The Roslyn Landmark Society has joined local elected officials and preservation groups who have expressed their support for the saving of the St. Ignatius Retreat House.
The organization passed a resolution at its September board meeting expressing support for the house’s preservation efforts undertaken by the Council of Greater Manhasset Civic Associations.
“Out of the major houses and that have survived from that era, this one has enjoyed continuous high-level maintenance without interruption, so it’s in better shape than a lot of these other houses, and we certainly hope that efforts will be successful in terms of repurposing this house so that it can be preserved no matter what the ultimate use of the surrounding property may be,” said Franklin Hill Perrell, the landmark society’s executive director. “This house is a gem architecturally, and it’s one of so few of that scale and magnitude and architectural complexity that it would be a tragedy for it to disappear.”
In mid July, the Council of Greater Manhasset Civic Associations filed an application to put Inisfada on the National Register of Historic Places, in an effort to block the sale of the house. The Jesuit order maintained the house since the late 1930s, but put the 33-acre property on the housing market last year after deciding it could no longer afford its operating costs.
The house was sold in late July to the Manhasset Bay Group, which according to state records was established in Delaware earlier this year, for $36.5 million, though the Brooklyn-based health care company SyngergyFirst International has tried to prevent the sale and change of ownership in the property in an effort to purchase Inisfada and maintain the retreat house.
SynergyFirst officials claim to have made a $36 million cash offer to the Jesuits for Inisfada in late July that included a demand to reconstruct the Genevieve Chapel and restore any furnishings and rooms the order had removed since the retreat house closed. Jesuit officials have declined to confirm or deny whether the offer was made.
After the property closed on June 2, the chapel and other furnishings were removed and donated to Fordham University. The chapel holds religious significance locally because Pope Pius XII celebrated mass there in 1936 when he was still a cardinal and on tour in the United States.
SynergyFirst attempted to file a restraining order against the sale and potential destruction of Inisfada in Nassau County Supreme Court late July, but the company’s attorney, Alexander Levkovich, withdrew the motion after the sale of the property was announced in court and the Manhasset Bay Group was revealed as the new owner.
It is unclear whether the Manhasset Bay Group plans to maintain the mansion and build around it or demolish it outright. Efforts to reach Manhasset Bay Group officials were unavailing.
Jesuit officials had declined to reveal the identity of the buyer with whom it was negotiating the sale. It has been reported that the Manhasset Bay Group represents a land developer based in Hong Kong.
North Hills Mayor Marvin Natiss has said the new owners of the property have expressed interest in building condominiums on the property and turn it into “the jewel of North Hills.” The property has zoning for two houses per acre.
More recently, Nassau Legislator Richard Nicolello and state Assemblywoman Michelle Schimel (D-Great Neck) have written letters to state Parks Commissioner Rose Harvey calling for the house’s preservation.
“If we don’t maintain properties such as the St. Ignatius Retreat House now, and recognize their importance with designations such as listing on the State and National Registers, they will not be here for future generations to appreciate centuries from now,” Nicolello wrote.
In the last few months, local civic groups have tried to find an alternative buyer for the house, but officials have said the Jesuit order has not returned calls seeking to join the negotiations.
Richard Bentley, the president of the Council for Greater Manhasset Civic Associations, has questioned whether the Jesuit order’s relationship with a Chinese developer could be tied to a recently announced, Jesuit-run liberal arts college set to open in Fanling, China in 2015.
The residence was built for $2.3 million between 1916-1920 for industrialist Nicholas Brady and his wife Genevieve, who also had residences in Manhattan and Rome and maintained a close relationship with the Catholic church.
After Genevieve Brady died in 1938, the then-300-acre property was left to the Jesuits, who used the Searingtown Road property as a seminary and retreat house for regional parishes and faith-based addiction help groups, but over the years sold off much of the property for development.
