Courtesy of Martha DaleIt is a two story stucco frame dwelling with English title roof. The building is known as the Gatehouse. “I drive by it every day and have always wondered who lives in there and what’s inside,” Dave Barba, sophomore business major, said. The Gatehouse is home to the Missionary Sisters.
“I think it’s pointless and stupid, what is it even for,” Kate Barresi, business major, said. The Gatehouse served what its name suggests. The person residing there at the time would tend to the gate, letting visitors and residents on and off of the property. The Gatehouse is one of four original buildings at Cabrini that include the Mansion, Grace Hall, the Emmaus building, and the Gatehouse. These buildings were all designed by Horace Trumbauer, designer of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. The Gatehouse, along with the Mansion, was built in 1901 when the Paul family resided on the property.
“This is a microcosm of what life was like back then,” Martha Dale, director of Alumni Affairs, said. Cabrini’s campus is one of the few areas that are still very much untouched since the early 1900s.
The Missionary Sisters use the Gatehouse and the Emmaus building (the small house past the apartments) as retreat houses. Tom Schneiders, junior marketing major, said, “I think they should turn the house into a dorm. I’ve never seen anyone there and with the housing problems why not let students live there.”
“I heard there are ghouls and goblins in there,” Barba said. These houses may seem to be eerie because the sisters come and go as they please, and students have little contact with them on campus.
“I have never heard that it is haunted, it is one of the few buildings that are not,” Dale said.
The first floor has a living room, dining room, kitchen, and lavatory. The second floor has two bedrooms, bath, and storeroom. The Gatehouse is now home to Sister Arlene VanDusen ,who is among the Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The congregation of sisters reaches six continents and 16 countries around the world.
Posted to the web by Ryan Norris
