Most people aren’t so interested in purchasing an old convent that they’re willing to fight in court just to buy it… But then again, most people don’t have the same income and lifestyle as pop star Katy Perry.
In her pending lawsuit, Perry argued that rival bidder Dana Hollister “maliciously” took advantage of the nuns who own the property by convincing them to turn against the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles. The Archdiocese, according to the New York Daily News, has argued that the nuns cannot sell the old property without the church’s official written consent; the nuns have argued otherwise, saying that they have the final say on selling the property.
The convent used to house the Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. It was purchased by the Immaculate Heart sisters in 1970 and in its heyday, was home to over 100 nuns belonging to the order. These days, their numbers have dwindled substantially; only five sisters are still alive, and they agreed that it was high time to sell the hilltop residence.
Perry made an offer of $14.5 million — well above the $393,000 that an average home in California costs — but the nuns weren’t very pleased with the prospect of the pop singer purchasing their eight-acre convent. Instead, they decided to accept Hollister’s offer of $15.5 million, according to FOX News Latino and the Latin Post.
Perry supposedly told the nuns that she “wanted to live on the property with her mother and her grandmother, sit in the meditation garden, sip green tea and find herself,” but the nuns were not impressed.
“I found Katy Perry’s videos,” said Sister Rita Callahan to the Los Angeles Times. “I wasn’t happy with any of it.”
