The rector’s royal residence is no more.
Trinity Church is selling the lavish Soho town house that the Rev. James Cooper demanded as his home when he became rector of the historic Manhattan church in 2004.
The controversial rector retired in February and Trinity recently put the Charlton Street home on the market for $12 million.
While a Trinity spokesman in 2012 had rationalized the church’s $5.5 million purchase of the town house as a permanent rectory for future leaders of the church, Cooper’s replacement is living elsewhere.
The Rev. William Lupfer is ensconced in a 2,300-square-foot Battery Park City apartment with three terraces and riverfront views. The rent was advertised at $15,000 a month.
The apartment lacks the grandeur of Cooper’s 1827 Federal-style abode where crystal chandeliers graced the living and dining rooms and a garden-level kitchen came with a fireplace.
The master suite had a separate study, dressing room and a marble bath complete with its own refrigerator, microwave and wet bar.
Cooper, 70, and his wife, Octavia, lived in the home tax free. They have returned to Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., a community south of Jacksonville where he used to preach. They’ve owned a home there since 1990 and also own property in Maine.
During his tenure at Trinity, the church paid him a six-figure annual allowance for the Florida home. The allowance came to $118,675 in 2012, according to the latest available figures which put Cooper’s total compensation at $1.2 million, including his salary of $339,469.
Cooper headed what is considered the richest parish in the Anglican world, with real-estate assets of some $3 billion. He clashed with members of the church’s vestry, or governing board. Critics said he lavished money on plans for a luxury condo tower and a publicity campaign and veered away from Trinity’s charitable mission.
A Trinity spokesman said Lupfer and the vestry were reevaluating the church’s housing policy and that “funds realized from the sale of the former rectory will be used to support Trinity’s mission.”
Cooper did not return calls for comment.