Alexian Brothers Novitiate — Attraction in Town of Herman

The property that this structure sits on is beautiful. A close friend who has history to the original owners told me the story of this property. The original owner had a sickly daughter she loved dearly named Jane. They had visited the area and fell in love with Gresham. She decided to build the home for her young daughter.

The young women passed before it was finished and never got to see it. After her death, her mother lived there for couple years and then decided to passed the property to the Alexian Brothers which had helped her now deceased husband. The new owners built a large novitiate and chapel attached to the house but was eventually abandoned and conflicts with the native american Indians. Years later the whole thing was burnt down and the large novitiate and chapel or was left of it was eventually demolished but the house was spared. Now the new owners are remodeling it and turning it i to a BNB similar to what they did to another...

This abbey was a very interesting place to visit but understand before you go: this structure is just a "shell" of it's former glory days. What's left is just the exterior walls & inner supporting structures of the abbey, due in large part to the debilitating fire. It's not like you are visiting a "castle" or anything. It is 👉Private Property👈 now so don't expect to just randomly drive in & look around. You must go in on one of their tour dates & they have several throughout the year. I highly recommend reading up on its' history beforehand & there is plenty online. Or check out, "The Abbey & Me" by J. Patrick Rick. As always, check out the website...

This place has a history and was wonderful to see. Someone just bought it a week ago and had friends there. They were kind and still let us look. They have plans to some how refix everything. My cousins leave near by and they never knew this was there, for years most of my family didn't know about this. The history, location and the building was an amazing experience. Hopefully will be able to be back in a few years to see what they did...