NorthJersey.com announces that Mount St. Francis will be closing and sold.

This expansive estate could become the borough’s next large public space.

Mount St. Francis is a 92-acre property that has been home to the sisters for 70 years.

The Sisters of St. Francis reached out to government officials and land conservancy groups to try to sell the properly. The talks are being aimed at conservation but the owner has not ruled out sale.

Large-scale development is banned because the property lies among key state watershed.

According to Hannan Adely of NorthJersey.com, the sisters said that in spirit of their Franciscan worldview, their goal is to pass the property on to an owner who will preserve the respect and integrity of the land.

On the Ringwood property, the Ringwood sisters led camps and retreats for thousands of young people. Illness, old age, and a lack of new members led to a drop in their local ranks, from a peak of about 100 to just 28 when the sisters merged with the larger Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia in 2003.

Regardless of the turn the property took, it still remains unique. It is located in the heart of the state in the Ramapo Mountains of Ringwood, next to the New Jersey Botanical Garden.

The estate includes:

  • A 20-room stone Victorian
  • St. Joseph Residence, which is a 23-bedroom facility for ill and retired nuns
  • Olympic-sized swimming pool
  • Man-made pond
  • Cemetery
  • 2-story spiritual center
  • 1-story conference center

The sisters felt it unreasonable to keep the large estate open with the reduced number of sisters there.

 

-Orly