An elegant mansion built on the bluffs of Bordentown was a crown jewel of early 19th century America. Known as Point Breeze, it housed the largest library of books in the New World and an unparalleled collection of European art. Its famous owner, Napoleon Bonaparte’s brother Joseph, the exiled King of Spain, was considered a good neighbor, permitting townspeople to use the lake for swimming and ice skating. The estate, which exchanged hands multiple times over the centuries, was last owned by Divine Word Missionaries, which purchased the property in 1941 and kept it as a seminary until a few years ago. After an agreement was struck between the city of Bordentown, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and a Princeton-based land trust to purchase the estate for $4.6 million, the property is now in public hands. While some 60 acres have been turned over to the state to be converted into a park, the missionary’s buildings will become Bordentown’s new municipal complex. A...