the state capital – the other three being Wisconsin, Tennessee, and Ohio. William Penn, the Quaker who originally founded Pennsylvania’s territory for the colonizers, once owned the land on which Drumthwacet sits.

Drumthwacket’s architecture is a blend of Colonial Georgian style and Greek Revival, as illustrated by the extensive use of columns at the residence’s front. New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection currently administers the estate. The home is also a historic house museum. Not all governors have used the mansion as their primary estate; many of them have maintained their private residences and either lived in the mansion part-time or only chose to hold official functions in the mansion. The home has twelve private rooms for use by the first family and six public spaces on the main floor. An annual Garden Club holiday display is a tradition at the estate, and you can tour the estate most Wednesdays.