This is a multigenerational tale, of life, love, history and real estate. No, it’s not a Russian novel but rather a local story of how restoration specialist Patrick Kane rescued his future wife’s childhood home in Kingston, moved the historic farmhouse to a new lot, and now seeks a buyer who will want to work with him to rehabilitate it and make it their own.

The property in question is at 3 Prospect St. in Kingston, across the street and down the block from where it spent its first 120 years or so. In 2007, when developers of its original site sought to demolish the structure, Mr. Kane — a third-generation Kingston resident who for 30 years has operated a firm with his brother Tim restoring old houses — acquired a subdivided lot nearby on Prospect Street and rolled the structure down the block onto a new foundation at its current site.

“We suspect that the house was built around 1880-1890 because of the type of windows and the frame construction,” Mr. Kane says as he gives a tour of the house. “This was probably an original farmhouse for this area.”
In the early part of the 20th century the Catelli family bought the house, and proceeded to open a bottling company on the property, Mr. Kane says.

“So they lived in the house and they bottled and my mom actually worked in the accounting department,” Mr. Kane says.
In the 1960s the Catellis sold the property, and house, to Princeton Nurseries. “From the late ’60s my wife’s family, the Foxes, lived in it until somewhere in the late ’70s. My wife’s father worked at the nursery,” Mr. Kane says.

Mr. Kane motions to windows on the second floor of the building. “That was my wife’s bedroom,” he says. Despite the close proximity of their two families in small-town Kingston, “I actually didn’t know my wife when she lived here.”

And lest a visitor get the wrong misty-eyed impression, Mr. Kane notes that his wife, Laurel Fox, didn’t really express a strong opinion one way or the other about him preserving the home she grew up in. As for his own motives, “it’s not the fact that my wife lived here, it’s more historic preservation,” he says.

The house has all its original windows, and all original woodwork inside, and the structural integrity of its post-and-beam wood frame construction is excellent, Mr. Kane notes. “If they don’t get rotted or corroded they are extraordinarily strong structures,” he says.

A full basement was excavated for the house, which when completed will mix historic authenticity and beauty, with all new utilities and state-of-the-art systems, Mr. Kane says. Mr. Kane says he has fully-approved plans for the renovation, which include restoring the original structure to mint condition, and building a side addition that will contain “a brand new kitchen with a powder room and a laundry room, a door to the garage and a master bedroom suite above.”

Fully redone, the house will have four bedrooms and two-and-a-half bathrooms. Although it is for sale at an “as is” price of $250,000, for $479,900 Mr. Kane will execute his restoration/construction plan in consultation with the buyer, delivering a newly renovated home.

Although he could sell the house as is, or rehab it himself and then sell it, Mr. Kane says he hopes a buyer will come along who wants to work with him as he executes the renovation. “That’s why we waited (to start renovations), because it really needs that personal touch, paint colors and cabinets and tile,” selected according to the preferences of the buyer, he says.

“It’s a cute little place,” Mr. Kane says. “When it’s finished it’s going to nestle in here like it was never moved.”

Price: $479,900; $250,000 “As Is”
Realtor: RE/MAX Greater Princeton
Agent: Dawn Petrozzini