SLOATSBURG, N.Y. — The luxurious home, given to the Archdiocese of New York in December 2015, is an eight-bedroom, 10,000-square-foot manor house on seven lakefront acres here, with a private tennis court, outdoor pool and 70-foot indoor lap pool that resembles a Venetian canal.

The New York couple who donated the home, in Sloatsburg, N.Y., intended for it to be used as a retreat house, a place where hardworking priests could relax and decompress.

But the forest-framed residence, where Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan, the archbishop of New York, has vacationed at least twice in the past year, is now presenting a conundrum for the New York archdiocese, which is already fighting a perception among parishioners that it is “bloated” and “rich,” even as it continues to close parishes and schools, including six school closings announced Monday.

Though it had originally been intended as a retreat house, an archdiocesan spokesman said that was no longer an appropriate use: The house has too many stairs for many priests and would have only seven rooms for guests. The idea is also opposed by the homeowners association of the Pierson Lakes gated community, to which the house belongs.