The 100 Acres House, a piece of property on Scobie Pond Road in New Boston, NH that has been owned by the Monastery for a number of years, was recently sold to a private family.

Campus utilization of the property’s 18th century home included student retreats, administrative meetings and faculty and student research of the life systems living in the watershed area of the properties wetland areas.

In recent years the house fell out of code, forcing student retreats to be reduced from weekend to day events in order to comply with state health and safety regulations.

A decision was made to put the property up for sale after it became clear that it would be too expensive to bring the house back up to code.

Other than ensuring that the Monastery received a reasonable monetary return from the sale, certain environmental concerns were also an imperative part of the decision.

Although the aforementioned wetlands compose a considerable portion of the property, the monastery wanted to establish that the remaining area be minimally developed.

“The house was sold with the stipulation that no future owner could have more than one additional home lot built on the property,” Abbot Mark Cooper, O.S.B. explained.

While this probably inhibited on a higher offer being made on the property, Abbot Mark stressed how important it was for the Monastery to guarantee that the property’s upkeep be environmentally responsible so that professors and students would be able to continue their research.

Campus Ministry Director Susan Gabert shared that many students that have made many fond memories at the house are very sad to see the property go, but acknowledged that the house’s many safety concerns warranted the decision to sell the property.