Once a one-room farmhouse, this sprawling N.J. estate is on the market for over $1 million

A riverfront estate in Edgewater Park is steeped in history and has hosted senators, governors, presidential candidates and celebrities.

“Towerview,” a seven-bedroom, six full- and one half-bathroom mansion on the Delaware River is listed for sale for $1,750,000.

It’s being offered for sale publicly for the first time. It has previously traded ownership through private, off market, sales.

“This home has so many different features,“ said Lauren Soss of Compass, who along with Naoji Moriuchi, founder of The Moriuchi Group at Compass, are the listing agents. ”It’s location – right on the Delaware River, it sits on just over three acres and has riparian rights, which is not very common in today’s world.”

It started out as a one-room farmhouse in the early 1700s. Later that century the home was expanded to a two-on-two – it had a kitchen and living space downstairs and two bedrooms upstairs, according to a historical account put together by the current seller who has owned the home for more than 40 years.

Elias Boudinot became the owner of the property in the early 1800s. He served for one year as president of the Continental Congress, was elected and served three terms representing New Jersey in the U.S. House of Representatives and was appointed by President George Washington as director of the U.S. Mint, a position he held for 10 years.

The farmhouse and land along the waterfront were purchased in about 1855 by a wealthy merchant from Philadelphia during a time when Philadelphia’s elite were building homes along the New Jersey riverfront so they could escape the heat and cholera outbreaks in the city. He added the Italianate mansion, then, in 1858, a four-story tower that became the home’s namesake.

A third floor was added in 1898 along with the library, seven bathrooms, a stained glass Palladium window, the grand staircase and the porte cochere so that arriving guests were protected from the weather when entering the home.

The current owners installed the in-ground pool, tennis court and did extensive landscaping. They also rebuilt the pier with help from the Army Corps of Engineers and purchased at auction a former Fairmount Park guard house that is located near the tennis court.

“The home is able to host so many different types of events and occasions,” Soss said. “I was speaking to the seller yesterday and she said, ‘when you have a house like this, it must be shared.’”

They’ve hosted weddings, political gatherings, fundraising events. During a Sweet 16 party, they hired the Spirit of Philadelphia to pick up 300 people and cruise up and down the river.

“Its just been a really wonderful place to share,” Moriuchi said. “Now it’s time for a new chapter for them and they’re hoping someone else can pick up the torch and be great stewards of the home.”

The home has been on the market since Jan. 6. “People love the historical connection and the modern touches of the home,” he said.

The buyer will likely be someone who likes to entertain and who values privacy. “It could be a sanctuary for someone who might have a very public life,” Soss said.

The river access is also a selling point. The current owners said that they would wake up and take their kids waterskiing before school, Soss said.

“The sellers said what drew them to the home when they looked at it, was when they got to the main door of the home, which has very oversized glass … they could see through the home … to the water. It immediately pulled them in,” she said.

Are you an agent, buyer or seller who is active in this changing market? Do you have tips about New Jersey’s real estate market? Unusual listings? Let us know.

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Allison Pries may be reached at apries@njadvancemedia.com.