Former Outreach Director Sister Maryanne Zakreski walked through her home of four years, touching the spotless counters and recently made beds. She smiled fondly as she turned off the lights and closed the front door one last time.
“I loved that house. For me, it was my best residence ever because it was a house instead of a convent,” said Sr. Zakreski.
505 Courtland Place, the former home for the Sisters of St. Joseph’s working at JC, is now on the market for $250,000.
The house is “officially owned by the archdiocese [of Baltimore]; [previous Archbishop of Baltimore] William Cardinal Keeler’s name was on the deed of the house. John Carroll paid for it initially, so for all intents and purposes, it was our house to use,” said President Richard O’Hara.
The house was purchased in 2002 to house the Sisters working at JC. With only two Sisters living in the former on-campus convent, now the Development Office, the decision was made to find them a new residence. Former secretary to the principal Peg Iacocca, who was moving to Texas, sold 505 Courtland Place to the Board of Trustees, according to Director of Development Laura Lang.
“At the same time, the Conservatory of Music was moving back to Harford County and wanted to open a music school. Duke Thompson, class of ‘74, approached JC to rent the convent,” said Lang.
In the house itself, “Sister Bernard [Howe] and Sister Maryanne used it, but when they left, the house was vacant. We asked permission from the archdioceses to sell it and they granted permission,” said O’Hara.
If the house is sold, according to Director of Finance Kay Nichols, “the proceeds would be working capital.”
O’Hara added, “It could be applied to a number of different avenues. If we were to get all the proceeds of the sale, I’m sure we’d have to take a look at a good investment of it.”
Thus far, “somebody has already expressed interest,” said O’Hara.
Added realtor and Board of Trustees member Gretta McGill said, “We’ve had lots of people looking at the property. There has been lots of activity despite the snow storm.”
McGill expects that “[the house] will move this spring [because] the spring housing market is picking up.”
The house was built in 1958 and is 1,748 square feet on a property that is 12,000 square feet, according to the deed. It was purchased from Iacocca for $170,500 on May 5, 2002.
Sr. Zakreski added about the house’s merits, “It has a beautiful back yard and a cute little fire place. It had a lot of lighting and space, especially on the middle level. I also loved being in the neighborhood. I still hear from one of my next door neighbors; she’s come up and visited me twice. [In addition] Sister Bernard and I worked on a garden outside [of 505 Courtland Place].”
“It’s in a very nice neighborhood, it is priced aggressively, and the home has been well maintained,” said McGill.
Currently, the house is partially furnished. Sr. Zakreski said, “A lot of the furniture came from the convent building, so that is still there. The curtains are still up and the beds are made, the TVs and pots and pans are there. If someone moved in there right now, they’d be fairly comfortable.”
About the future of the house, Sr. Zakreski said, “I’ll be sad to see it go, but I understand why it’s going.”
Kate Froehlich can be reached for comment at [email protected].