Beautiful examples (although Jesus watching you bathe is kinda weird.)

I think you'd need big bucks to do this kind of reno, though -- lots of churches are badly insulated and have all kinds of infrastructure issues that would need to be addressed, like wiring and plumbing. But the architecture could be worth it...

This is something that I've kind of wanted to do. There are a lot of churches that could be transformed into some nice homes. Some of the larger ones might also make nice multi-family residences as well.

I wouldn't call that upcycling, but it's an interesting reuse. Personally, I think I would be creeped out, though I have eaten in more than one church turned pizza parlor.

I would live in a converted church in a heartbeat. I love them!

Wow, just WOW... Not too sure I'd like to live in a converted church, but these are very good arguments for it! (Especially since I've see really cool churches for sale/ rent everywhere since moving to NC)

I have to agree - I don't think "upcycle" is the right word for this.

But seeing these pictures I went "NO WAY" and fell in love. Want want want.

I've seen churches converted into condos in Halifax & Toronto, as well as into great community spaces.

I've always thought this would be an incredible thing to do. I'd live in a converted church! The church across the street from my house was for sale a few years back... but it's massive, far too big to be good for one person to live in!

"Upcycling" was a poor choice of words. Nonetheless, these are beautiful homes.

Beautiful. Although I'm not sure I would go so modern with the decorating, it seems a bit odd to me.

Pretty but I'd rather see churches remain community spaces. I'm not fond of the many ways in which community spaces are undergoing this form of privatization: repurposing for the poor (perhaps the term "upcycling" applies in some ironic way). While I am not religious, I am aware that churches and other faith based organizations are often among the only public spaces open to marginalized populations. There are so many places these days for the privileged to seek well appointed housing - I would think twice about taking away the few spaces out there that have traditionally served the needy.

Edited to state: I meant to write "repurposing spaces that had once served the poor" :)

Definitely downcycling, but better than nothing and still awesome.

I'm disappointed in the lack of ghosts in these pics.

How beautiful! I agree that upcycling was poor word choice. What an inspiring way to live!

i agree with sasha2.

sasha2, YESSS!!!! I was about to say the exact same thing. Thank you! I guess the only thing that marginally legitimizes this sort of reno in my mind is that at least these people aren't creating giant mcmansions out in the country somewhere.

Really gorgeous, but I think the cost of heating that soaring ceiling space might be high.

Beautiful, but I don't want to even think how much $ this would have cost.
I actually think that upcycling is the perfect term to use in this case.

There are several churches in and around Baltimore City that I would absolutely love to convert into a home. Or a brewpub. Possibly both. :)

Old church buildings are usually for sale or abandoned prior to being reused as homes. So no public buildings are being taken away from anyone, rather they are often being rescued from being torn down. And "upcycling" isn't even a real word... that doesn't seem to stop people from overusing it.

I definitely prefer the first church to all the others, probably because there isn't as much wide open space. I am not a fan of rooms in which the furniture feels miniature. While those high ceilings are gorgeous, they just don't make it look home-y.

In addition to seeing churches for sale, I have also seen old fire houses. Of course they are all in terrible shape and would take tens of thousands (if not hundred of thousands) of dollars to rehab. A girl can dream, can't she?

@SherryBinNH
Well, since Jesus supposedly sees everything everywhere every time, he has already sow us bathing millions times. I guess got used to it. If he had a problem with it, we would have all born dressed. Don't you think?

The shown conversions are simply fantastic. I'd be hard put to choose a favourite one.

@sasha2 Rescuing and restoring an abandoned or for-sale building is not stealing from the poor, unless I'm missing something.

It is my dream to rescue an old public building that has been abandoned and restore it with love. I don't know that one has to be a millionaire to do it. It might not be easy, but I think it would be worth it to slowly return it to happy use.

We have many options when a church is for sale, e.g. rather than spend all that money on the cycle of competitive consumption (everyone here agrees it costs $$$$ to turn a church into a home), one could try to join together with nonprofits and do a "Nicholas Kristof" - rather than spending your money on yourself, help others in need.

I find the term upcycling quite fitting for those lovely projects. Churches were and are not always places were unity and love were/are preached and organised religion often exploited the poor (or made people poor in the first place) rather than helped them out. So no reason to call living in those buildings downgrading.
I quite like the thought of a stylish cute gay couple living in one of these. ^_^

I would live in La Sagrada Familia, but I'd also live outside in Park Guell if it meant I could call Gaudi architecture home. Not so sure he would appreciate an agnostic Jew fornicating in his beloved church, though.

The last home here is my favorite - the arch in the living room, the heavenly beam of light hitting the bed... I imagine it would feel like being woken up by angel kisses. And the whole thing was only 400K!

Hmm - Churches of course also continue to serve as the backbone of right leaning causes. But I guess I don't subscribe to the neoliberal agenda as much as you, OKASHI. Just because not all churches serve the poor or the broader public does that mean we should just unleash market forces on spaces where people build community and transform them into staging grounds for the conspicuous consumption of one household. We are steadily losing our public spaces. Without churches, we wouldn't have organized in this society to win civil rights for minorities - churches were the crucibles of the civil rights movement. And in many cities today, churches are the foundation for serving the needy, a population that is increasingly abandoned by our neoliberal government.

Love these spaces, but church-as-home always reminds me of Alice's Restaurant. Make sure to take the trash out occasionally. ;)

@SASHA2, some churches do the things you mentioned, and some churches (Westboro Baptist) kind of lead the march on bigotry and hatred for anything THEY decide that their imaginary friend disapproves of. "Neoliberal" is a term that is intended to sneer at and disparage a portion of the population as well, is it not? While "liberals" (aka "bleeding heart liberals") have historically held the political viewpoint of the citizenry collectively, through tax dollars, SUPPORTING, not "abandoning" as you suggest, uniform rights and available aide for anyone in need. It's right-wing conservative Republican politicians, these days, who are undermining that approach to the best of their ability.

But back to architecture... and the fact that nobody goes into an active community church and buys it out -- People put on the market churches that are insolvent, often meaning not enough interest or funds to maintain them. While I think it's admirable to try to find ways to use these buildings for community purposes, I certainly don't want subsidies from the government to maintain them AS CHURCHES. (Grants to convert them to community centers or senior centers or homeless shelters or clinics, sure...) You may feel free to worship the deity of your choice, but a growing number of us out here don't believe there's anything there TO worship, so keeping the idea of government (and taxes and the law) separate from the idea of church (whether it's good, bad or indifferent) is a key point to us. (As it really should be to everyone.)

I lived in a convent once and it was pretty and serene.

I've always dreamt of living in a converted church. These are beautiful examples, especially the very modern examples. So dreamy...

@sasha2 So, rescuing a building is taking from the poor. Thanks for showing me the way. I know that would be the only acceptable way to use a church building now.

Churches are the only places where judgment and minimization are found.

My parents lived in a renovated school house back in the '60s. I love the idea and the beautiful bones these places have.

I think those complaining about the loss of public spaces are forgetting the fact that these spaces being for sale in the first place means they have most likely already closed their doors.

Would you rather someone re purposed the space into a home or business? Or bulldozed it to be replaced with a generic pop up building?

Ever since I was a little girl, I've wanted to live in a church, surrounded by stained glass and centuries-old marble. I'm not a Christian at all, but there's just something so beautiful about houses of worship, no matter the denomination- a serenity and a feeling of wonder that washes over me. I imagine I'd sleep very well in one of these spaces.
There's always the possibility of buying one someday, as we have old church buildings for sale all over the place in Maine. But of course, very old buildings are bloody expensive to renovate and to heat, so it probably won't happen. Thanks for the article and photos, though- it's always nice to dream!

My Mom converted a church into her home, and it is fabulous!

The 100-year-old church she purchased had been sitting empty on the market for YEARS when she bought it. No one else in the area had enough creativity to see that is could be something -anything- other than a church. There is absolutely no way it was going to be turned into a "community space" by anyone. Rather, she has turned it into a warm, welcoming home (and her office!) I think the idea that all former churches need to be turned into "community centers" of some sort is ridiculous. If that were the only option, all these beautiful, historic buildings would simply be demolished and (wasteful) new buildings would be built.

She has NOT spent a ton of $$ on renovations- and the idea that you HAVE to do all kind of renovations to make a space usable is ridiculous. She has been super-creative and uses the space without having made many permanent changes at all. She turned 2 half-baths into one full bath in the basement/downstairs, and added a half-bath upstairs; that is it. A fabric "wall" divides a bedroom off the main living space, and semi-permanent walls made from sheets of frosted, tempered glass and a bit of wood have turned one small corner into her home office, where she sees clients. We do love daydreaming about different things that could be done to make the space better/prettier/more usable, but they are all optional. The space is totally livable, and lovely, and her total cost- including purchasing the property and all renovations- has been maybe $40k. Yes, Forty Thousand- not four hundred thousand.

The space is beautiful. The wood floors are AMAZING, the high ceilings are beautiful, and the place is peaceful and warm. My Mom loves imagining all the weddings, baptisms, and other joyous events that have taken place there- she truly appreciates the history of the place and all the people that have spent time there. It is an amazing home.

Sasha2, are you at all aware that the people who own these didn't force anyone to sell them? Once it goes on the market and the church community has moved on, the building itself doesn't offer anything to the poor. As TheDanMan says above, the alternative to selling the church buildings to private owners for conversion is that they're demolished. Do you seriously consider that a positive alternative? The idea that once it's build and consecrated a church building will have its doors open for all time is seriously naive.

They're buildings. Beautiful buildings, yes, but still buildings. The community, and those who offer shelter and assistance to those in need, is still out there.

The official term is "Adaptive Re-use".

There was a show on the BBC called "Restoration Home" which had, among other things, an old abandoned church being converted by a young couple - it was really well done. The episode's on YouTube here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gyFqSkbEmFY . Skip to about 53 minutes in for the reveal.

The central problem is that a church generally requires one big room to fulfill its function, while a family home needs several. So most church conversions end up breaking the grand unified space into smaller, enclosed spaces, ruining the architecture and making it more of a church-themed suburban house.

Church conversions work best when they are done as loft-style homes, with private rooms tucked away and the big halls left as open plan living spaces. Unfortunately few people can afford to justify the space and maintenance for the housing of one or two people.

i would LOVE to live in a old church..most older church buildings are beautiful...chicago has TONS of old church buildings that have been converted to houses or apartments...

So much better to rescue an abandoned church in this way than to tear it down and build something forgettable in its place. I'd give a place like this a chance -- would in fact love to work with such an incredible space -- though I too suspect some renovation could prove pricey. But these homes prove it can be worth it!

I live in the Presbytery of a functioning catholic church (circa 1857) in Montreal. When they started having money troubles they rented out the top two stories which used to be nun's cloisters to us and it became a commune! I've actually been thinking about submitting a house tour for ages. It's a gorgeous old building (the best insulated house I have ever lived in, by the way. The walls are a full two feet thick at least) with little sinks in a lot of the bedrooms and a view directly onto the church's roof!

@Sasha2: These buildings were not in use anymore. And I am not even talking about modern organised religion - lets better not go there - but about old church buildings. I'm not neo-liberal, I am oldschoold liberal European. ;) As a conservator of art I work with church related art a lot and while I love the craftsmanship and the buildings, a lot of this was created and build on the shoulders of and with money pressed out of the poorest of the poor. You have to keep in mind that some of those old church buildings being transformed into new homes are sometimes hundreds of years old.

@PetitOiseau: That sounds awesome!

It really irritates me when people suggest giving money to the poor rather than shelling out big bucks on a renovation. When you shell out money on contractors to do all this work, who is getting the money??? Hardworking (hopefully, if you didn't get some awful contractors) people who need the money! Then two people are benefitting from the money spent rather than just one.

The economy works best when people are spending money!

In my neighborhood in Chicago there is some type of church on almost every block. Not an exaggeration.There are three that I can see from my apartment alone! Two of them sat unused for several years. One had been used for some type of community center, but then they closed that down, and was recently purchased by some church group. The other just sits there. The idea that non-profits would get together to buy one is not very realistic. Non-profits have very little money and old churches are extremely expensive to maintain. (I know the monthly heating bill in the winter at my church is in the thousands of dollars category.) I'd rather have someone buy it and turn it into a home, have new neighbors invested in the neighborhood, (and increase my property's value) than have an empty building that can attract squatters.
There are several churches in the neighborhood that have been converted into private residences, I've always been curious what they look like on the inside, so this was cool to see.

I was in a Victorian over the weekend that has its own private church. The house was built in 1883, and has a chapel inside. With 20’ ceilings, and an organ to match.
The owners use it for “storage.”

It’s beautiful and extraordinary… and I cannot imagine having so much space that I use my church as a storage room

God and heaven are UP. UPCYCLE. Get it?

The church we got married in, had all 4 of our kids baptized in, and have many fond memories of was closed and sat vacant and sad for 5 years. I was told by the pastor's daughter that someone had even broken in and defecated in there. Broke my heart! Finally, someone purchased it and is very, very slowly transforming it into a home. A friend of mine moved in down the street, so now when I pass it, I have a smile on my face. It's being used and taken care of and loved again ... just in a different way!

There is a church in my former neighborhood that was converted into condos back in 2007 or 2008. The address is: 27 St. James Avenue, Norwood, MA.

I used to live across the street from a church converted into a single-family home (on Damen about a block south of Addison, Chicagoans). It had been converted several years earlier, but they still had the letterboard thing in the front yard. They always just left it blank, and I wished that if they were going to leave it there they should at least put up messages.

some are gorgeous. I'd agree with the 'poor choice of words" for upcycling, but there's many buildings that are too small for their congregations and aren't located in a place another wants to move in, or an older congregation has sold the building to put the money towards international missions. (my "insider perspective" as a minister).

Less positively, I'm wondering what iteration II will look like in twenty years, when all the churches that bought cheap land in the country to (at the time) make responsible use of limited resources realize that their parishioners driving to church on the outskirts of the city is getting less and less sustainable..

Wow ... But the heating cost must be astronomical ......

This post is ... Wait for it ... Heavenly!

Talk about being born again!

I love these, and from my perspective upcycling is the absolutely correct term. The only potential issue I would have would be resisting the temptation to turn it into a BDSM dungeon, or just throw lots of crazy sex/drug parties all of the time. Oh well!

Does anyone remember Limelight in NYC in the 80's? Converting a church to a nightclub where you can dance all night I get. Living in one would not feel good to me. From a feng shui viewpoint there are just too many heavy vibes to clear (funerals, damnation sermons, etc to name a few).

Being portuguese, I think this would creep out most of the population in my country. Same goes for Latin America, Spain, Italy... I don't think we'll be seeing that trend in portugal anytime soon. In spite of this, I do find the second example beautiful architecturally speaking

p.s.: I too find this is not a upcycling case, but a repurpose

Says a lot about our society that all these churches are being sold/abandoned. Also says a lot that people have enough money to convert them into luxury homes.

Even though I've seen many beautiful conversions of churches to homes and even though I tell myself it is far better that the property is restored and maintained than left to crumble, it always makes me a little sad. Sasha2, you've hit the nail on the head.

There are a number of churches here in Toronto that have been converted into lofts, condos, whatever. They are beautiful, and I would love to live in one of them!

I think this is a lovely example of working with an architectural piece of history to turn it into something useful and, I would argue, even more beautiful today. Postmodernism at its best!

~Gwen
http://www.chloeswindow.etsy.com

@SHERRYBINNH - that was my first thought on seeing that bathroom!

wish it was mine

Nicely done!

Beautiful spaces... I can't help but think of the poem -- Church Going by British poet Philip Larkin...

Philip Larkin - Church Going

Once I am sure there's nothing going on
I step inside, letting the door thud shut.
Another church: matting, seats, and stone,
And little books; sprawlings of flowers, cut
For Sunday, brownish now; some brass and stuff
Up at the holy end; the small neat organ;
And a tense, musty, unignorable silence,
Brewed God knows how long. Hatless, I take off
My cycle-clips in awkward reverence.

Move forward, run my hand around the font.
From where I stand, the roof looks almost new -
Cleaned, or restored? Someone would know: I don't.
Mounting the lectern, I peruse a few
Hectoring large-scale verses, and pronounce
'Here endeth' much more loudly than I'd meant.
The echoes snigger briefly. Back at the door
I sign the book, donate an Irish sixpence,
Reflect the place was not worth stopping for.

Yet stop I did: in fact I often do,
And always end much at a loss like this,
Wondering what to look for; wondering, too,
When churches will fall completely out of use
What we shall turn them into, if we shall keep
A few cathedrals chronically on show,
Their parchment, plate and pyx in locked cases,
And let the rest rent-free to rain and sheep.
Shall we avoid them as unlucky places?

Or, after dark, will dubious women come
To make their children touch a particular stone;
Pick simples for a cancer; or on some
Advised night see walking a dead one?
Power of some sort will go on
In games, in riddles, seemingly at random;
But superstition, like belief, must die,
And what remains when disbelief has gone?
Grass, weedy pavement, brambles, buttress, sky,

A shape less recognisable each week,
A purpose more obscure. I wonder who
Will be the last, the very last, to seek
This place for what it was; one of the crew
That tap and jot and know what rood-lofts were?
Some ruin-bibber, randy for antique,
Or Christmas-addict, counting on a whiff
Of gown-and-bands and organ-pipes and myrrh?
Or will he be my representative,

Bored, uninformed, knowing the ghostly silt
Dispersed, yet tending to this cross of ground
Through suburb scrub because it held unspilt
So long and equably what since is found
Only in separation - marriage, and birth,
And death, and thoughts of these - for which was built
This special shell? For, though I've no idea
What this accoutred frowsty barn is worth,
It pleases me to stand in silence here;

A serious house on serious earth it is,
In whose blent air all our compulsions meet,
Are recognized, and robed as destinies.
And that much never can be obsolete,
Since someone will forever be surprising
A hunger in himself to be more serious,
And gravitating with it to this ground,
Which, he once heard, was proper to grow wise in,
If only that so many dead lie round.

I love these ideas! I lived in a house that was once a church in Nicaragua and loved it. There's a lovely church for sale I've been eyeing here on the west side of Cleveland...

Heating a vaulted ceiling space is fairly easy and does notcost an arm and a leg to do. Heat rises as you know, so getting the ehat down to the floor level is the trick. By installing forced air ducts vertically with intake registers at the peak of the building and a small fan to force the air down you take advantage of the high temperatures in the peak area. The heat can be distributed to toher rooms as well. Just a little redesigning and imagination along with a good sheetmetal shop and you can make a very efficient system. Great decor in these remodels. I'm helping my daughter do one.

To the many so casually commenting here: you may not know that this has been foretold through the centuries, that Holy Sanctuaries will be desecrated and the Holy Sacrifice and Adoration of the Lord will be abandoned.
THESE ARE HOLY PLACES, PLACES WHERE MANY PRAYERS HAVE BEEN LIFTED UP TO GOD. THEY REMAIN HOLY.
To turn them into homes, restaurants, bars, casinos etc, etc. is an ABOMINATION! and the consequences of this affront will be sorrowfully regretted.

"The Abomination of desolation" spoken in various books of the Bible.

Mathew 24:15
When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (who so readeth, let him understand)

and in...

Mark 13:14
But when ye shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing where it ought not, (let him that readeth understand,) then let them that be in Judea flee to the mountains...

Daniel 11:31
"Forces from him will arise, desecrate the sanctuary fortress, and do away with the regular sacrifice. And they will set up the abomination of desolation.

There are 9 properties for sale that come with churches or chapels.

http://blog.estately.com/2013/01/9-homes-for-sale-that-include-a-church-or-chapel/