N.J. diocese purchases $500,000 mansion

CAMDEN, N.J. — Camden Bishop Dennis Sullivan has purchased a new residence, an historic mansion that once served as the home of the president of Rowan University.

The New Jersey diocese purchased the 7,000 square foot home with eight bedrooms and six bathrooms for $500,000. The residence will provide Sullivan with more room for entertaining dignitaries, hosting donors and for work space, according to Peter Feuerherd, diocesan spokesman.

He said the bishop will live there “with at least two other priests, maybe more.”

The home, built in 1908, has been on the market for about two years. According to a report in the Camden Courier Post newspaper, the home was purchased in 2000 for Dr. Donald Farish, then president of Rowan University. Under the university’s ownership, the house underwent about $700,000 in renovations.

Some of the amenities include an in-ground pool, three fireplaces, a library and a five-car garage.

Other items purchased by the university for use by the Farish family, including a used Steinway piano and expensive dining room and other furnishings, have been removed from the home, according to Feuerherd.

The bishop currently lives in a modest apartment on the grounds of St. Pius X. Retreat House in Blackwood, N.J. The diocese is selling a separate home that previously served as a bishops’ residence, also in Blackwood. Feuerherd said the sale of that home, for $395,000, would be finalized in the spring.

Sullivan, previously vicar general for the Archdiocese of New York, was appointed bishop of Camden to replace Bishop Joseph A. Galante, who was appointed in 2004. Galante retired because of failing health.