CAPE MAY POINT — Nestled in the borough of Cape May Point is a secret gem: the Marianist Family Retreat Center (MFRC) — a building that many may have passed by for years without ever seeing the inside.
This year, as the home marks its 150th anniversary, the MFRC is offering a unique opportunity. The property will be open to the public as part of a historic house tour hosted by Cape May MAC (Museums + Arts + Culture) on Oct. 12 during Victorian Weekend.
With a century and a half under its belt, the Victorian building is occupied during all seasons, with a variety of retreats offered year-round.
One of the most popular options is the summer family retreat program that is offered for eight weeks, starting at the end of June. Families come to form a Christ-centered community for the week or weekend.
“It’s a retreat, but it’s also a vacation for the families,” Director Anthony Fucci said. “We build in chunks of time every day to go to the beach or do whatever [they like].”
The retreat center offers something to all who seek personal and spiritual growth, and a wide choice of Christ-centered experiences in the Catholic tradition.
The retreats focus on five themes: communication, affirmation, forgiveness, commitment and commissioning. Fucci said that each day, they focus on one theme and incorporate both religious and recreational activities.
“One night we’ll do a ritual around forgiveness, the next night we’re walking on Sunset Beach collecting Cape May diamonds,” he said.
Some of the retreat activities include Mass and other family liturgies, which are accompanied by skits, presentations, family sharing and peer group discussions. All join in on community tasks such as cleaning up after meals.
Many elements have developed beyond the core family retreat program developed in the 1970s. The center offers retreats of all kinds, including those focused on teens, young adults, college-age individuals, Latino families, spiritual getaways, contemplative prayer weekends, the spirituality of knitting and needlecraft, women’s wellness and much more.
Interested parties can fill out an application for the retreats. Once the spots are filled up, there is a wait list option.
Sea Grove Association
As it stands today, the Marianist Family Retreat Center comprises several buildings. The original home was built in Sea Grove, now known as Cape May Point. John Wanamaker, a wealthy Philadelphia businessman, built it as his summer home in July 1875.
Sea Grove Association, a religious seaside community, was founded by Wanamaker and Alexander Whilldin the same year the home was built.
The home originally was along the shoreline but moved in 1900 and again in 1916 to where the three-story Victorian now stands at the corner of Cape and Yale avenues.
Fucci said in addition to operating his department stores, Wanamaker was involved in politics, serving as U.S. Postmaster General from 1889 to 1893 during President Benjamin Harrison’s administration.
“Wanamaker was heavily involved in the U.S. Postal Service and wanted to have a post office here because they didn’t want to have to go into Cape May to get the mail,” volunteer Mary Vanderhoof said. “They established a post office here, but then the federal government looked into it and said private associations don’t get to have a post office.”
Vanderhoof explained that the town had to decide whether it wanted to remain a private association with no post office or become a borough, allowing it to retain the post office. Thus, three years after Wanamaker built his home in the Sea Grove Association, the town became incorporated as the Borough of Cape May Point in 1878.
History of the home
In 1916, Wanamaker donated the building to the Presbyterian Orphanage of Philadelphia with the intention that it would serve as a summer home for orphans.
“The orphanage in Wallingford, Pennsylvania would bring the orphans down for the summer until the 1950s,” Fucci said. “We still have orphans to this day that come back and want to see the old place and check out their rooms.”
While some modifications have been made to the building over the years, most of the original architecture has been preserved, and many original elements remain, including the crown molding.
By 1932, the property consisted of five building lots, which comprise the current-day property. The additional buildings were used as dorms for the visiting orphans and now house those attending retreats.
The last year the orphanage used the property was 1959, after which it was sold to Gertrude W. Michel of Pennsauken. Under her ownership, the property laid dormant for a few years.
In March 1962, the notorious “Ash Wednesday Storm” nor’easter caused hundreds of millions of dollars in damage and destruction. Many properties in Cape May were swept away and property values in the area plummeted. There was also significant dune erosion.
The U.S. Geological Survey said it was one of the most destructive storms ever to affect the area.
Later that year, the property and its three buildings were purchased for $12,000 by a Catholic congregation of priests and brothers called the Marianists. The Society of Mary (Marianists) is an international religious order of brothers and priests.
The organization offered its first summer family retreat in 1970. Since then, it has continued to operate as a religious retreat center.
The Marianists continue to care for the home, and like with any Victorian architecture by the ocean, there are challenges.
“We’re constantly keeping up with it because not only do we want to preserve it for ourselves, but there is a lot of history that we have to preserve as best we can,” Fucci said, adding they do their best within financial constraints.
Visit capemaymarianists.org for more information about retreats.
Upcoming tour
According to MAC, “visitors have the unique opportunity on this self-guided tour to go behind closed doors and see restored private homes, bed and breakfast inns and guesthouses. Tourgoers can meet the homeowners, managers or innkeepers, see unique furnishings and décor.”
Visitors who purchase the Victorian Weekend tour of the Marianist Family Retreat Center will be able to see the transformation of Wanamaker’s summer cottage to its modern-day iteration.
The tour will cover the history of the house in the context of Cape May Point, as well as delve into the current operations and family retreats.
“We want to give the history, because a lot of people are interested in American history and have heard of John Wanamaker,” Fucci said. “We highlight the orphanage, [as well as] talk about our ministry now. It was an orphanage longer than it’s been anything [else].”
Visit capemaymac.org for more information about the tours.
By RACHEL SHUBIN/Special to the Star and Wave
