The Converted
Witness the redesign of these churches turned single family homes, and you, too, will believe in the power of change.
By Elizabeth Speed. Photography by Laura Petrilla.It's a "chouse," according to one church-turned-home owner. His building, along with the three others we'll feature on these pages, started out as a church. But congregations dwindled or grew and needed bigger buildings. So, these houses of worship found new callings as homes. With imagination and a fair amount of determination, full-time church dwellers reshaped their now-secular spaces into unique, inspiring residences. Some rescued crumbling structures and reinvented them entirely. Others painstakingly preserved the rich history and detail with reverence and respect. All found a place that was once a spiritual home to many and converted it into their own sanctuary.
Contemporary Chapel
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"The architect did a great job getting light into every space, so we're a center unit, but there are windows or glass block in every room in the place," says co-owner Brian Sales of one of his Shadyside condo's most attractive features. "The openness of it... The living room and dining room, the open staircase, it's just beautiful," says co-owner Stacey Beggs.
Architect Art Lubetz of Lubetz Architects was the man behind all that light and openness. He turned the crumbling former Baptist church into condos in the '80s. Lubetz hadn't seen a similar project in Pittsburgh at the time, and the brick building, which had been abandoned, was in such poor condition that original features weren't salvageable. "There are all kinds of issues to changing a house of God to a house of man," Lubetz says. "It had to be done in such a way that God doesn't completely go away, and that you don't feel you're desecrating a holy place." Lubetz maintained a sense of spirituality by leaving the openings at the top of the walls, which feature gothic points. The exterior front wall is the church's original facade, and the space behind it was originally enclosed. Opening up a few yards to the elements allowed an exterior courtyard space to be created in front of the entrances to the condos, letting in more light. "It was important to maintain its place on the street," says Lubetz.
Sales and Beggs, who bought their home in 1998, were ecstatic to find a modern home in Shadyside with modern styling and an affordable price tag. The open floor plan with hardwood floors was perfect, and the kitchen benefited from a major renovation that changed the layout and updated the cabinets, countertops and appliances. Sales and Beggs love their one-of-a-kind home so much they say they couldn't sell it when they moved to Los Angeles two years ago. They currently rent it out. "It was hard to give up. If we end up back in Pittsburgh in a couple of years, we want to move back there for sure," says Beggs.
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Check out your newsstand or order online to see the conversions of these other great "chouses"! | |||
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Location: South Side |
Location: Greensburg |
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Location: South Side |
Location: Aspinwall |
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