I grew up in New York City but as a young man a job led me to Upperville, Virginia where I was hired to manage a large horse farm with both hunter and show stables. Family responsibilities however called me to Princeton for a stay that I believed would last no more than a year. While I was there I thought I would take the opportunity to pursue a longtime passion of mine, real estate. I approached Edmund Cook, the area’s leading realtor and asked if I could become involved in his business. Judging that if I could successfully manage the substantial horse farm, I should be equally capable of managing properties, he hired me and I worked with him for four years learning the business and beginning to form my own ideas on how I might run one.
In 1969 I formed a partnership, Peyton Callaway Real Estate and then in 1973 I felt I was ready to launch my own firm which became N.T. Callaway Real Estate. I made this decision because by then I had formed a clear sense of the guiding principles that I felt a firm should be based on: integrity and quality service. In my work to that point I had seen that buying and selling homes was a very personal experience. Clients wanted and deserved forthright advice and careful attention and I was intent on providing both. I also saw that it would be necessary to hand-pick sales associates who cared about their clients and are passionate about their work. My business plan soon proved to be very much what people were looking for and we grew to be the top firm in the region. Currently we have offices in four New Jersey communities: Princeton, Pennington, Montgomery and Lambertville.
In 1976 our success won us an invitation from Sotheby’s International Real Estate to become its first real estate affiliate. The flourishing regional real estate market led us to expand our services to include: commercial properties, property management, our own marketing department and in 2007, Weathervane Title & Abstract, LLC.
This growth and our success brought us many of the largest real estate transactions in the area. These included not only high-end homes but transactions for multi-dwelling tracts and recreational usage. Over the years we formed alliances that enabled us to share resources, information, referrals and services with 990 of the best independent firms in more than 72 countries.
More recently Sotheby’s again came to us urging that we talk to our longtime and strong competitor Henderson Sotheby’s International Realty with whom they were now affiliated. The idea was to join forces to offer comprehensive real estate services to the region. We reached agreement and are now very pleased to have formed our new company Callaway Henderson Sotheby’s International Realty. I personally am gratified to be able to work as a Managing Member alongside Jud and Matt Henderson, my son Norman, my daughter Karen Urisko and my partner in life and in work Christina Callaway.
Giving back to our community has always been very important to me. Toward this end I have served on The Medical Center at Princeton’s Foundation Board and on the boards of The Hun School, Chapin School, The American Boychoir School and The Lewis School where I was Chairman. I was President of the Rotary Club and currently I serve on the board of SAVE a friend to Homeless Animals and The Nassau Club where I have been a long time member and was President of The Board of Directors for several years. In 2018 I was chairman of the board of directors for Glenmede Trust Corporation and currently serve as a director on the board.