Jerusalem's 150-Year-Old 'Bishop's House,' Built for a Mission to the Jews, Sells for $18.7 Million
The 1876 home on HaNevi'im Street once housed Anglican missionaries and later a kindergarten run by Finnish missionary sisters. A private company plans to restore it, The Times of Israel reported.
See where this is ›JERUSALEM —
A historic Jerusalem home built nearly 150 years ago for a Christian mission to the Jewish people has been sold for NIS 59 million, about $18.7 million, The Times of Israel reported Nov. 4. The price for the Bishop's House, at 25 HaNevi'im Street in central Jerusalem, includes NIS 9 million in value-added tax.
The house was built in 1876 by the London Society for Promoting Christianity Amongst the Jews to house representatives of the Anglican mission in Jerusalem. The Rev. Arthur Hastings Kelk, the clergyman who oversaw the Anglican missionary work, lived there from 1878 to 1902, according to the paper.
The building's later history followed the changes in the city. During World War II, the Phoenicia company used it as a glass factory. After 1948 it housed a kindergarten run by Finnish missionary sisters, before it was sold to Jewish owners. In the 1970s the family of Robert Maxwell lived there.
The property sits on a plot of 1,000 square meters, with 630 square meters built. The buyer, a private company, will carry out preservation and restoration work, the paper said. Neither the buyer nor the seller was named.
The sale was handled by Ronit and Tomer Dowek of Prosperity Real Estate. “There are properties you sell, and there are properties whose stories you feel privileged to become part of,” Dowek told The Times of Israel.
The paper said demand for luxury homes in Jerusalem is rising, partly because of fears of rising antisemitism abroad. A property in Tel Aviv sold for NIS 119 million the same week.
