Tradition and Charm Live on at the Cranbury Inn

The historic has stood as a beacon of warmth and hospitality for more than 200 years, and today it remains a gracious destination for guests in search of good food, drink and a place to make their own history.

"We host celebrations to mark all the stages of life, including anniversary and engagement parties, Mitzvahs, christening parties, dinner theatre productions and conferences," said Gay Ingegneri, who runs the inn with her husband, Tom. “We’ve become a destination, especially for weddings and host some 50 to 70 weddings a year. We’ve had brides from Brooklyn, New England, and all over the world, including as far away as an island off the coast of South Africa.”

The entranceway is charming and lined with photographs from weddings from years past and each one tells a story. Tom Ingegneri says that he and his wife don’t consider themselves the inn’s owners, rather, they are the stewards; he and his wife are merely taking care of it at this time in its existence.

“It truly belongs to the people who come here and make us a part of their lives and memories,” he said. “There is a place in this world where people can come and create all these feelings and keep them for the rest of their lives, and we are honored and proud to be a part of that.”

The inn was originally a tavern for weary travelers to stop for rest, food and drink on their journey through the center of New Jersey.  It made the ideal location because Cranbury is 50 miles from New York and 50 miles from Philadelphia. The inn was a stagecoach stop and also said to be a stop on the Underground Railroad.

Gay Ingegneri is a genial hostess and a fount of local history and lore. She mentions that Main Street used to be an Indian trail before it was widened as a thoroughfare to all of the colonies.

It is on this very same Main Street that the Ingegneris have lived for 40 years and raised four children. They knew the inn’s previous owner, Richard Zanyor.  In 1992, he was ready to move on and they were ready to take on a new opportunity they regarded as full of challenge, but also lots of fun.

"We love people and we love parties," said Gay Ingegneri. "We thought it would be exciting and emotionally rewarding."

Before taking over the Cranbury Inn, the Ingegneris ran the Cranbury Market on Main Street for 12 years. It stood on the site that currently houses Molto Bene restaurant.

Tom Ingegneri has an innate sense of business, and according to his wife, his entrepreneurial spirit and dedication to customer service run deep in his blood.

"His mother, Josephine Kavanagh, was from Dublin, Ireland, and had a rooming house and luncheonette in Mount Kisco, New York," she said. “And her mother had run a deli and convenience sore in Ireland during World War One."

Tom Ingegneri served as a captain in the United States Air Force and during the Vietnam War, ran the computer center for the Strategic Air Command Base. He moved on to work in the publishing industry for 25 years, and also worked as a consultant to Arthur Young, now Ernst and Young.

He applied the can-do attitude that made him successful in business to work with his wife to accomplish something three generations of previous owners of Cranbury Inn had tried to do but not managed to pull off. In 2005, they won approval to put a major addition onto the back of the inn.

The new “barn” replaced the original barn destroyed by fire in 1902. The Ingegneris were careful to retain the history in the construction, using some of the original supports where the old barn once stood.

The breathtaking lighting and sweeping balconies makes it an ideal place for a wedding or events such as Girl Scout barn dances. The Ingegneris donate the space as their contribution to the community where the live and work.

As for the success of the Cranbury Inn, it helps that the couple have been married almost 48 years and consider themselves true partners in business and in life.

"When he’s not here I miss him and when I’m not here, people tell me he’s out of sorts, like a bear," said Gay Ingegneri.

"We divide all the work and we don’t ever step on each other’s territory because we are sharing it," said her husband. "We have different strengths and talents and we balance each other. We split everything and everything gets done. It’s a 90-hour a week job but we love it."