In 1884, a group of freshmen who called themselves "The Seven Wise Men of Grease" of the Class of 1888, chose to eat in a private room on the second floor of Dohm's Restaurant on Nassau Street across from the campus. In their sophomore year, the group moved up Nassau Street to a hotel on the corner of Railroad Avenue known as The University Hotel. In September of their junior year as they were joined by several other students, they found a small house immediately south of The University Hotel on Railroad Avenue owned by the college, known as "The University Cottage". A couple was hired to cook and serve their meals. Prior to their graduation in 1888, the group invited members from the sophomore class to join their new venue. In 1889, new members of this society adopted legal papers and agreed on the name "The University Cottage Club of Princeton." In 1890, a lot on Prospect Avenue was purchased and a shingled Victorian clubhouse was built in 1892. The enrollment continued to grow and this structure was moved to Library Place when plans were made for a larger building. The current -story Georgian Revival clubhouse was designed by Charles Follen McKim of the New York architectural firmMcKim, Mead and White in 1903 and built in 1906. The library on the second floor is modeled on the fourteenth century library in Merton College, Oxford University. In the Dining Room, one such carving reads “Ubi Amici Ibidem Sunt Opes” which has become over the years a motto of the Club. In 1979, Cottage Club was one of three all-male eating clubs sued by 1980 Princeton graduate Sally Frank for sex discrimination. Ms. Frank prevailed in 1985. Following the suit, the Club voted to admit women in early 1986. Cottage has historically been numbered among the "Big Four" eating clubs of Princeton University. Recent renovations have kept the club in first-class condition while preserving its historic beauty. Many young literary enthusiasts like to visit the library where F. Scott Fitzgerald began his novel This Side of Paradise. On September 14, 1999, the Club was entered onto the New Jersey Register of Historic Places. On November 15, 1999, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places based on the architectural structure of the building, high degree of historic integrity, and significant cultural contributions to the community.
