Wednesday, April 06, 2016

Architecture Wednesday: Holy Conversion

The St. Nicholas Church, built in 1792, was old and abandoned, sitting on a plot of land in Kyloe, Northumberland just falling into disrepair.

But then one couple — Sally Onions and Ian Bottomley pictured above — fell in love with the church and decided to buy it, move in, and bring it back to life. They restored key elements, like the vaulted ceilings and original stained glass windows; they fixed and improved the structure all the while adapting the old church into a modern spacious home.

The exterior remains intact, except for skylights running the length of the roof, and the original stained glass windows are repaired; much of the wood, from pews and beams, has been repurposed into new stairs and kitchen cabinets.

The St. Nicholas home sits on one acre, with a large garden, and outbuildings with planning permission for conversion to a 2 bedroom cottage. Inside, there are four or five bedrooms, two bathrooms, two reception rooms, two kitchens and a huge open plan living area. The home also features a French bathroom split over three levels, featuring stunning stained glass windows so guests can enjoy a view and a soak.

One bedroom, up under the rafters, is large enough for a super king size bed and offers a gorgeous countryside view. Up in the tower are a dressing area and two more bedrooms and at the very top, one last bedroom with the best view of all. The master bedroom, however, is on the main floor, replacing the altar and surrounded by eight beautiful stained glass panels.

The grand dining room is located in the nave of the church, and is open to a spectacular open living space with high ceilings, stained glass windows, and double staircase and balcony.

It’s for sale for £695,000, roughly $1.3 million American dollars

And it comes with its own cemetery, too!

Little Things
Travelet
Telegraph

4 comments:

  1. wow, oh wow! And instant Halloween decorating with
    the cemetery :-)

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  2. I love and have loved some of the church conversions you have featured. And again love the idea of saving and re-proposing this church, but there is something cold feeling about the inside, although I do like it. I see even the baptism stand is still there.

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  3. It's very nice, but £700,000 won't buy you much down here; there's a new(ish) 4 bed bog standard house down the road from us for sale at £650,000. And that's got a pocket handkerchief garden. It's expensive round here because of the access to London. Up north there's no jobs and lots of unemployment so prices are depressed.

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  4. I think I've mentioned here before that ever since the film "Alice's Restaurant" I've fantasized about living in a former church. This one is better than my imaginings.

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