NORTHBRIDGE (MA)
Daily Voice
by Deborah E. Gauthier
NORTHBRIDGE, Mass. – James Knott, owner of Riverdale Mills on Riverdale Street in Northbridge, confirmed Tuesday that he purchased Oakhurst Retreat and Conference Center on Hill Street.
The property has been owned by the Catholic Diocese of Worcester for many years and was formerly the House of Affirmation, a facility for troubled priests.
It has been a center of controversy since August when the church refused to sell the property to Alain Beret and James Fairbanks, a gay married couple from Sutton who planned to restore the mansion and host weddings and other social events there.
Church officials said they rejected the sale because the couple could not show solid financing; Beret and Fairbanks said the church backed away from their agreement after learning they were a gay couple and they are suing the church.
Knott said he paid $800,000 for the mansion, outbuildings and approximately 30 acres. His plan is to restore the historic 89-room mansion built by Chester Whitin Lasell in 1890. Lasell was president of Whitin Machine Works from 1887 to 1932 and the home’s 44 bedrooms were used for mill workers.
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