Dunrovin, Christian Brothers Retreat Center exists to provide, in the Catholic and Lasallian* Traditions, spiritual programs and hospitality to youth, families, churches, and other groups, with special consideration for the poor, and to promote peace and justice in society.

Dunrovin fulfilled a dream of Brother I. Damian, FSC, for a retreat facility for students. Brother Damian was principal of Cretin High School in the 1940s and was instrumental in starting Christian Brothers’ retreat centers in St. Louis and Chicago. Although he died in 1952, his impact on those who knew him kept his dream alive.

Brother J. Felix Scanlan, a resident of St. Paul since 1954, had been searching for a site where the Christian Brothers might establish a retreat center to serve the students of area high schools staffed by the Brothers. At that time the Catholic high schools required that each student make a retreat before graduating.

In 1958, Brother Felix responded to an ad in the Catholic Bulletin, which offered for sale “Dunrovin,” a fifty-acre estate on the St. Croix River north of Stillwater. R. M. Hadrath, founder and head of Maple Island, Inc., Stillwater, owned it. The Hadrath family had purchased the property in the mid-1940s from Arthur and Clara Packer, who operated the “Morning Glory Trout and Game Preserve.” At that time it was known as a place where businessmen could get away, hunt, fish in the trout pond, board their dogs, and enjoy the outdoors. At first the Hadrath family used Dunrovin as a country home and, later, as a year-round residence.

Since the focus of the retreat center was to serve young men from area high schools staffed by the Christian Brothers, a fundraising campaign was organized with representatives from Cretin, De La Salle, Hill and Benilde. Volunteers contacted alumni and friends of the Christian Brothers’ schools. Thanks to many generous people, including the Hadrath family, the groundbreaking ceremony was held April 2, 1963, with Brother Felix moving the first shovel of dirt.

The first retreats were held on Ash Wednesday, 1964. At the formal dedication, Archbishop Leo Binz blessed the building and the outside areas.

Over the years, the Center has expanded to include serving as a host facility for adults of various religious denominations and other organizations. Individuals come for personal retreats. Dunrovin conducts youth retreat weekends for junior- and senior-high youth from the Twin Cities and western Wisconsin, as well as a summer camp program for inner-city youth and a week-long family camp. The Dunrovin programs continue to be supported through the donations of people who believe that a faith-based retreat experience enriches lives, providing a rare place where belief in God is accepted and encouraged, and where there is time both to question and to listen for the answers.