Morven (Princeton, New Jersey)


Morven, known officially as Morven Museum & Garden, is a historic 18th-century house at 55 Stockton Street in Princeton, Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. It served as the governor's mansion for nearly four decades in the twentieth century, and has been designated a National Historic Landmark. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

History

In 1701, Richard Stockton purchased, from William Penn, the property. His grandson Richard Stockton had 150 acres, on which, in the 1750s, he built the house that his wife Annis Boudinot Stockton named "Morven", after a mythical Gaelic kingdom in Ireland.
Commodore Robert Stockton later lived in the house that was built on the property. Robert Wood Johnson II, chairman of the company Johnson and Johnson, leased the home after Bayard Stockton died during 1932.
In 1944, New Jersey Governor Walter E. Edge purchased Morven from the Stockton family. The sale was subject to the condition that Morven would be given to the state of New Jersey within two years of Edge's death. Edge transferred ownership of Morven to the state during 1954, several years before he died.
Morven served as New Jersey's first governor's mansion from 1944 until 1981. In 1982, Drumthwacket was designated as New Jersey Governor's Mansion. Morven was adapted as a museum.

Owners