eszed
3 months ago
My grandparents did something like this when they retired, and bought a property with a long-derelict 19th church on it. They kept the stone walls intact, and built a modern structure over and through it, which turned out to be stunning.
Early in the project a neighbor drove up and introduced himself as the great-(great?)-grandson of the founder of the church, and the last minister who had served in it. He was grateful for their care for the history of the space, and when my grandparents inaugurated the house they invited the few remaining members of the congregation to the party, and asked the former minister to offer a blessing. Their appreciation for the building gave them an entrée into a (famously insular) community, which became a source of happiness and support for the rest of their lives.
illwrks
3 months ago
That’s an amazing story and often the thing that people overlook; respect and appreciation for the things that have gone before.
I would love to see photos if they are online anywhere.
eszed
3 months ago
I don't know if I have good pictures to hand, and would rather not (potentially) dox myself by posting them. However:
Picture a 9-foot (~3m) wall of local stone (so local, in fact, that they'd been pulled out of the creek that ran along the far end of the property), with a row of glass bricks on top, and then a vaulted ceiling whose peak was at 25' (~7.5m). The walls weren't actually supported by the glass (it was steel pillars), but it looked like they were.
If you're standing in that "great room", facing the wood stove and clerestory windows, behind you would be a transverse balcony, in steel and light wood, with a study and bedroom and bathroom off of it. The stairs to the upstairs are behind and to your left, running through a generous landing off which the front door opens. There's an open-plan kitchen and back door to your right (technically "outside" the footprint of the church), and a master bed and bath under the balcony.
That doesn't nearly do it justice, because you'd also have to picture all of my grandparents' furniture and rugs and art and antiques, around which (quite literally: doors were moved to accommodate certain pieces) the house had been designed.
It's been a decade since they died, and we pulled everything out of that house, but I miss them (and it) every day. Hold your family close, HN.
illwrks
3 months ago
It sounds like an amazing place!
Arrath
3 months ago
Oh man I would love to see pictures of this.