A small community of Discalced Carmelite nuns is taking on an unusual construction challenge in Fairfield, Pennsylvania, just west of Gettysburg. On 45 acres of rural land, they are building a stone monastery they want to endure for 1,000 years.
The planning started in 2013, but construction did not begin for years for one simple reason. The sisters struggled to find a contractor able to build a true stone building, not a modern structure that only looks like stone. As the group’s spokesperson, Catherine Bauer, told Global Sisters Report, many buildings that appear to be stone today are steel structures with stone on the exterior. The Carmelites wanted something closer to how monasteries were built in Europe centuries ago.
Their search eventually led them to Joe Bonifate and his company, Arch Masonry. Bonifate said he was moved by the chance to work on a project that reminded him of the lasting stone buildings he admired, including Pittsburgh’s St. Paul’s Cathedral, built in 1906.
The monastery is being built as a village-like complex meant to support the sisters’ daily life, including raising animals, tending fields and gardens, spinning wool, and sewing. Construction is expected to take about 15 years, and some work pauses in winter because mortar can freeze. The workrooms and refectory are complete, along with the oratory, and work continues on the main chapel. The nuns are currently living in the workrooms.
For stone crews and mason contractors, the project is a reminder that traditional craft still has a place in modern construction, but it demands the right labor plan and sequencing. The sisters even hosted visiting stonemasons from Ireland and Scotland who shared older techniques described as largely forgotten in the U.S.
The project is projected to cost about $100 million, and the community has raised about $22 million so far. Bauer said other monasteries have already asked how to start similar stone-building efforts.
Read the full, original article from Global Sisters Report here.