The mansion known today as the House of the Redeemer was originally built as the town residence of Ernesto G. Fabbri, an Italian count and associate of J. Pierpont Morgan, and his wife, Edith Shepard Fabbri, great-granddaughter of Cornelius Vanderbilt.The House of the Redeemer’s outstanding architectural feature is the library, a treasure built in the 1400s for the Ducal palace in Urbino, Italy. The Duke was a patron of Raphael, who is said to have painted the medallion of the coat of arms on the vaulted 25-foot high ceiling. There is a monumental fireplace, exquisite paneling, a balustrade gallery, and even a secret passageway.n 1949, inspired by a sermon preached by the Right Reverend Austin Pardue on the necessity of silence and prayer in one’s spiritual life, Edith Fabbri deeded the building to the Episcopal Church for use as a religious retreat center.
