Stair lifts for Mercer County homes, from Trenton row houses to Hopewell hills

Trenton row homes and narrow stairwells

Trenton's core neighborhoods, Mill Hill among them, are full of two- to three-story, three-bay brick row homes built in the late 19th century. Many have narrow interior stairwells, which is typical of urban rowhouse construction.

A narrow, straight staircase is often a good fit for a straight stair lift, since the rail mounts to the treads rather than the wall. In a three-story row home, each flight is usually its own run, so it helps to decide early which floors your parent really needs to reach.

We measure the stair width, the landing space at the top and bottom, and the clearance for the seat to fold up before we suggest anything. Individual homes vary, so a measurement beats a guess.

Historic Princeton and older village homes

The 370-acre Princeton Historic District, listed on the National Register in 1975, mixes 18th- and 19th-century Colonial and Georgian homes with Victorian and Queen Anne houses. Older homes like these sometimes have stairs that turn or pass a landing partway up.

When a staircase turns, a straight rail will not follow it, and a curved stair lift built to that specific staircase is the usual answer. If the stairs run straight from bottom to top, a straight lift works and is simpler to install.

Because these houses vary so much, we look at the stair shape, the railing and the walls in person before recommending a lift type.

Postwar ranches and colonials in Hamilton, Ewing and Lawrence

Hamilton, Ewing and Lawrence grew fast from the 1940s through the 1960s, filling with ranch and colonial-style single-family homes. Ewing alone went from 10,146 people in 1940 to 26,828 in 1960, with subdivisions like Parkway Village, Moss Homes, Wynnwood Manor and Fleetwood Village.

A colonial with a straight run to the bedrooms is often a straightforward straight lift job. In a ranch, the stairs that matter tend to be the basement steps, where the laundry may be, or the steps at the front or side door.

For entry steps, an outdoor stair lift or a platform lift can be worth comparing, especially if a wheelchair or walker is part of the picture.

Mercer County winters and outside steps

Winters here are cold, with average annual snowfall of 26.8 inches and typical January temperatures of 24-40°F. Add roughly 45 inches of yearly precipitation and you get a freeze-thaw climate that is hard on exterior stairs, porches and entry ramps.

If you are thinking about an outdoor lift, the condition of the steps under it matters as much as the lift itself. Cracked or shifting concrete should be looked at before anything is mounted to it.

The terrain also changes across the county, from flat ground along the Route 1 corridor to rolling hills in the northwest near the Sourlands and Baldpate Mountain in Hopewell Township. Homes on sloped lots can have longer runs of outside steps.

Staying put versus moving, and paying for a lift

Mercer County's median property value was $377,700 in 2024, ranging from Trenton's more affordable rowhouse stock to Princeton's premium single-family market. With 63.4 percent of households owning their homes and 16.3 percent of residents 65 or older, many families here are weighing a home modification against a move.

For comparison, local New Jersey movers typically charge $90-$150 per hour, and most local moves total roughly $600-$2,500 depending on home size and crew. That does not count the cost of a new home.

Several local and statewide programs offer home repair or accessibility help, listed below. Most do not name stair lifts directly, so call and ask before counting on coverage.