Right in front of you, the University Cottage Club stands out with its grand two-and-a-half-story brick façade, gleaming white trim, and stately Georgian Revival design, set just behind a classic brick wall-look for the proud American flag waving above the arched front entrance.
Welcome to the University Cottage Club-think of it as one of the most exclusive addresses on Prospect Avenue, where stories echo almost as loudly as the laughter inside. If you listen closely, you might just hear the echoes of its founders, a group of cheeky freshmen in 1884, who called themselves the “Seven Wise Men of Grease.” No, they didn’t have a secret handshake involving a butter churn, but they did like their meals private, starting out in a tiny restaurant room on Nassau Street. Their search for top-secret dining continued to a hotel, and finally to a quaint little house nicknamed “The University Cottage.” You could almost picture them there: hungry, clever, possibly a bit mischievous, always trading jokes and tall tales over their soup.
By 1890, this band of merry eaters-and their friends!-decided it was time for something grander. Imagine their excitement as they built a shingle-covered Victorian clubhouse right on this very avenue. But as Cottage’s popularity grew, so did their appetite for elegance. “We need more room for stories…and dessert!” they probably declared, and so the building you see today arose in 1906, designed by Charles Follen McKim, whose name was almost as long as the club’s member list. If you ever get inside, check out the upstairs library-it’s inspired by a medieval Oxford library and manages to make even overdue homework feel important. It’s also where F. Scott Fitzgerald, legendary for both his prose and his parties, began writing “This Side of Paradise.” Imagine him, scribbling late into the night, maybe pausing for a midnight snack.
Cottage Club wasn’t just about literary cool-it was part of Princeton’s famous “Big Four” eating clubs, so you’d need both luck and charm to make the cut. And here’s a plot twist: in the 1980s, the club found itself at the center of a dramatic lawsuit when Sally Frank, a determined Princeton grad, fought for women’s right to join. It's a story of conflict, change, and, finally, a vote to welcome women in 1986-proving even the grandest traditions can evolve.
Today, the club still dazzles with elegant parties, lively debates, and tasty dinners, all while showing off its beautiful historic bones. So as you stand here, picture a place that blends old-school secrets, joyful noise, and the idea that, “Where there are friends, there are riches”-which, let’s be honest, is the best kind of treasure to find at Princeton!
