Take me to church for divine conversion

A church conversion can make for a magnificently unique home, the type of project that Kevin McCloud and his Grand Designs team relish. The lofty style of the architecture, from the vaulted ceilings designed to draw the eyes skyward, to the soothing panels of stained-glass colour exude a sense of tranquillity that is hard to replicate.

But those very original features that draw you in can also frustrate as the house of your dreams becomes a money- and time-consuming pit.

You can buy a church relatively cheaply. A Church of Ireland property in Colpe East, Drogheda, Co Meath, asking €80,000 was recently sale agreed for €50,000 through SherryFitzGerald Lannon.

Measuring 113sq m it had plenty of potential but no services which, in the middle of the countryside, means having to buy an additional plot of land on which to install a septic tank, explains agent Giles Belton.

Planning restrictions are another stumbling block.

The owner of Liss Church, a property in the village of Ballycumber, Co Offaly, that dates from circa 1820, currently for sale through agents PropertyTeam Lappin Estates asking €150,000, couldn’t touch the exterior, and had to keep the interior as it was, holding on to the organ and preserving the pulpit.

Measuring 139sq m the church, which includes a school house, has two stained-glass windows by Harry Clarke which sound reason enough to buy the property.

The owner even installed a mezzanine level that was set between windows so as not to obscure them in any way.

Darkness of stained-glass

“Stained-glass panels may look lovely but you can’t see through them and they let very little light through,” cautions Harriet Grant, head of Savills country houses, farms and estates division.

St Feckin’s Church, a Church of Ireland property of about 200sq metres in Termonfeckin is asking €130,000 through Shannon Property Consultants. It has leaded-glass windows so light streams in but where do you put the bedrooms?

One solution would be to build a mezzanine, Grant suggests.

Another is to put the accommodation into glass boxes on either side of the aisle, preserving the original fabric of the building and putting the kitchen area on the alter leaving room for a lofty double height living space to the front.

The economic cost of heating a large volume space is another considerable factor, cautions Coli O’Donoghue of DMOD Architects who did the award-winning conversion of St Mary’s Abbey from a church to a bar and restaurant and also Smock Alley Theatre, formerly a church.

Subdividing the vast volume into a space that is user-friendly on a domestic scale is also problematic.

As well as being dark, traditional styles of subdivision miss the point because “you lose any sense of the buildings origins”, O’Donoghue says. In a small church there is scope to install a bedroom at mezzanine level but how do you accommodate a whole family?

In Chicago, Linc Thelen of Linc Thelen Design, in partnership with Scrafano Architects, used the 5,550sq ft scale and volume of a huge church to their advantage, turning it into a comfortable, seven-bed family home, adapting the original windows by replacing central panels with plain glass to let light in, something planners here are not keen on.

By creating a central box area for living and the kitchen, the designer and architect were able to accommodate the bedrooms off a galleried landing without ruining the integrity of the architecture.

Elsewhere wallpapers and personality-laden light fixtures add decorative flourishes that stop the property looking too historic.

The verdict? Approach with caution is the advice of Fiona Caldwell, executive producer on the TV show Grand Designs who has seen more than her fair share of church conversions.

“People tend to fall in love with the original open space, the height of the ceilings and the tall windows, Where they become unstuck is when they try to carve it up into smaller rooms losing the original light and space.”

Ground rules: The church conversion commandments

1. Ask if the property has water and sewage facilities. You may have to buy additional land to install a septic tank.

2. Look at the windows. If stained glass, they will let little light through and may be protected.

3. If the church comes with a graveyard ask if the the public has access to the graveyard?

4. Ask whose job it is to maintain the grounds

For more information, contact the Ulster Historic Churches Trust and Edward Wilson

THREE TO BUY

COOLBAWN, NENAGH, CO TIPPERARY

A former Church of Ireland property on land adjacent to Lough Derg in Co Tipperary is asking €195,000 through joint agents BOC Properties Premier Properties Ireland. It includes a school house that is in ruins. Bocproperties.ie; premierpropertiesireland.com

ST FECKIN’S CHURCH

This Church of Ireland property of about 200sq m in Termonfeckin is asking €130,000 through Shannon Property Consultants. It has leaded-glass windows and its grounds are maintained by the church.

BELFAST, CO ANTRIM

A B1 listed red sandstone building, Nelson Memorial Hall, just off Belfast’s Shankhill Road, measures 653sq m (7032sq ft) and includes a galleried upper floor, grand entrance hal and double vestibule. It is asking about €138,000 through agents Frazer Kidd. Frazer.kidd.co.uk