Astronaut Buzz Aldrin’s childhood home up for sale

One of the most adventurous New Jerseyans to have ever lived is at the center of a real estate debate raging in Upper Montclair. Buzz Aldrin, the man who set foot on the moon during the same mission with Neil Armstrong, grew up in a four bedroom house on Princeton Place in Upper Montclair, NJ.

The home is on the market with an asking price of $1,049,000. It’s the first time the home is up for sale since the Aldrins sold it when Buzz would have been in his late teens. Here’s a fun fact: Buzz Aldrin slept in the 3rd floor bedroom and according to a story on NJ.com used to sneak out of his window at night to hang out on the roof and gaze at the stars. What foreshadowing!

Here’s a look inside.

Not everyone is happy at the thought of another family moving in. Ilmar Vanderer lives nearby and believes the home should become a museum paying tribute to its famous former resident. He wants it to become the Buzz Aldrin House Museum and is in a frantic search for investors to try to scoop up this property to turn that vision into reality before another family secures the home.

“I’m working 12 hours a day on this. I want to be able to say I did everything possible to make it happen,” Vanderer told NJ.com. “It’s such a glaring omission that he’s the only astronaut of his era who does not have a museum of this sort. It has to be corrected.”

Other Buzz Aldrin fun facts:

His father wanted him to be a Navy man but Buzz, who suffered seasickness, finally put his foot down and went into the Air Force instead.

He was born Edwin Aldrin but his sister had a hard time pronouncing brother and it would come out “buzzer” which eventually was shortened to “buzz” and embraced by the whole family. It stuck permanently and in 1988 he even legally changed his first name from Edwin to Buzz.

He was the first astronaut to hold a religious ceremony on the moon. During the Apollo mission he privately took communion.

In 2007 when he got a facelift at 77 years old he joked his sagging jowls were from all those g-forces.

He’s a strong supporter of the Republican Party and was a guest at the 2019 State of the Union Address.

He’s been married and divorced three times and now resides in Satellite Beach, FL at age 90. Fitting town name for a man with his resume.

The post above reflects the thoughts and observations of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Jeff Deminski. Any opinions expressed are Jeff Deminski's own.