Historic Name

39-41 Leigh Avenue

Address

39-41 Leigh Avenue

Tax Parcel

1114_6905_1

Historic District

Witherspoon-Jackson Historic District

Classification

Contributing

Number of Resources

2

Style

Other

Number of Stories

2

Material

Stuccoed

Historic Function

Domestic

Current Function

Commerce

Last Entry Update

2/9/2020

Setting

Description

This property contains a house along the property’s east boundary and a restaurant at the intersection.

House
The house is a 2-story, 2-bay vernacular building, and its main architectural features are its steeply pitched roof and enclosed porch. It features a steeply-pitched, front-gable roof that is clad with asphalt shingles with eaves clad in vinyl siding. The house is clad in aluminum siding. All of the house’s doors and windows are 1x1 double hung sash replacement units. In the peak of the gable on the main (south) elevation is a paired 1x1 double hung sash window. The only other visible windows are on the second floor: two on the main or south elevation and three on the west elevation, overlooking the restaurant. The south (front) elevation of the house features an enclosed, one- story, full-length, hipped-roof porch and an off-set front door. The porch is accessed by a wood staircase with a double, wood balustrade with turned-wood newel posts. It features three Doric columns that support the roof and the porch walls; the middle column divides the front porch wall into two halves. The eastern half features an off-set front door with full-length sidelights on either side and a single, fixed-pane window to its west. The western half features a triple, single-pane window. Each half is topped by a rising sun transom. The wall under the windows is paneled.

Restaurant
The restaurant is a 1-story, 3-bay structure located on the northeast corner of the intersection. The restaurant abuts the west elevation of the house; its main (south) elevation is set back from the plane of the house. Its main architectural feature is the deep parapet around its roof. It features a flat roof with a deep stuccoed parapet on three sides. The building is clad in stucco. All of the building’s doors and windows are replacements. The south (front) elevation has a centered door flanked by large paired plate glass windows. The west elevation has three single light windows facing onto John Street. The restaurant has a stucco over concrete foundation.

Built

1915

Architect

Builder

History

The historic house on the property was constructed c. 1915, and the restaurant was constructed c. 1930. Historic atlases show a vacant lot in this location as late as the Sanborn Atlas of 1911. The house first appears on the Sanborn Atlas of 1918. The restaurant appears on the historic aerial of 1940. The restaurant has been renovated several times over the years, most recently c. 2013.

Sources

If you have additional information or corrections to the existing information, send an email to ekim@princetonnj.gov.
Submitted information is reviewed by the Princeton HPC prior to updating the database.

2015 Photo
House, south elevation

2015 Photo
Restaurant, south elevation

2015 Photo
Restaurant (left) and house (right), facing northeast