An opulent mansion in New York built by a devout Christian for Jesus to live in is up for sale

Sitting on an enormous block of land on the second-highest vantage point in all of New York City is an opulent 1400sqm mansion that was lovingly built in the 1920s… for Jesus Christ.

A devoutly Christian and extremely wealthy family believed the Second Coming of the son of God was imminent and wanted a suitable residence from which he could rule earth.

And so, a seven-bedroom home was constructed with the finest materials, including imported French walnut, Tiffany windows and chandeliers sourced from Manhattan’s grand Plaza hotel.

Now, the property in The Bronx neighbourhood of Riverdale, is on offer for mere mortals, with an asking price of US$7.9 million (AU$10.95 million).

Genevieve Griscom oversaw the unusual building project in 1928, funded with the help of her ship part-building executive husband Clement Acton Griscom.

It boasted genuine Tiffany glasswork, 12cm thick marble floors, several hand-crafted marble fireplaces, limestone walls, stained glass decorative ceilings and ornate bathrooms with specially crafted bowls for washing the feet of lepers.

Mrs Griscom was a member of a Christian sect called the Outer Court of the Order of the Living Christ. It might be seen as something of a cult today.

Its devout followers believed in reincarnation and fringe religious mysticism, and that Christ’s return was due any day.

The magnificent home built for Him was never really occupied by the group, but volunteers feverishly maintained it, dusting and polishing weekly, while historians say Mrs Griscom spent one hour a day inside playing an ornate pipe organ.

She lived in a modest wooden shack on the 1.1ha grounds, getting by with very little, while other sect members occupied nearby cottages.

Rumours circulated in the neighbourhood that strange rituals were conducted behind the enormous fence surrounding the estate.

Mrs Griscom died in 1958 at the age of 90 and her passing saw the end of the Order.

The property was sold to a developer in 1960 for US$700,000 (AU$971,000), later given to the Catholic Archdiocese of New York, then sold to Manhattan College in 1969, which planned to transform it into dormitories but never did.

From there, it sit abandoned, falling into a derelict sate until it was bought in 1987 by owners, Sandra and Jerry Galuten, who undertook a restoration that took more than a decade.

“The house has such a history to it,” Ms Galuten told The New York Post in 2015. “It is really interesting.”

Sadly, little of the original interiors could be salvaged after years of neglect, vandalism by squatters, and fire.

But Ms Galuten spared no expense, no creativity, sourcing mosaic tiling from the same Italian craftsman who supplies The Vatican and installing sconces in a parlour that once belonged to the actor Clark Gable.

In addition to the seven bedrooms and five bathrooms are a library, cocktail lounge, movie theatre, conservatory and gym.

“Jesus would probably love [it],” Ms Galuten told The Post. “I redid it in very elegant taste.”

The couple sold the home in early 2017 for US$6.25 million (AU$8.67 million), and it’s back on the market now with a guide price of US$7.9 million (AU$10.95 million).

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