Convent of the Sisters of Saint Meissa

"I have a fairly specific rental agreement... If they miss a payment, I'm within my rights to evict."

- Mr. Gold to Leroy

The Convent of the Sisters of Saint Meissa is a Storybrooke location featured on ABC's Once Upon a Time. It first appears in the nineteenth episode of the first season.

Trivia
On-screen Notes=

On-screen Notes

 * The convent is located near the Storybrooke Free Public Library.
 * The convent is located at 2356 Mulberry Court. The phone number is 555-0166.
 * The same phone number is on a poster inside the library. Curiously, the headline says "port and marine safety and security certificate".


 * -|Production Notes=

Production Notes

 * The scenes with the nuns in "Fall" were supposed to happen in the convent. However, in the actual episode, they were shot at Granny's Diner.


 * -|Cultural References=

Biblical

 * There is a statue of the Virgin Mary outside the convent.
 * The convent chapel is full of religious stained glass windows. Among the religious motifs are:
 * The biblical figure Martha
 * Saint Margaret of Scotland - a Roman Catholic royal saint ("in loving memory of Helena Bodie Whitmore, 1897 - 1985")
 * Jesus Christ and the text "come unto me", an excerpt from the Gospel of Matthew 11:28 in the Bible
 * Two paintings of the Virgin Mary are inside the room where August recuperates.
 * There is a statue of the Virgin Mary inside the convent nursery.

Popular Culture

 * Mars and Venus, a famous painting by the Italian Renaissance painter Sandro Botticelli, is hanging on the wall inside the convent nursery.


 * -|Set Notes=

Props Notes

 * There is a glass unicorn crib mobile in Emma's nursery in the Royal Castle, which is later seen in Mr. Gold's pawnshop during the Dark Curse. Later, the same mobile can be seen hanging in Prince Neal's nursery room in the convent.

Set Dressing

 * When Mr. Gold enters the convent, there is a glass-stained window in the hallway behind him. It is the same window that was added to the landing outside the entrance to the Blanchard Loft in Season Two.


 * -|Other Notes=

Filming Locations

 * For exterior scenes, the Fairacres Mansion, a historic building in Burnaby which is also known as the Burnaby Art Gallery, doubles as the Storybrooke Convent. It is an estate house in the British Arts and Crafts style, and was built in 1911.
 * The mansion has also been featured in the Psych episode "Santa Barbarian Candidate", and in the Stargate SG-1 episode "The Ties That Bind".
 * For the interior scenes in "Going Home", Vancouver's St. Mary's Anglican Church doubles as the convent chapel.
 * For the interior scenes in "Best Laid Plans", Cecil Green Park House in Vancouver and the OverLynn Mansion in Burnaby Heights double as the convent. Both are Arts & Crafts-styled mansion and were built in 1912 and 1909 respectively.
 * Cecil Green Park House also doubles as the Lakeside Mansion for the show.
 * The interior scenes in "Our Decay" were filmed on a movie set built inside a sound stage.