Gunther and his wife, Anastasiia, purchased a 120-year-old church in Maryland for $320,000 in 2017.
The All Saints' Church became All Saints House, where the couple lives with their 3 children.
Gunther estimated that they'll spend close to $90,000 on projects around their home.
Gunther, 40, and his partner, Anastasiia, 30, were on the lookout for a restoration project in December 2016. When the Maryland couple saw a for-sale sign in front of an old church up the road from their house, they stopped the car and looked inside.
About six months and $320,000 later, it was theirs.
Now the pair and their three children live in the 120-year-old All Saints' Church, which they renamed All Saints House. While they're refurbishing the home, it maintains many of its original details. Stained-glass windows illuminate its walls and a metal spire stands tall above the home.
The couple has been working on the home for several years, but they are still chipping away at a long list of restoration projects. So far, their completed renovations include the stripping of dangerous lead paint from the front door, adding a breakfast bar in the kitchen, redesigning the master bedroom, and revamping the kitchen.
Despite their best-laid plans when buying the house, Gunther and Anastasiia would be in for some unexpected costs. Outside of the initial purchase, they have spent about $75,000 remodeling the home. That cost will probably now rise beyond $90,000, including the cost of several building permits and a new roof.
"We still have so many things we want to do at All Saints House," Gunther said. "It's a process but that doesn't detract from the joy we get from living here."
The couple has been sharing their renovation experiences since 2018 on Instagram. Read on to find out what it's like to renovate and live in a more than century old church.
Do you have a similar story or budget you'd like to share with Insider? Get in touch with reporter Alcynna Lloyd at [email protected].
Anastasiia and her husband, Gunther, bought All Saints' Church, which they now call All Saints House, for $320,000 in 2017.
Courtesy of All Saints House
Anastasiia told Insider that she and her husband were on the lookout for an old house to restore. So when they saw a for-sale sign in front of an old church up the road from their house, they immediately went inside.
"The moment we walked in, that was it," she said. "It was love at first sight. We looked at each other and said, 'Yes, we definitely want to live here,' and called our real-estate agent."
Gunther, a biostatistician, and Anastasiia, a stay at home mom, have always shared a love of old houses and follow restoration projects on social media.
"We are part of a growing Instagram community of old-house lovers and people who restore old houses," Anastasiia said. "So we have a lot of friends on Instagram that we get great ideas from and ask for advice."
The church was designed by a New York architect, Henry Martyn Congdon, nearly 120 years ago, according to the Maryland government's website. It was built to replace a church, also designed by Congdon, that burned down in 1899.
Courtesy of All Saints House
Source: Maryland Historical Trust
Despite the additions, the building's original Gothic-revival architecture has been preserved for nearly 120 years. To this day, the church features original finishes.
All Saints House was deconsecrated in the 1970s, Anastasiia said. Since then, it has had three separate owners — before Anastasiia and Gunther — who added lofts, rooms, skylights, and bathrooms.
Courtesy of All Saints House
"The changes that were made to the building are not permanent," Anastasiia said. "You can take down everything that's been put up, and it can be a functioning church again."
The home's stained-glass windows were imported from Munich at the turn of the century.
Courtesy of All Saints House
The couple said that when they bought the home, it was livable but needed some loving care after sitting empty for years. As soon as they bought the church, they began chipping away at their long list of restoration projects.
The first task was to clean the house from top to bottom, which took about two weeks, Anastasiia said.
She estimated they'd spent somewhere around $75,000 remodeling and renovating so far.
While purchasing the church was a relatively easy process, Anastasiia and Gunther are having some difficulty securing builder permits.
Courtesy of All Saints House
In 2020, Gunther and Anastasiia learned the church was never rezoned as a single-family home even though it had undergone several renovations by its previous owners.
After receiving a "stop work order" from the county building department, the couple was forced to halt all construction. They are now in the process of applying for several building permits, which they anticipate will cost them twice the fees had the paperwork been secured earlier.
"We had to go back to the very beginning and get everything instantiated into records for the county," Gunther said. "It really has been a bit of a process."
Going back to the drawing board has slowed down their renovations significantly. The crux of the problem is that Gunther and Anastasiia are having a difficult time finding reliable contractors.
"I think post pandemic, everybody decided to start their home renovation projects," Gunther added. "No one's really available to come out to the property, so we kind of had to stop all of our projects that weren't decorative."
Despite the roadblocks, Anastasiia and Gunther have completed many of their renovation projects on their own, with the help of YouTube tutorials. The kitchen is so far their biggest renovation.
Courtesy of All Saints House
"We built bespoke cabinets, refinished the floors, updated the layout and added functionality, it still remains one of our most impactful projects to date," Anastasiia said.
The three-month kitchen renovation included redoing the flooring and replacing the joists, updating the plumbing and electrical work, and installing new cabinets and countertops.
Courtesy of All Saints House
Anastasiia said that the hardest part of the entire restoration process was making sure the additions complement the church's original style.
Courtesy of All Saints House
"We try to keep everything as original as possible, as the owners prior to us did," Anastasiia said. "We don't want to change anything that would damage the architectural integrity of the building."
Courtesy of All Saints House
But preserving the building's architectural integrity doesn't come without its challenges. Anastasiia said the ceilings in the home's great hall are 25 feet tall, making it difficult to change lightbulbs and clean the wooden beams.
Courtesy of All Saints House
The entirety of All Saints House is about 2,500 square feet.
When it came to decorating, Anastasiia and Gunther had to buy new furniture because what they had was too small. To better understand just how big the space is, the brown couch featured below is 12 feet long. The 12-foot couch is dwarfed by the living space.
Courtesy of All Saints House
To find the perfect pieces, they shopped mostly at antique and thrift shops.
The grand piano, which was originally a church piano, sits next to the fireplace. Anastasiia said it dates back to the beginning of the 20th century.
Courtesy of All Saints House
There are three bedrooms and two bathrooms in the home. The loft, which looks out over the great room, serves as the master bedroom.
Courtesy of All Saints House
One of the home's three skylights covers almost an entire side of the master bedroom.
Courtesy of All Saints House
Directly under the loft area are the two other bedrooms. The spiral staircase that leads up to the loft.
Courtesy of All Saints House
During colder months, the family spends a lot of time in this small, cozy living room, which was originally an altar.
Courtesy of All Saints House
The great hall doesn't have heat, so during the colder months, Anastasiia and her family hang out in the small living room, Anastasiia said. In fact, in an Instagram caption, she called it the second-most-used space in the house, next to the kitchen.
The belfry — the tower attached to the church — has three levels. The top level still features a bronze church bell from the 1900s, Anastasiia told Insider.
Courtesy of All Saints House
The first floor of the tower is a library, which they recently repainted and reconfigured.
Courtesy of All Saints House
The couple has big plans for the tower.
The second floor will be transformed into a Victorian-style bedroom that the couple hopes to share with others through Airbnb. As for the third level, Anastasiia plans to transform it into a lounging area with floor-to-ceiling windows.
The bronze bell will be removed from the tower and displayed elsewhere on the property.
The couple has also transformed their great room by adding some new furniture and artwork:
Courtesy of All Saints House
Behind the house is an old cemetery. While they don't own it, the family takes care of it by maintaining the land and doing some of the gardening, Anastasiia told Insider.
Courtesy of All Saints House
"It's not as spooky as you'd think," she said.
Anastasiia said she believes the best part of owning and restoring the old church is the inspiration and creativity it fuels.
Courtesy of All Saints House
The couple has recently repainted the front door to a bright apple red.
Courtesy of All Saints House
They've planted a garden and are building a trellis. They're also planning larger renovation projects.
Courtesy of All Saints House
While the couple hoped the renovation would be a short process, they've grown to accept that it will take much more time.
"Years before we were looking at this property, we were talking to Gunther's uncle and aunt who renovated their house for years," Anastasiia said. "I remember thinking, 'oh my goodness, I don't want to spend 20 years renovating a home.'"
"We have been here for six and still have so many things to do, but you just learn to accept that," she added. "I think being able to go through this experience ourselves, making it our own and dealing with all the issues that may come makes it so much more special."
"My husband always says that we're just stewards of this place," she said. "This place has been here for over 100 years, and it will be here long after we are gone. Our job is not to just make it what we want, but to make sure we preserve it."
Courtesy of All Saints House
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By: [email protected] (Alcynna Lloyd,Libertina Brandt,Taylor Borden) Title: See how a Maryland couple is turning the 120-year old church they paid just $320,000 for into a dream home for their 3 kids Sourced From: www.businessinsider.com/family-lives-in-restored-church-photos-home-renovation-2019-12 Published Date: Tue, 07 Mar 2023 21:02:10 +0000
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