Talk about knowing how to spin a story: Doug Palmer was at his best the day in 2005 when a reporter called to check on a tip that the mayor of Trenton actually was living in fancy digs in rural Hunterdon County, not Buckingham Drive in the city’s Hiltonia section.
Without a hem or haw, Palmer told the reporter the place in bucolic Delaware Township was simply a weekend retreat and that he spent nearly every night at his city home.
Then, in a coup of spin, Palmer told of how the house had at one time belonged to the great Trenton banker Mary Roebling, whom Palmer had run errands for as a little boy.
That captured the lead of the story, of course, and deflected attention from the questions about his residency.
“I was a messenger for Trenton Trust Bank, which she owned,” Palmer said. “And every year, she would have a luncheon for the summer employees.
“And I remember, I sat right next to her one day. And who would ever think that a young African-American boy — if I had told her in the year 1969, ‘Oh, by the way, I’m going to be the mayor of Trenton some day, and in 37 years, I’m going to be owning the country house you live in!’
“Only in American could something like this happen,” Palmer said. “God has really blessed me and my family to be able to do this.”
Palmer’s wife, Christiana Foglio Palmer, purchased the retreat through her development company, Community Investment Strategy, for $1.44 million.
Named “Red Bridge Farm” by Roebling, it was built in the late 1700s and features an in-ground pool with spa, tennis courts, a two-car garage, three fireplaces, a stone guest house and a separate caretaker’s apartment.
“What we really like about this house is that it was Mary Roebling’s country home,” said Palmer.
