I’m happy to report that the old Marthasville Seminary/Emmaus Homes, whatever you want to call it, has been purchased from the Hoffman Companies. Thank God. We were given a wonderful tour by Jessica, who is managing weddings and other business aspects for the new owners last two Saturdays ago. Thankfully, the Hoffmans didn’t screw up too many things during their ownership period. Also, I’ve gone ahead and created an “Emmaus” tag for the property as the number of posts have grown.

There is in fact property on both sides of the road on the way out to Marthasville, and the houses on the north side of thoroughfare are in good condition. We also spotted some chickens running around.

The oldest building, from 1848, is in good condition. We were allowed inside but honestly it was renovated in the 1960s or 70s so there wasn’t much to photograph. It is in excellent condition for such an old building and it is being preserved. It is good to see. It is a very historic building that served as the original seminary.

Note the compressed relief arches over the window lintels.

The next building we went to could best be described as the administration complex, with a giant open room and an industrial sized kitchen.

It’s reached from the old seminary building by a totally 1950s bridge. The owners are debating whether to remove all those amazing aluminum windows and just make it a breezeway. I would go with the breezeway.

There are several devoted maintenance men who are working to preserve the property, as well as a couple of really friendly dogs who came up to us.

The next building we went in was the old ward for children when this functioned as the Emmaus Homes, built in 1926.

The interior is sort of a typical institutional look that I didn’t bother to photograph, but the exterior is really interesting, with a sort of 1550s Italian architectural style.

Here’s the back.

A concrete bridge leads to paths that go out into the woods.

Another friendly dog approached us.

The remaining buildings are some of the oldest on the campus.

The Hoffmans tore down a building from the 1940s here when they were in the process of clearing obstructions from the hill leading up to the second chapel.

The farm house dates back to the 1850s, I believe.

This small building, also very old, was the original chapel.

There are plans to renovate it. Tomorrow we’ll look at the second chapel built high up on the hill above the campus.