As residents of Thorpe Village aged, many could no longer live alone safely without additional services. The Sisters then envisioned another setting that would allow for frail but otherwise healthy seniors to maintain their independence in a non-medical setting. Named for Mother Dominic Dowling who purchased the Sparkill property in 1884, Dowling Gardens opens in February 1996 with 111 apartments built on a 5-acre site behind Dominican Convent in Sparkill, NY.