VENTNOR (NJ)
Philadelphia Inquirer
By Amy S. Rosenberg
INQUIRER STAFF WRITER
VENTNOR, N.J. – With a bid of $4.125 million, Steve and Ilene Berger of Newtown Square won Saturday’s auction of an historic oceanfront seashore villa owned by the Archdiocese of Philadelphia that played host to decades of vacationing and elderly priests.
The Bergers said they plan to preserve the former St. Joseph’s Villa by the Sea as a family vacation compound for their children and grandchildren, retain longtime caretaker Fran McManus, and have the priests over for an annual party.
First off, a second story porch expansion, a total renovation – and a mezuzah, the ritual parchment placed on doorposts of Jewish homes.
“I feel very blessed to have this home,” said Ilene Berger, who blurted out an incremental $25,000 raise in the bid price to seal the deal for the property. “It’s a very spiritual house.”
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