Georgian Court - Lakewood, NJ - Abbeys, Convents and Monasteries on Waymarking.com

?Georgian Court University was once the winter estate of millionaire George Jay Gould I, son of railroad tycoon Jay Gould, was (1836-1892). The estate was built by the famous New York architect, Bruce Price, resembling the lavish estates of England and Scotland. They agreed on an architecture in the style of the georgian period, thus the name Georgian Court. Price also designed many of the gardens that remain on the campus today - the Italian Garden, and the Sunken Garden.

After George Gould's death in 1923, the estate was sold to the Sisters of Mercy, who moved Mount Saint Mary College founded in 1906 to its current location. As a condition of the sale to the sisters, the name of the college became Georgian Court College.

The stables became the administrative offices and kitchen. The casino, which once housed the polo team and entertained with life-size chess games, became the fitness and activity center for the college. The mansion, with it's guilded beauty became the housing for both the sisters and the small amount of students. The college quickly grew, and new dorms were built to house the students. The mansion still serves as housing for a number of the sisters, as well as entertaining and special events.

Another building was built for housing for the sisters, as their mission had increased. St Mary's of the Lake's old church was rescued from demolishen and moved to Georgian Court after the glass enclosed chapel in the mansion became to small to house the worship needs of all the sisters and students. That small chapel also soon became too small, and a third, larger church was built for the university.

The sisters are very proud of the grounds, and do much to maintain historic architecture and gardens. The grounds are home to Sister Mary Grace Burns Arboretum, displaying exotic trees from around the world.

On December 20, 1978 Georgian Court was added to the National Register of Historic Places, on August 2, 1978 to the State Register of Historic Places and on February 4, 1985, designated a National Historic Landmark.

Full name of the abbey/monastery/convent: Georgian Court University Address: 900 Lakewood Ave Lakewood, NJ USA 08701 Religious affiliation: Catholic Date founded/constructed: 1898 Web Site: [Web Link] Status of Use: Acitvely Used

Visit Instructions:
Describe your visit, including the date, with as much detail as possible, AND contribute at least ONE PHOTO, original, different from those already in the gallery, if possible.

Recent Visits/Logs:

Date Logged Log User Rating   03/02/2010 94RedRover visited it