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