Part 11/14:
Following Virginia’s departure, the estate’s custodianship changed hands. The mansion’s first new caretaker was Brewins Davis, a Missouri millionaire and arts patron who maintained the property diligently. However, in 1952, amidst personal upheavals, Davis transferred ownership to a Catholic charity — the St. Francis Poor Sisters. The religious order used the mansion as a convent and retreat house, but maintaining such a grand structure proved costly, and by 1960, they reluctantly auctioned the property.